Actually, to put the responsibility where it belongs, the title question should be, How does an intelligent person make such financial mistakes? Who digs themselves into $400,000+ of student debt?
Maria had a goal to teach at a university full-time. Today, she "absolutely" regrets pursuing that goal.
While Maria's undergraduate education, which she completed in 2001, was funded through scholarships and Pell grants, she knew more advanced degrees would give her a leg up in university teaching — especially as a woman in the industry. So she pursued a master's degree and a PhD, the latter of which took seven years to complete.
It was not a decision she took lightly, and at the time she believed the commitment would be worth it. Maria, who requested her last name be withheld for privacy reasons, extensively researched the program, and its statistics for employment post-graduation looked promising. However, she was unable to land a full-time university job after graduation in 2014 and found herself unable to afford her student-loan payments.
Now, at 48 years old, Maria's student-loan balance is $430,000 — all from her advanced degrees, per documents reviewed by Insider...
If Maria could have a do-over, she would never have gotten her PhD. Although she said she prepared herself as best as she could for the financial toll it would take, there was no way she could have anticipated a layoff or the medical bills for her daughter.
Of her total student-debt load, more than $70,000 is interest that accumulated while her student-loan payments were on hold, during which she cashed out her 401k and lived on unemployment benefits.
I'm not unsympathetic to her plight--especially her daughter's cancer--but is even a university professor going to get out of that hole? It doesn't seem like she thought the financial considerations through all the way--and she wants you and me to pay off her debt for her.
3 comments:
She was lied to...and she believed the lie: a college degree = a good job.
The most repeated comment regarding the story is this: "Why did the 'journalist' leave out what the degrees were in?" It is clear that this person is not a STEM grad, but she clearly hoped and wished, with all her might, that the magic PhD was enough to get her a sweet full-time professorship.
Other questions not answered in the tear-jerker propaganda piece:
How can she be both an adjunct AND have a full-time job, without going nuts from the workload?
What is a "5 figure salary," since it could range anywhere from 10,000 up to 99,999?
Where is this person living? I'm willing to bet it's a Democratic stronghold which has a stiff cost of living.
I glanced at the article, but could not determine what her studies are in. My guess a soft science and/or diversity studies.
Like you, I feel for her, but don't want to pay for it through my taxes.
The article says she's an adjunct professor. Wages vary, but adjuncts usually make about $3,500 per course with no benefits. Including time spent grading, it usually works out to less than minimum wage. So no, she's never going to get out of that hole. Her entire gross wages may or may not cover the interest on her loans.
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