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A comment on U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loan Debt. Parent comment

Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by snarf21 on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:16AM (#13006507)
Add to that students have "suites" with private bedrooms and shared living space. Add to that meal plans with all you can eat Nutella and endless options. That money has to come from somewhere. It used to be old buildings with one block wall room with a set of bunks and two crappy desks. It has become an arms race and the parents have helped this along by indulging their kids. A lot of this debt is the parents paying. You can't get $60K per year of loans for an undergrad degree as the student. Plus you have small liberal arts schools that cost more than Harvard (yeah, I know they need no money) to get a BA in literature and then do what......? Complain you can't get a job?
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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by vkou on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:22AM (#13006551)
And yet, in order to finance the construction of fancy student dorms, many universities require unmarried undergraduates to live in a dorm.

Speaking as a commuter in my student years, this boggles my mind.

Of course, any concerns about cost are dismissed by the big handwave of 'well, financial aid is available...'

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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by CaptSpify on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:28AM (#13006612)
Captive markets are the best markets!

I had similar requirements for school. Meals ended up costing me ~$10 per. I could get much cheaper food on my own, but that wasn't going to make the university any money.

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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by nerfhammer on Monday November 21, 2016 @01:52PM (#13008004)
Where I went to school the student meal plan you were required to buy costed something like $14 per meal, while they provided the same food at the university hospital for something like $4 per meal.
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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by jazzyk on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:51AM (#13006813)
I agree with you, but I also think living on campus has at least one big advantage - promotes exchange of ideas and discussion with fellow students.

Think about it as Aristotle's Lyceum/Gardens ;-)

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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by vkou on Monday November 21, 2016 @04:16PM (#13009291)
That's great for people who have the means to, but is financially devastating for people who don't.

It would be one thing to stomach if the dorms looked, and were priced to be more like army barracks, then three-star hotels.

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Re:U.S. Citizens Now Hold About $1.3 Trillion in Student Loa... by Smircio- on Monday November 21, 2016 @11:32AM (#13006643)
That almost happened at my university the semester after they went big into debt for a new stadium. We're one of the last ones in the state who aren't forcing under clansmen to live in the dorms. They cited things like, "it sill save them money! It will help with inclusion! It will help their GPA!" It was bogus of course. Thankfully the students protested fairly hard and our president sided with the students.
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