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Can someone explain to me as a non American, what is the student loan? Is it college fee? In my country it's only costed 300-1500$ a year unless you take extra classes then it'll cost a bit more, you can also get groceries from the local market for months worth of food for really cheap and room for rent is 150$-300$ a month or you can live in pagoda for free
College is very expensive in the US, with the average “in-state” school costing $26K/yr for someone who lives on campus and $56K/yr for a private institution. Since a majority of undergraduates are teenagers with virtually no savings, they take on loans to pay for college. Also unlike traditional loans where you can declare bankruptcy, these loans are very difficult to get forgiven.
There obviously a lot more to it, but that’s the gist in three sentences.
Important note: Those prices are per year.
Oh that’s a very important note. Updated.
It's a way to force an 18 year old into a life of indentured servitude under the guise of "financial assistance" by simply clicking accept on a couple online forms, only for 40% of them to end up working jobs that don't require a college degree in the first place.
The job postings require a degree, yet a monkey could do it.
So back in the mid 1900's in the USA tuition cost a fairly reasonable amount (about 8-10 percent of a minimum wage income could be budgeted for school, depending on which one you went to) but from 1970-2020 we saw an explosion of college tuition that didn't match inflation/CoL/income.
So now in order to budget for a public state school you need to allot about 40% of your minimum wage income for tuition. OR you can sell your life to the military and potentially die that way (if you're even medically able and willing) in addition to the previously mentioned "go into debt until you're 60" method that we currently use.
Somehow, while costs have been skyrocketing the quality of schooling has been going downhill for awhile now as funding gets reallocated to the things that make the most money which is just sports essentially (also why it's so damn expensive.)
Tuition has gone up much more. The average US college will now require 157% of your minimum wage income, provided you can still work full time on top of school.
Average US cost of attending college in 2023-2024: $23,630 per year
Federal minimum wage: $7.25 per hourI was using the metric of state MW where I live compared to tuition at a public state college with in-state tuition.
Your results may vary, if you live in a state that has no state MW I don't know how you'd ever be able to afford it without enlisting or having wealthy family.
Even more fun:
The sports still cost the school money unless the team is popular enough to move merchandise.
Education isn't even the highest priority for a college anymore, it's the teams they can use to make MORE MONEY.
Unless it costs you money and you never make any! Guess we'll just pass that cost onto the students as well, fuck 'em.
It's a loan made of public money that universities seem to think is an open faucet and upcharge a ridiculous amount for tuition.
the average US public university is about $11,700 for tuition. that doesn't count room and board if you are staying in a dorm in campus. private universities are much more.
This is per year. And most degrees are 4 years, though it's not uncommon for them to run to 5. So by the time a student graduates they have on average ~$37k in debt.
For the 2023-2024 school year, the average cost of attending college in the US is $23,630
It's a loan like any other loan to help with or completely cover the cost of attending college/university. The main difference is that there are certain regulations that lenders are supposed to follow. Loans are needed because there are schools that are tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per semester and it's all but impossible to pay for out of pocket for the vast majority of students.
Lots of Americans are insecure and are convinced that they need to go to a $7,000/semester University or they're a failure. For many, it's entirely possible to get a good education without ever paying a dollar through scholarships (provided either through the state or private parties). I graduated with two bachelor's last year and was paid about $12,000 per semester in scholarships refunds for attending a lower-cost, but still accredited, university.