The company that manages my student loan (yes, I still have student loans) just called to clarify some paperwork issues. After we fixed the paperwork, I asked him what was the largest loan amount that he’s seen. He said that last week, he came across a person who had taken out $430,000 worth of student loans. With that kind of loan, the minimum monthly payment is about $5k, but the person was only making about 3K per month. He said that he routinely sees $200,000 to #$300,000 loans for lawyers or doctors, but they can pay it back. The $430,000 person wasn’t a doctor or a lawyer.

I asked him how colleges let this person do this to themselves. He said that colleges don’t care. They just want the money.

I asked him for advice for other students, given all the horror stories that he’s seen. He said that students should figure out what they want to study at a good public college, and then take all the prerequisites at a community college first. Later, they should transfer into the state college with two years done at a cheaper school. He said to avoid all the private schools.

He was too busy to go on the record for a conversation. Too bad.