Operation 'Varsity Blues' - FBI uncover massive fraud in college entry exam scam

[T.Lex]

The 2 kids of mine who have made college decisions (the others being 14 and 15)- they didn't go to my alma mater either.

...and none of them have considered my profession either. I keep telling them that's its the next most slothful way to make decent coin besides being a YouTube star...

My oldest wants to join the profession. She'll be much better at it than I am.

 

[Alpo]

I wonder how these kids are doing in college compared with those who were "helped" in for PC reasons.

Yes, the method used is wrong and it kept others who might have been successfully enrolled by merit.

But...I keep thinking about all of the students who got there for some reason other than merit. That's a form of corruption as well.

 

[KLB]

Getting all of these kids to go to college and into debt studying stupid that will never be worth a damn in the pursuit of a career should be a crime as well. A good portion of this countries upper education system needs to be blown up and rebuilt from scratch.

 

[HoughMade]

I wonder how these kids are doing in college compared with those who were "helped" in for PC reasons.

Yes, the method used is wrong and it kept others who might have been successfully enrolled by merit.

But...I keep thinking about all of the students who got there for some reason other than merit. That's a form of corruption as well.

When he's right, he's right.

Getting all of these kids to go to college and into debt studying stupid

that will never be worth a damn in the pursuit of a career should be a crime as well. A good portion of this countries upper education system needs to be blown up and rebuilt from scratch.

When he's right, he's right.

I would point out that no one is forcing anyone to incur debt or study things that are useless....it's a choice. A horrible, horrible choice.

 

[KLB]

When he's right, he's right.


When he's right, he's right.

I would point out that no one is forcing anyone to incur debt or study things that are useless....it's a choice. A horrible, horrible choice.

True. They are not being forced. They are being given a lot of really bad advice and guidance though. There should be some criteria around these students loans and whether the chosen area of study should be able to get the student a job able to repay the loans.

 

[HoughMade]

True. They are not being forced. They are being given a lot of really bad advice and guidance though. There should be some criteria around these students loans and whether the chosen area of study should be able to get the student a job able to repay the loans.

I agree.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

True. They are not being forced. They are being given a lot of really bad advice and guidance though. There should be some criteria around these students loans and whether the chosen area of study should be able to get the student a job able to repay the loans.

Exactly. Student loans should work like small business loans, in that the lending institution should evaluate risk vs. ROI based on the earning potential of the field for which a degree qualifies a student to find employment. If the student wants to fully finance a degree in African Tree Frog Gender Studies, the lender should probably say, "Um, no."

 

[HoughMade]

Exactly. Student loans should work like small business loans, in that the lending institution should evaluate risk vs. ROI based on the earning potential of the field for which a degree qualifies a student to find employment. If the student wants to fully finance a degree in African Tree Frog Gender Studies, the lender should probably say, "Um, no."

That's how I looked at my student loans for law school. I was blessed to have no undergraduate debt and took out rather modest loans for law school. My wife and I hate debt with a passion, but looked at these loans as a way to enhance my ability to earn. I essentially had to borrow 100% tuition for the first year, 50% for the second and 0% for the third. My wife was working and we lived off of that, so there was no loan for living expenses. In the end, it turned out to be a good investment (at only 2.85%).

However, that was analysis my wife and I undertook. The student loan people didn't even check for a pulse before offering to loan me full tuition for 3 years plus 100% living expenses. I knew many people who took them up on it. When we graduated, I had the equivalent of a payment on a mid-level Toyota Camry (automatic, but 4 cyl.). The people who took at all had loan payments the equivalent of a mortgage on a mini-mansion.

 

[ATOMonkey]

That's how I looked at my student loans for law school. I was blessed to have no undergraduate debt and took out rather modest loans for law school. My wife and I hate debt with a passion, but looked at these loans as a way to enhance my ability to earn. I essentially had to borrow 100% tuition for the first year, 50% for the second and 0% for the third. My wife was working and we lived off of that, so there was no loan for living expenses. In the end, it turned out to be a good investment (at only 2.85%).

However, that was analysis my wife and I undertook. The student loan people didn't even check for a pulse before offering to loan me full tuition for 3 years plus 100% living expenses. I knew many people who took them up on it. When we graduated, I had the equivalent of a payment on a mid-level Toyota Camry (automatic, but 4 cyl.). The people who took at all had loan payments the equivalent of a mortgage on a mini-mansion.

I know a couple that took out a loan for all of their under-grad and law at Valpo. Between the two of them it was over $400k.

 

[HoughMade]

I know a couple that took out a loan for all of their under-grad and law at Valpo. Between the two of them it was over $400k.

Yep. I've seen it. Divide that by 10, then subtract 10k, and that's the neighborhood I was in.

...and 20 years ago, getting a decent law job with a VUSL degree was considerably easier.

 

[T.Lex]

For me to get through undergrad and grad school, I had to take out student loans. It wasn't 6 figures, but it was substantial. Same assessment, though: it was to get the skills/education to make a living well enough to pay it back.

When we married (after law school), my wife and I had the same attitude toward debt: no more. (Other than a mortgage, really.) Paying off that student loan carried with it a real sense of accomplishment.

Of course, the kids had arrived by that time, so any "fun" money was already committed to other expenditures.

 

[ATOMonkey]

I asked how he plans to pay off $400k, and he said he doesn't ever plan to pay the whole thing off. He'll probably go to his grave with student loan debt.

Between his house, student loans, and cars, he probably owes close to a cool million.

Funny thing is that they are bankruptcy attorneys...

 

[dudley0]

Exactly. Student loans should work like small business loans, in that the lending institution should evaluate risk vs. ROI based on the earning potential of the field for which a degree qualifies a student to find employment. If the student wants to fully finance a degree in African Tree Frog Gender Studies, the lender should probably say, "Um, no."

Both of my kids made it thru college owing nothing. We bought a house for them to stay in and sold it after graduation. They worked hard at getting scholarships and grants.

Youngest got a job in her studied field, but the pay is poor. Oldest has a good paying job with benefits that had nothing to do with her diploma, besides the fact that she had one.

 

[KLB]

I asked how he plans to pay off $400k, and he said he doesn't ever plan to pay the whole thing off. He'll probably go to his grave with student loan debt.

Between his house, student loans, and cars, he probably owes close to a cool million.

Funny thing is that they are bankruptcy attorneys...

Experts at playing the system

 

[mmpsteve]

My BIL took 20 years to pay his student loans, even though he could pay it with one month's earnings. He said, at 2% interest on the loan, his money was earning about 5X what the loan was costing. This has been a few years, back when you could actually make money on your money.

.

 

[HoughMade]

My BIL took 20 years to pay his student loans, even though he could pay it with one month's earnings. He said, at 2% interest on the loan, his money was earning about 5X what the loan was costing. This has been a few years, back when you could actually make money on your money.

At 2.85%, I used this strategy for a long time....but now.......

 

[Ingomike]

Several of you are Attorneys, my understanding is AI is going to wipe out low level Attorney's and paralegals in the next 10 years or so. Law firms are having to eat low level law work to get the big billable hour jobs.

what do you guys foresee and do you have concerns for your kids following in the business?

 

[drawer86]

What's the problem, "minorities" and illegals have been skirting the system for decades. shrug

 

[Tactically Fat]

This is now a student loan thread! Woo!

I owed less than $10k when I graduated college. And that took 5 years... Late 90s to early 2000s. (Whoa, it's been 18 years since I left college.) I did not go grad school.

Anyhow - I ended up owing about 50% of what the average graduate of my Alma Mater did when I graduated. And about 25% of the average graduate from a public university nationally.

Pretty sure I paid it all off within 2 years of graduation - and have been debt free, save for a few car notes and a mortgage, since then.

 

[KittySlayer]

This is now a student loan thread! Woo!

Disappointing. We went from talking about spanking naughty actresses to talking about lawyers and bankers. Ugh!