For the last 10 years, I have lamented the way college loans work in this country. If you are able to fill out the immense piles of paperwork you need to fill out to get a loan for your education, you find yourself in a very complex predicament by the time you are ready to graduate. To wit, after you leave college, you have a 6-month grace period before your first payment is due, or at least that’s how it was for me. The thought of having to make $300/month payments scared the crap out of me, so I knew I needed to find a job right away.
Have you ever tried to find a well-paying dream job in six months when you’re right out of school? It was tough back in 2004. Now, it’s even tougher.
This framework causes a few things. It causes a sense of desperation, so a lot of people settle for jobs just so they can get money. Young people are having to live with their parents longer because they certainly can’t afford rent, utilities, AND their loans with no income coming in. And of course, there is the old catch-22 problem. How can you prove you are reliable and credible and a good worker if no one will take a chance on you?
I did not do anything to protest this framework other than write about it here and there and feel pretty angry for a few years. These young people are getting the issue out there.
Learning Change 