OK, very quickly -
is it me, or is this phrase being thrown around a WHOLE LOT these days?!?
I am mildly obsessed with the Craigslist killer story. I will admit: I rarely get super obsessed with a news story, but when I do, man, I. AM. OBSESSED.
And the latest news from the CK is that the guy was in “serious debt” (Anderson Cooper, CNN) with “$130K” in student loan debt.
Which is why he stole $800 from a prostitute? (Or three?)
Um, the math really doesn’t add up.
A) All psychology aside (and all psychology would suggest that the guy stole money in order to have some power and control and exercise dominion over these women), um, $800? Is not going to get him very far on that debt. Really? It isn’t going to do anything other than terrorize a woman and MAYBE get him some playing time at the casino.
B) $130K is a lot of money, yes, but it isn’t RARE, is it?
We have…well, we have a lot of student loan debt. A LOT. So much so that $130K doesn’t really make me blink. Almost all of our friends have debt loads in that category (between 70 – 150K…+). I’m not saying that is a great thing, but it is the reality of higher education….isn’t it? Tuition is roughly $50K/year for many graduate programs and private undergraduate institutions. DB and I have three graduate degrees between us. We have gotten some financial aid, but…
Let’s just say that $130K isn’t out of line, and it is the nonstory here. And I wouldn’t call it “serious debt”, no matter how much it resembles a mortgage in the midwest.
The other day, when Obama was announcing his plan for restructuring the student loan program, CNN decided to put on a student who was “buried” under student loan debt (to give her personal experience, I guess).
Her debt load?
$15,000.
I mean, seriously? Is CNN completely in denial about the reality of student loans today?!?
(Because I would be freaking REJOICING if our – or even MY PERSONAL – student debt load was $15K.)
(Just saying.)
5 comments
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April 28, 2009 at 11:12 am
Hungry Liz
I actually commented when I heard that on CNN that that is almost nothing/expected for med students. I think every med student without a trust fund has that kind of debt- if not more.
April 28, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Laura
Seriously. Couldn’t agree more. $15,000 in student loan debt?! Puh-leeze. Sounds like a fantasy!
April 28, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Tracy
I would be doing cartwheels (and I haven’t done cartwheels in A WHILE, but I would figure it out) if Christian and I only had $15,000 in student loan debt. Our kids will be in college before we have paid off our own college/ grad school debt.
April 28, 2009 at 10:15 pm
Nicki
If he was seriously trying to get out of debt he’d be prostituting himself, not stealing from random prostitutes occasionally. I highly HIGHLY doubt it ever once entered his mind. Your explaination makes way more sense.
And yeah, I think that’s pretty serious debt but I also think it’s very common for a full college education, frankly. I think the two can co-exist (serious and common) here.
May 4, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Laurie
$15,000?? Um, not to be crass, but I can fart harder than that (stole that one from my dad!). PLEEEEEEASE! And $130K? Well, unfortunately I can fart way harder than that too…and I don’t really break wind except in my sleep. Ok, sorry for the TMI, but seriously. Trav and I have each broken the $200K mark and neither of us has ever robbed a prostitute, or at least not that I know of! Geesh.