It''s not just Baby Boomers ==

that are moving out of the U.S.

Just read a very interesting CNBC article (couldn't get the sub-url for the story) about how many young people are leaving the U.S., some permanently, to live/work in other countries, including India, the Ukraine, etc.

The reason is student loans that they can't pay back in the amounts demanded.. They find that their college degree is worth squat most of the time. Even minimum wage jobs are hard to get as there are 100 applicants for every job.

Plus, they don't have any Medicare as most of us do so if they have major health issues, can't jump on a plane and come back to the U.S

Pretty sad.

So their solution to the student loan problem is to just skip out. Good riddance.

From the stories I read, there was no viable alternatives. $150,000 in student loans:

1. Can't get a job and if they can, it's minimum wage (before withholding).
2. If they get a job, part of their wages can be taken
3. If the job pay isn't enough for lower than basic food and shelter, then what?

I agree in principle that if you owe a legitimate debt, you should pay it.

Now to consider realities.

My point being: What if there isn't any way short of trying to sell a kidney (and that may only bring $10,000), what is left to do?

It is a dilemma, with no clear answer.  When I was a puppy, it was doable to work your way through college without getting loans.  There were state colleges with little tuition.  Plus, there were plenty of decent paying jobs when you had that degree in hand.  I can't imagine being a young person with a huge outstanding loan, but then, if they knew what the situation was likely to be, why did they decide to go ahead with it? A puzzlement.

gringal wrote: , but then, if they knew what the situation was likely to be, why did they decide to go ahead with it?
A puzzlement .

Hope springs eternal. I would say they feel they will be the exception and are willing to spend 4or more years of their lives in school hoping it will be worthwhile. Without that hope, IMO, other than in medical/dental schools, or where there is still a larg calling for workers, enrollment would drop 90%

That’s why Mike Rowe is so popular. For the last half century the mantra has been that all should go to college while trade schools were sort of looked down on and thought to be for the dumb kids. The trades can provide a very good living without the burden of student debt.

Amen Carry Bean! Would it not be great to have a qualified plumber and electrician here in Ajijic? These are two very distinctive trades and being an expert in one would earn a person big bucks here!

I don't believe any license or training is required here to be a plumber, electrician or auto mechanic. Most either get the trade skills passed down to them or sometimes by observation, apprenticeship or trial-and-error.

I never fully understood why NOB schools required so many courses that have little or no practical application, especially if the student says/shows they have no interest whatsoever in the subject matter.

As well said, a good trade person can make excellent pay in his/her chosen trade, especially when his/her reputation gets him/her referrals.

Around here, the best recommendation is that the person actually shows up as promised. That's right up there with the skill level.

Problem Child wrote:I never fully understood why NOB schools required so many courses that have little or no practical application, especially if the student says/shows they have no interest whatsoever in the subject matter.

That you can't see a benefit in a multidisciplinary education is precisely why it's necessary. It's difficult to think outside the box when one is wearing blinkers. But first, one must recognize that one is wearing blinkers.

https://uk.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/78114_Chapter_1.pdf

Blinkers? Not blinders? You mean that way, you sometimes see truth?

gringal wrote:Blinkers?  Not blinders?  You mean that way, you sometimes see truth?

Blinkers, blinders, po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

Got it.

The first symptom of ignorance is not knowing what you don't know.

"...They find that their college degree is worth squat most of the time"

As is often the case, a lot of Posts here take a concept and embellish it. I would counter that there was NO data in that article that says that in the US "Most of the time" a college graduate cannot find a job unless it is for minimum wag and that their degree "is worth squat".

Also it was suggested that "MANY college grads are leaving the country, some permanently", for jobs overseas. So how 'many' is 'many'? Many means nothing unless we can put it in perspective like with a percentage maybe! And how many of those overseas jobs are exactly what they had intended in the first place.

Is a college degree not what it used to be with respect to job assurity? Yep! Are some graduates, especially in 'professional' fields like MDs etc, coming away with a great deal of dept? Yep! Are some students making ' bad decisions' to rack up that kind of debt in the first place while not understanding what the job market might be like with their degree? Uh-huh.

Pardon the rant Problem Child but we've got enough half-truths floating around the world as it is to add this piece of, to me, unsubstantiated 'sound bite' information from a Network. I read the article when it came out.... one of the students went to school about 30 miles from my home here in the US.... and I thought at the time that it was misrepresenting the situation for the sake of a 'good' story. Read it here and see if you think it represents today's reality and that folks are flocking to leave the US because of the situation.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/26/he-moved-to-a-jungle-in-india-to-escape-his-student-debt--and-hes-not-alone-.html

YMMV

Having consensual parents and going to out of state college are also part of the problem. Having student loans must have been invented by the guys who gave us sub prime loans