College grad: ‘I wish I’d gone to prison instead’

[sweeps]

Hernan Castillo is treading water, trying to survive under the weight of $5,200 in credit card debt and $30,000 in student loans. He’s making payments on time, but the Orange County, Calif., resident sees little hope for getting out of the warehouse job he holds and landing a job as an accountant, the field in which he earned his degree. And forget about saving money for a home or retirement. He now firmly believes the money he spent earning a college degree was a waste.

Article

[red92s]

Maybe instead of going to prison, he should just not rack up $5,200 in credit card debt. I bet it'd be a lot easier to make forward progress without that hanging over his head.

Honestly, it sounds like acquiring debt was his mistake . . . not going to college. I bet he was one of the slew of recent college grads that figured they'd be handed a $40-50k annual job upon graduation just for going. I busted my hump in school and have continued to do so in the two years since in order to get ahead in my career. My girlfriend (an accounting major, just like in the article) just graduated and was hired straight out to a major firm doing corporate audits.

The guy needs to drop the "woe is me, victim of the system" lines and earn a job, not ask for one.

[MonkeyMama]

No kidding.

He was stupid to pay so much for an accounting degree (as many are) and if he can't find a job in this field, he has other issues (says the accountant, living in the same state).

I just kind of rolled my eyes when I first saw this.

[cindyg86]

I suppose as a recent college graduate (I graduated a week ago, actually) I have a bit more sympathy for the fellow. Yeah, it does sound a bit whiney and it probably could be presented better, but the bottom line still remains... IT SUCKS FOR RECENT COLLEGE GRADUATES.

I "earned" $30k in student loans my first year of college! Sure, I could have gone to a community college, lived at home, and saved money. But having a true collegiate experience and attending a top notch school was definitely worth the financial burden I would have to inherit. And by no means am I saying community/2-year colleges aren't "top notch". My dad teaches at one and there are great educational programs. But just as a 4-year college isn't for everyone, neither is a 2-year. I think it's a bit weird that he said he wish he had never gone to college but I'm sure he's just a little depressed about his situation. I would be to! I graduated with student loans and am about to increase that with graduate school. Sure, it costs money but I know it will be the best decision for me in the long run. I'm offended when people say accumulating student debt is dumb... it's one of the best INVESTMENTS an individual can make.

As for not being able to find a job... not completely his fault. Take a look at the economy and that explains a lot. Of all my friends that graduated this year, I know ONE who landed a job. And believe me, my friends were trying harder than I could ever imagine and still no response. It's hard to find a job and just because this individual can't find one doesn't mean he has "other issues". That is an incredibly rude and ignorant thing to say.

Okay, off my soapbox. Yes, maybe he did take the wrong route to explain his problems, I'll be the first to admit. But we need to stop being so judgmental of individuals and perhaps sympathize with them for once. Situations like this are happening across the country and it's not just one individual being "stupid" or "irresponsible". It's a societal problem and something we have to address before nitpicking people.

[Inkstain82]

Say you are like me, and you were raised in a lower-middle class family where neither parent with to college and had the slightest idea how to manage finances.

In this scenario, yeah, you are pretty much sold on the idea that you go to college, you get a degree, you get in the line where they hand you the comfortable paycheck. I still had that illusion until I graduated too.

I worked my tail off, but made the mistake of majoring in an industry that was terminally ill. The industry itself didn't even begin to realize it until about a year after I graduated, and now I've got a four-year degree in a field where there's 200 applicants for every job opening, $15k in student loans, and the starting salary for most jobs is less than I made as a burger-flipper before I went to college ($21k/year).

It could be a lot worse and I can make things go from here, and I'm lucky/good enough to still be employed when almost none of my in-major classmates are, and I certainly hope I don't come off as whiny as that kid in the article did, but if I could sell me degree for 50 cents on the dollar of what I paid for it, yeah I probably would.

[Inkstain82]

When one kid does college the wrong way and comes out unemployable and way too far in debt, it's fine to say "he should have known better."

When an entire generation does it, we probably need to look at the system and see if there's ways to fix it, because obviously they are being encouraged to do so.

[red92s]

I'm offended when people say accumulating student debt is dumb... it's one of the best INVESTMENTS an individual can make.

This is where, as another poster stated, an entire generation has been given the wrong message. Yes, college CAN be a great investment . . .but it's still an investment, and the risks and returns need to be considered. College kids are now so concerned with "getting that collegiate experience at a top notch university" they will acquire $30k a year in debt and then go to grad school to become a high school teacher. They are so enamored with "the collegiate experience" that they end up with a horrible return on investment.

As for not being able to find a job... not completely his fault. Take a look at the economy and that explains a lot. Of all my friends that graduated this year, I know ONE who landed a job. And believe me, my friends were trying harder than I could ever imagine and still no response. It's hard to find a job and just because this individual can't find one doesn't mean he has "other issues". That is an incredibly rude and ignorant thing to say.

True, it is more difficult to find a job. But . . . I had about 15 friends walk over the last 2 weekends with undergrad degrees and jobs. All of them went to public, in-state schools. Many didn't pay a dime for tuition all 4 years. One is making $109k a year. All are making at least $40k a year. All of them consider themselves lucky to be employed, but all of them are.

What has the guy in the article done to improve his odds at getting a job? Go after a CPA? Nope. Expand his skill set? Nope. It sounds like all he has done is dream about going to prison and blaming the system for his problems.

Situations like this are happening across the country and it's not just one individual being "stupid" or "irresponsible". It's a societal problem and something we have to address before nitpicking people.

Are their "responsible" ways of acquiring $5,200 of credit card debt? I guess, like medical bills, perhaps. The "societal problem" is people acquiring it in "irresponsible" ways. What do you want to wager this guy has cable TV? A cell phone with text messaging fees? A flat-screen TV? I'd be pretty surprised if he didn't have all three.

[MonkeyMama]

I don't have much issue with any of the other comments but my opinion still stands. We are DESPERATE for college graduates in our field. I think if he had about ANY other degree I would have more sympathy.

You don't have to spend $30k to go to a 4-year university in California either. He spent too much. I wasn't even referring to community college or living at home.

I maybe have a tad more sympathy for the college costs, but I personally see little difference between going into debt for a "luxury degree" than a "luxury car." & I will yell about that as much as I can - if I can talk just ONE person out of spending more for college than they need to.

It doesn't matter when this guy graduated - he's obviously got issues and is not prepared for the real world. My issue was with his attitude more than anything else.

[Inkstain82]

It doesn't matter when this guy graduated - he's obviously got issues and is not prepared for the real world. My issue was with his attitude more than anything else.

That's kind of where we agree but have different reactions.

Why is our education system producing so many like him who aren't remotely prepared for the real world? I don't want to forgive his student loans and pat him on the head and tell him it's not his fault. I want to figure out how we can teach his little brother to do better.

The difference between a luxury car and a luxury degree is that we don't have a cultural message that every 18-year-old needs a luxury car at all costs to get by in the world.

As others have pointed out, student-loans *can* be a wonderful investment. But they can also be a huge waste of money. And it's not always luxury degrees.

When I entered college, journalism was a field where you could always get a low-paying (for a college grad), entry-level job and work your way up to roughly a HS-teacher's salary within five years.

When I left college a few years ago, salaries were stagnant, but there were still jobs if you were willing to start out in smaller towns.

The last people I knew from college have graduated in the two years, and they face a vastly different job market than even the one I entered. Even before the economy collapsed, it was a total apocalypse in the journalism jobs field. In 2006, there were roughly 60k newspaper jobs. In 2009, there are roughly 40k, but enrollment in the programs has spiked to where you have 7k new graduates per year as well. Hundreds of qualified journalists are getting laid off every week, more than enough to fill every job opening in the country this year.

I actually saw this coming and was fortunate to lock in a job at a place where I like living but almost no one else would, so there's some amount of security there. But at the same time I was trying to convince everyone I knew that the industry was dead, their professors and advisors were telling them that everything would be fine.

No matter what the problem a young person (or anyone, really), there's going to be someone who says "well, they could have known better." And that's technically true, but it's also a completely irrelevant if the problem is widespread. When college debts are soaring across the board while the return for the average degree is shrinking, we have an institutional problem as well a personal one.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

When I read he did not think he could get out of warehouse management and get a job in accounting, the area of his degree, I thought of how you, MonkeyMama, have told us that accountants are still needed, still for hire. I did wonder why this guy cannot find a job in accounting.

The story does not say how long he has been out of school, does it? I couldn't find that upon re-skimming. But I did not see anything to give me the impression that he was a new graduate unable to find work in his desired field due to the recession. The article calls him a "former graduate" and says he is 30 y/o, so I'm thinking there is a greater chance he has been out of school for a while. Has it now been for several years that he cannot get a job in accounting? Why not?

I doubt that he really wishes he would have gone to prison, or else he would have arranged that. I'm sure he is saying it for effect and contrast, and probably with resentment that some people like prisoners seem to have the basics of life provided to them without work.

But I do agree that the amount of debt people might take on for college can get out of proportion to what they will be able to earn.

Once again, this article makes me wonder about people who have professional knowledge of money handling, yet cannot handle their own money well enough. I've seen bloggers and posters here on savingadvice who seem to have been like that. I just read an article about a NY Times financial journalist who got in way over his head with his mortgages, debt to his mother, credit card debt, his wife wiping out her retirement savings, and I don't know what all else.... So what's the deal? Do people who feel the pain of being bad with money sometimes go into fields like accounting and financial news writing in hopes of fixing themselves, just as sometimes people with psychological problems sometimes go into psychology looking to heal themselves?

[Inkstain82]

If he's been out of school for that long with an accounting degree and can't find a job, my best guess is a complete refusal to consider any relocation.