I’ll grant you that going into debt is a lot less likely to outright kill you or give you PTSD than going into the military, but going into debt is absolutely not safer than moving to the EU countries that offer it, and advocating for it over going abroad, given what the student loan industry has turned into, seems honestly kinda irresponsible.
Going to the EU for education for free without ties probably wouldn’t be feasible. Has its own costs and challenges outside of tuition as well. If someone can do it then maybe it’s a valid option but I doubt it’s common.
Getting an education doesn’t have to be $100k of debt like some people rack up. Something like $10k or $20k is feasible to pay off in a few years if the education gets the person a good career. Well worth it if the debt is limited and results in better employment. Should it be cheaper or government funded? Sure, but people have to decide their best move based on their current options.
It’s also reasonable to go into a trade like plumbing or welding.
The trouble is that even people with STEM degrees these days are often struggling to get good paying jobs, even as their debt keeps racking up. And anything that’s going to require a graduate degree, like teaching in the public school system, is going to require way more in debt than that just due to how much more graduate school usually costs, to the point where if a graduate degree is necessary to get into your chosen field, then you end up in debt either way. At which point, all else being equal, you’re still better off in a country with free college, because then your debt isn’t of the high-interest, non-dischargeable variety that it is here.
Note 1: there are other countries outside the EU that offer free college, like Panama, or cheap, like Mexico. See the map azimir posted.
Note 2: earlier, you said that going into debt was both easier and safer. The latter part is what I took greater issue with.
When talking about safety I was mostly talking about in relation to the military. Getting bombs tossed at you in exchange for a degree is just questionable in my opinion.
The risk of debt is manageable but does depend on the amount and career prospects after. Teaching means a lot of school and wasn’t ever going to pay well though so that’s not a great example. There are probably others that are good examples. Maybe ones were the industry collapsed or got saturated when it looked good 4 years prior.
I’ll grant you that going into debt is a lot less likely to outright kill you or give you PTSD than going into the military, but going into debt is absolutely not safer than moving to the EU countries that offer it, and advocating for it over going abroad, given what the student loan industry has turned into, seems honestly kinda irresponsible.
Going to the EU for education for free without ties probably wouldn’t be feasible. Has its own costs and challenges outside of tuition as well. If someone can do it then maybe it’s a valid option but I doubt it’s common.
Getting an education doesn’t have to be $100k of debt like some people rack up. Something like $10k or $20k is feasible to pay off in a few years if the education gets the person a good career. Well worth it if the debt is limited and results in better employment. Should it be cheaper or government funded? Sure, but people have to decide their best move based on their current options.
It’s also reasonable to go into a trade like plumbing or welding.
The trouble is that even people with STEM degrees these days are often struggling to get good paying jobs, even as their debt keeps racking up. And anything that’s going to require a graduate degree, like teaching in the public school system, is going to require way more in debt than that just due to how much more graduate school usually costs, to the point where if a graduate degree is necessary to get into your chosen field, then you end up in debt either way. At which point, all else being equal, you’re still better off in a country with free college, because then your debt isn’t of the high-interest, non-dischargeable variety that it is here.
Note 1: there are other countries outside the EU that offer free college, like Panama, or cheap, like Mexico. See the map azimir posted.
Note 2: earlier, you said that going into debt was both easier and safer. The latter part is what I took greater issue with.
When talking about safety I was mostly talking about in relation to the military. Getting bombs tossed at you in exchange for a degree is just questionable in my opinion.
The risk of debt is manageable but does depend on the amount and career prospects after. Teaching means a lot of school and wasn’t ever going to pay well though so that’s not a great example. There are probably others that are good examples. Maybe ones were the industry collapsed or got saturated when it looked good 4 years prior.