Here are two articles about personal finance and paying for college. After reading these two articles, this confirms my view of: "College needs to be free or at least way more affordable."
In 2013, Ebony Horton realized she needed to overhaul her lifestyle.
Working an entry-level job in Washington, DC, Horton earned a mere $38,000 a year — barely enough to cover her living expenses, let alone make a dent in the more than $100,000 she owed in student loans.
Between her undergraduate years and going back to school for her MBA, Horton had racked up $132,000 in loans, which ballooned to more than $220,000 with interest. She deferred them for two years after earning her MBA, but soon they became impossible to avoid.
She began educating herself on personal finance — particularly through the books of Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman — and started devising a plan to pay back her loans as quickly as possible.
To make that happen, Horton knew she would have to make changes to both cut costs and boost her income.
She had toyed with the idea of moving back in with her parents to save on rent, and when her father had a stroke in 2013, she knew it was time to make the transition.
Back home in Joliet, Illinois, Horton took a job as an operations manager at the nonprofit her mother runs. The salary was comparable to what she made in DC, but the cost of living was drastically less.
She increased her student-loan payments, setting the lofty goal of paying them off entirely in a year.
Horton and her boyfriend tied the knot soon after the move. Horton's mother gave the couple a condo that she had purchased at an auction as a wedding gift. It became crucial in wiping away the hefty student-loan tab.
Horton and her husband lived in the condo for three months, but then they decided to move in with her grandparents down the street and started renting out the condo to bring in extra income.
The income boost made a huge difference — so they doubled down.
Horton's husband had the idea of buying another rental unit to increase their cash flow even more. Though Horton was reluctant at first, she eventually agreed. They ponied up all the cash they could muster for a $42,000 two-unit condo to rent out, allowing Horton to rake in more money to put toward her loans.
The strategy worked so well that the couple ended up purchasing another $55,000 unit shortly thereafter.
When Horton's grandparents moved south, she returned to her parents' house, refusing to live in one of her rental properties because they were bringing in extra income.
"I didn't want another setback," she said. "I wanted to put that money toward my student loans."
All told, Horton said she and her husband were putting 95% of their combined income toward Horton's student loans, making payments of roughly $10,000 a month.
Horton committed fully to her goal and was willing to make sacrifices to reach it. When one of the couple's cars stopped working, Horton walked or biked 4 miles to work, rather than diverted cash toward buying another vehicle.
"I left a very little amount of money for me — just enough for us to eat off of," Horton said. "I moved in with my parents or I was living with my grandparents. I kept scaling back so that I could pay it off."
In early 2017, the day came: Horton made her final loan payment. In just over three years, she had put a grand total of $220,561.21 toward becoming debt-free. Though it took longer than her original goal of just one year, Horton's dedication to repayment is nothing to scoff at.
"You have to stick with it," she said. "You have to be willing to make some very drastic sacrifices, and you have to be creative in the ways that you produce extra income."
Now that her loans are a thing of the past, Horton wants to continue buying and renting out properties; she has her sights set on finding real estate in downtown Chicago. Horton is also writing a book, and she hopes to one day speak to high school and college students about how to take on loans and responsibly pay them back.
To anyone who feels overwhelmed by the prospect of taking on student loans — or paying back any debt they've incurred — Horton has a simple message: "I just want them to feel empowered that they can pay if off. If I can do it, anybody can."
Alan 1 day ago
- K 1 day ago
- Taylor C 1 day ago
- dude guy covington 1 day ago
- KevinM 10 hours ago
Apr. 22, 2017 "Free college, anyone?": Today I found this article by Anna Gronewold in the Edmonton Journal. I want college to be really affordable like public education that is paid by taxes.
In 2006, I read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki:
Poor Dad: Money is the root of all evil.
Rich Dad: The lack of money is the root of all evil.
I always side with Rich Dad.
I have written before about that young black woman who went on the Tyra Banks show in 2007 or 2008.
Woman: I became a stripper to pay for my college tuition and living costs.
Tyra: Where did you tell your mom and grandma you were working at?
Woman: I told them I worked at the public library.
The audience laughs.
Woman: Yeah, well I really like to read and write so the job seems to be a good fit for me.
ALBANY, N.Y.
Will New York’s firs tin-the-nation free tuition program for middle-class college students spread to other states?
That’s the hope of such proponents as Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, who made debt-free college a key talking point in their Democratic presidential campaigns. And that’s the prediction of its main champion, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who called the plan a “model for the nation.”
But even as higher education experts applaud the concept of free tuition, they question finer points of New York’s plan and whether it’s a model that should be replicated elsewhere.
New York’s plan would cover in-state public college tuition for full-time students whose families earn $125,000 or less, a benefit that could extend to 32,000 students a year.
Some experts are concerned the plan would do little to help the neediest students, whose tuition is already covered by other aid.
They also question the plan not addressing other college costs beyond tuition.
And there has already been much debate about a restriction — added late in the negotiations — that recipients live and work in the state for the number of years they receive the benefit. If students move out of state, the money would be converted into a loan that must be repaid.
“Students are not going to plan for future debt because they’re going to think they don’t have any,” said Sara Goldrick-Rab, a Temple University expert on college affordability issues.
“And then they’ll get a job in another state and they’re going to get smacked in the face literally by the state of New York for the bill.”
Goldrick-Rab said the restriction betrays students by changing the narrative from broad, free college tuition to a workforce development initiative.
State University of New York chancellor Nancy Zimpher says the controversy may be overblown, noting about 85 per cent of graduates from the state university system stay in New York after graduation anyway. “It kind of tamps down the drama,” she said.
Even Sanders, who has long advocated addressing the nation’s $1.3 trillion student debt problem, acknowledged there are some aspects of New York’s plan he disagrees with. But he gave Cuomo and New York lawmakers credit for being first to tackle it.
“They have paved the way for other states to go forward, for the federal government to go forward to make public colleges and universities tuition-free,” the Vermont senator told The Associated Press. “I see that as a tremendous achievement, and we look forward to other states following New York.”
Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, agreed New York’s program is a strong political move but questioned an execution that “borders on gimmicky.”
He was particularly critical of New York’s “last-dollar” tuition only setup, which would keep costs relatively low — an estimated $163 million a year — by paying the tuition only after awards from state and federal sources are applied.
Students from families making $50,000 or less wouldn’t benefit because their tuition is already covered by other programs.
“Unfortunately, the neediest are left with nothing but a feel-good message,” Nassirian said.
SUNY’s Zimpher responded that the state’s program extends possibilities to kids on the “edge” of other financial assistance programs who might have never thought college was possible.
Other experts noted the New York program covers only tuition, with no additional money for such college costs as room and board and books. Over the course of four years at a State University of New York college, tuition would make up only about $26,000 of the total $83,000 tab.
Despite such uncertainties, Nassirian also gave credit to Cuomo, who has been mentioned as a possible 2020 presidential candidate, for giving the concept of free college new life. “The pressure now builds,” he said, “for others in deep blue states to do something.”
The closest is Rhode Island, where Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo is pushing to make two years of public college free for residents, regardless of income.
Tennessee and Oregon already offer free in-state tuition at community colleges.
Students at the University of Albany, part of the state university system, say that while grateful for New York’s plan, they are wary of its details. “I hope it works,” said Nicole Pitt, a 21-year-old biology major. “But there’s going to be a lot of fine print, something hidden that’s going to come back and bite the person in the butt later.”
Cumorah Reed, a 19-year-old English major who also works at a pharmacy to pay for college, said her mother “lost her mind” with excitement when the proposal passed, only to learn the scholarship would cover only about a third of Reed’s annual costs.
“There’s still $12,000 for room and board. It’s double the tuition,” she said. “So that’s ... fun.”
They have paved the way for other states to go forward, for the federal government to go forward to make public colleges and universities tuition-free.
