student loan/employment rant

amother

Mon, Jul 16 2012, 10:19 pm

I need to scream somewhere and can't think of a better place to do it....

When I went to college, my parents didn't make a big deal to me about money; they handled signing me up for loans and so on. And while I definitely comprehended that college was expensive and that I'd have to pay it off in the future, I wasn't prepared for what student loan repayment would be like. They signed me up for private loans with a bank that is very inflexible (presumably b/c the interest rate is very low), and when I graduated and got a job, I suddenly started getting the bills - with no word about any of it from my parents, who had paid for a couple of months and then just stopped. I love my parents, and this is probably the only thing they've ever done that I feel any resentment about, leaving me in the dark about my debt and not even talking with me once about how to handle it. So I struggle with being angry at them, and then reminding myself that it was MY education, I wanted it.

I got a master's degree at the cheapest place I got into, and got Stafford loans. now I'm pretty much out of grad school and no job in sight. My degree isn't in basketweaving, it's in a practical skill in an actual field that happens to be bad in terms of the job market now (mostly because of the economic climate). It also happens to be something that I excel at, and that I love doing. I have no regrets about choosing this field, but I hate that to anyone but me personally it looks like I made such a bad decision, going into something that's so competitive right now. I'm sick of explaining to people that yeah, you do need a master's to do this job properly.

I have a good summer internship, but I'm having a baby this fall and no real job. DH has a decent job and his future prospects are very good, but right now we're not making ends meet and its my fault for not finding work. I just got off the phone with the bank that services my loans, who told me that I pretty much can't ever get a forbearance or anything. I know I have to work more on my job search, but I can't force anyone to hire me, and with the yamim tovim and then a baby coming up, I'll barely be able to work until December anyway. And then DH gets down on himself for being an inadequate breadwinner, which makes me feel even worse.

I don't usually post things like this without a specific question or piece of advice that I'm looking for. I'm just freaking out right now and needed to whine.

TwinsMommy

Mon, Jul 16 2012, 10:28 pm

I feel your pain!!!!

My husband and I both have undergrad and grad degrees and at age 38, 14 years after graduating graduate school, we STILL owe $70,000 in student loans.

My husband makes a FRACTION of what he used to make and though he's very happy with his current position, he gets no health insurance or retirement or ANYTHING other than a few bucks per hour. When he doesn't work (like all summer for example) he doesn't get paid. He's happy and doesn't want to retrain and isn't an entrepreneur so he's staying with the field of education (our masters are both in education).

I gave up on staying in the field and being able to pay our bills and decided about a decade ago to become self employed and not work for other people anymore. That way I can control my own income. My husband was laid off from a job that was paying him a decent wage in 2008 and since then he's been underemployed. The whole thing irks me to no end.

So now I have a masters I'm not using. Anyone want it? My husband is still in the field of education, but certainly doesn't NEED a masters... so you can have his too. Anyone who wants our degrees just needs to pay off the last $70,000. Smile

ruth

Wed, Apr 17 2013, 11:13 pm

op may I ask what was your degree in? I am planning to go back to school but I am worried. I wonder if I go for the kind of fields I am attracted to (social services) that I will end up with a degree that costs more than I will make.

I currently have an AA in Journalism with which I do nothing. But at least it was from community college and I didn't go into debt for it. I have worked in law offices and I believe the AA helps. I have considered getting my para-legal certificate/degree but I hate sitting all day and completing forms.

I would go into the health field but dealing with blood is a problem for me. Although I have done well in my chem class and love physiology.