We are drowning in it. However, my 14 year old grandchildren, girl-boy twins are not in debt yet and I want to speak directly to them this Easter Sunday morning.
You will be confronted with temptation for debt in the following ways during the next 5 years.
Student Loans
Car Loans
Credit Card Loans
While I believe it is possible that your great grandfather's Emory medical education was partly paid for by loans against his father's insurance, your great grandmother and me, your grandmother, did not incur loans for college, nor did I.
I have this recommendation for getting through college with no, or minimal loans
First - consider college as a way to ultimately insure your life's income. In spite of the "education for life" stuff the colleges' put out, it is vocational education you are after. Focus on putting your money on those classes and that degree that you will be paid for. Your great grandfather was paid, until age 70 for his medical degree, I was paid until age 70 for my library degree. He was in higher education 6 years, I in higher education 5 years.
There is an interesting book Guerrilla Tactics in the Job Market by Tom Jackson, who starts with a chapter "Worklife Your Next Ten Thousand Days". He begins by pointing out that 80 per cent of the population work because they must, not for the joy of the job. He lists the negative effects "fatigue, boredom, anger, jealousy, frustration, stress, resentment and regret". These are really bad things. You do not want to spend your life like this. This book was first published in 1978 and Jackson speaks of many, many new jobs being created. At this point he suggests getting a notebook to start your plan.(I am going to get your notebooks for you and help start them if you will let me.) Price out your education. You know the tuition your parents paid for Renfoe, how much DeKalb County and GA pays for Druid Hills, then look at later years for estimates.He suggests one life four careers. For me and my father it was only one career, one life, though numerous specialties within that career. Next spend quite a bit of time figuring out Who You Are.Then there is a long section on getting a job. It is not to soon to start putting out resumes and going on interviews.
All college begins with 2 years of "core courses". They really are repeats of high school classes - language, English, mathematics, a couple of science courses. Don't dump your high school learning, build on it. Then get these college classes as soon and as cheaply as you can. Very good teachers teach online or in junior colleges. Right now Metropolitan College, a basically "historically black" though no one would say it, private college has placed a program near the Five Points Station. From where you live you can take MARTA to this "campus". Don't be snobbish. These classes will transfer. There are also online classes from state colleges throughout Georgia. Find out what core courses you need and go for it now, as soon as possible. Even look at syllabus and see how they relate to the high school classes you are already taking.
Your third and fourth year start your speciality. For your mother this was enough. She selected journalism, the University of Georgia has one of the country's best and well respected journalism schools. She was able to work the first 24 years of her career, 1985 into 2009 with this degree, doing what she wanted to and even arranging a schedule that provided time to raise you two. However, she is now faced with technological unemployment. Even if the print newspapers were healthy, in 2006 they were already shipping these jobs, even reporting jobs, to India where they pay much less for the same work. Now she must decide what to do next. She is not alone. A whole generation of journalists are facing this.
Also, you cannot plan not to encounter technological unemployment. The IBM personal PC was first sold in 1981, the year she graduated from high school. However, you can look at trends and try to predict what jobs will be out there when you are 21, 31, yes and then when you will encounter discrimination based on age, beginning as early as 40, 50, 60, 70. I am even thinking about going back to work in this economic environment.
However, by your junior year decided on what you want to do and then look for a university with name recognition. See how many semesters are needed for residency. I transferred at the end of my sophomore year, with two summers at other colleges behind me, when I received my Oglethorpe degree. I had already taken undergraduate courses for library science, graduated 2 quarters earlier, and completed all but 10 quarter hours of my degree the following calender year. My own mother was able to take summer courses at Emory where her own mother was employed as a dormitory housemother and graduated in 3 years and was at work by the following fall.
Once you have selected a career goal select a college for your last two years and if graduate school is required tailor your classes and extracurricula activities toward that end. Join student and even professional groups relating to your proposed career early.
How important is the name on your degree ? It will follow you the rest of your life, it will determine alumni groups to which you will belong. It is a brand. However, how much debt must you incur to receive this degree ? A good state university with instate tuition available is probably sufficient. The University of Georgia is the best known university in the state, Georgia Tech a good second. But does this matter ? Excellent programs show up many places. Remember President Johnson went to a state teachers' college in Texas, Reagan to a small religious school in the Midwest.
But what if college is not your plan. What if you decided on a career requiring a technical school diploma. (And remember, starting with a shorter technical degree program does not preclude your moving on to a college degree later.) Core courses may still be a good idea for your first two years, just to have them behind you, before you move on to a technical school program. It is really those initial two years that can really eat up the money, time, and often your enthusiasm.
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