from a /sci/ thread about the ucla astronomy prof who claims he's homeless because he can't pay his bills. > iirc, he took out something like $150,000 in student loans and now that he has his ph.d., instead of getting a big pile of money each semester, he has to pay a bunch of money each month. lots of students have severe lifestyle reductions after they graduate even if they get a good paying job. for many, college ends up being their highest standard of living for their entire life. > about half of graduates have no student loan debt and of those who do, $29,000 is the average amount when they complete their studies. for those who only get a bachelor's degree, the average is $13,722. for those who get advanced degrees, the amount rises quickly, with phds ending up over $50,000 in debt on average. > this guy stayed in the university system for over a decade, taking out more and more loans to fund his lifestyle. he could have taken time off between each of his degrees to go work and earn money but he chose to spend over a decade of his life borrowing, not earning. > you should ask him why he was ok turning himself into a debt serf. what's the alternative? requiring garbage men and construction workers to pay higher taxes so guys like this can sit around doing nothing productive for over a decade? 92% of all student loans come from the us treasury. only 8% come from banks.
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