New York May Offer Free Tuition Soon

[yb1]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/edu...9d89f40cca

[Ideas]

That's great!

I didn't know this. "Tennessee, Oregon and Minnesota have free community-college programs, with Tennessee’s model lauded as a viable path for reducing higher-education costs."

[miah]

It's called the Excelsior Scholarship and it is only for students without a Bachelor degree already who meet the family or independent income cap; and the student will need to complete 30 credits a year and earn a 2.0 or better GPA; and then work in NYS for the equivalent number of years they took loans out, otherwise it will convert into a student loan to be paid back.
But still not a bad deal for those that qualify! Just wish there was something similar for those that already took out loans and are paying them back who reside and work in NYS already!

[sanantone]

It's called the Excelsior Scholarship and it is only for students without a Bachelor degree already who meet the family or independent income cap; and the student will need to complete 30 credits a year and earn a 2.0 or better GPA; and then work in NYS for the equivalent number of years they took loans out, otherwise it will convert into a student loan to be paid back.
But still not a bad deal for those that qualify! Just wish there was something similar for those that already took out loans and are paying them back who reside and work in NYS already!

Millennials got screwed. At least there is Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

[miah]

It's called the Excelsior Scholarship and it is only for students without a Bachelor degree already who meet the family or independent income cap; and the student will need to complete 30 credits a year and earn a 2.0 or better GPA; and then work in NYS for the equivalent number of years they took loans out, otherwise it will convert into a student loan to be paid back.
But still not a bad deal for those that qualify! Just wish there was something similar for those that already took out loans and are paying them back who reside and work in NYS already!

Millennials got screwed. At least there is Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

I just looked at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans.../questions and it seems like there are lots of things that can exclude students from that one too.

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

[dfrecore]

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

I know plenty of kids paying their way through school, or who have grants and scholarships.  You do NOT have to take out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to get through school!  If you can't afford it, you can choose less expensive schools, choose to work for a year or two instead of going to school, find jobs where they will pay for tuition, etc.  People who go to schools they can't afford and then take out tons of student loans to pay for it...well, that was just not smart.  I'm not talking about $10k in student loans, I'm talking $50-$150k.  That's just dumb.

And yes, when I was 18, and got accepted to Stanford, I thought it might be a great idea to take out loans to go, and my mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Thank heavens someone in my life was smarter than I was right then, because I was an 18 year old moron.

[sanantone]

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

I know plenty of kids paying their way through school, or who have grants and scholarships.  You do NOT have to take out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to get through school!  If you can't afford it, you can choose less expensive schools, choose to work for a year or two instead of going to school, find jobs where they will pay for tuition, etc.  People who go to schools they can't afford and then take out tons of student loans to pay for it...well, that was just not smart.  I'm not talking about $10k in student loans, I'm talking $50-$150k.  That's just dumb.

And yes, when I was 18, and got accepted to Stanford, I thought it might be a great idea to take out loans to go, and my mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Thank heavens someone in my life was smarter than I was right then, because I was an 18 year old moron.

Did you wait for your financial aid package? I avoided applying to good schools because I thought I couldn't afford them. It turns out that I probably would have gotten scholarships and grants directly from the school to cover most of the tuition.

[miah]

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

I know plenty of kids paying their way through school, or who have grants and scholarships.  You do NOT have to take out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to get through school!  If you can't afford it, you can choose less expensive schools, choose to work for a year or two instead of going to school, find jobs where they will pay for tuition, etc.  People who go to schools they can't afford and then take out tons of student loans to pay for it...well, that was just not smart.  I'm not talking about $10k in student loans, I'm talking $50-$150k.  That's just dumb.

And yes, when I was 18, and got accepted to Stanford, I thought it might be a great idea to take out loans to go, and my mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Thank heavens someone in my life was smarter than I was right then, because I was an 18 year old moron.

I used to think that as well, but sometimes you don't have a choice to stay local if you want to get a degree such as Veterinary Technology or some other similar majors that are not available at every school, like business and psychology or education degrees are.

My nephews went to NYS SUNY schools and still graduated in debt! It is can cost $25,000 a year to attend STATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS in NYS by the time you add together tuition and fees and room and board and books!

Maybe other states are less expensive for instate students, but the cost of room and board is more than the cost of tuition and fees so you can't use that blanket statement for all students!

A 4 year degree will cost at least $100,000 in NYS at SUNY colleges. These are state colleges and universities, not private colleges!

[sanantone]

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

I know plenty of kids paying their way through school, or who have grants and scholarships.  You do NOT have to take out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to get through school!  If you can't afford it, you can choose less expensive schools, choose to work for a year or two instead of going to school, find jobs where they will pay for tuition, etc.  People who go to schools they can't afford and then take out tons of student loans to pay for it...well, that was just not smart.  I'm not talking about $10k in student loans, I'm talking $50-$150k.  That's just dumb.

And yes, when I was 18, and got accepted to Stanford, I thought it might be a great idea to take out loans to go, and my mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Thank heavens someone in my life was smarter than I was right then, because I was an 18 year old moron.

I used to think that as well, but sometimes you don't have a choice to stay local if you want to get a degree such as Veterinary Technology or some other similar majors that are not available at every school, like business and psychology or education degrees are.

My nephews went to NYS SUNY schools and still graduated in debt! It is can cost $25,000 a year to attend STATE PUBLIC SCHOOLS in NYS by the time you add together tuition and fees and room and board and books!

Maybe other states are less expensive for instate students, but the cost of room and board is more than the cost of tuition and fees so you can't use that blanket statement for all students!

A 4 year degree will cost at least $100,000 in NYS at SUNY colleges. These are state colleges and universities, not private colleges!

Don't most 4-year colleges offer business, psychology, and education? Those are the most popular majors in the country.

I would bet $1 million that most SUNY students take out nowhere near $100k in loans. I don't think people realize how difficult it is for dependent students to find that much loan money.

[miah]

Student loans should not be higher interest than auto or mortgages (IMHO) ... it's just not fair.... it used to be that attending college and higher education could help raise you up out of poverty and debt.... not so sure that is as true now for the masses that use the traditional route of achieving higher education degrees...

I know plenty of kids paying their way through school, or who have grants and scholarships.  You do NOT have to take out tens of thousands of dollars of student loans to get through school!  If you can't afford it, you can choose less expensive schools, choose to work for a year or two instead of going to school, find jobs where they will pay for tuition, etc.  People who go to schools they can't afford and then take out tons of student loans to pay for it...well, that was just not smart.  I'm not talking about $10k in student loans, I'm talking $50-$150k.  That's just dumb.

And yes, when I was 18, and got accepted to Stanford, I thought it might be a great idea to take out loans to go, and my mom said ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Thank heavens someone in my life was smarter than I was right then, because I was an 18 year old moron.

Did you wait for your financial aid package? I avoided applying to good schools because I thought I couldn't afford them. It turns out that I probably would have gotten scholarships and grants directly from the school to cover most of the tuition.

They applied to state schools not private colleges. It still costs $100K to get a 4 year degree at SUNY colleges if you live on campus and maybe slightly less if you live off campus. 

Both of these young adults will be paying off loans for decades. The one will probably be better off than the other as one went for Engineering while the other ended up finishing up a degree in psychology. He prefers F2F courses over taking tests. 

The engineering student got some scholarships but still has a large student loan debt. The other one didn't get scholarships as far as I know.