Ha I was just suggested a minimum gross income during my student loan exit counseling...

[Gravitycollapse]

So when I go out job hunting after I graduate, can I get a signed letter from the government demanding that potential employers pay me over said fixed amount?

[millennialmax]

1. LOL, you might be onto something there.

You should attach that to your resume or print it out on business card paper to hand out during interviews.

[Bay Boy]

2. I don't know what your degree is in but....

....I hope you expect to get a lot more than that starting out.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

3. Expect?

Its hard to expect anything right now.

[Bay Boy]

8. Why go to the trouble and expense of...

... getting a degree and not expect to get a job when you are done? I certainly hope that the OP has chosen a field that is expected to be hiring.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

11. I was talking about expected income.

The starting teachers salary in my state in my state is about 31k. Luckily people still go to school to be teachers.

[TalkingDog]

13. Because I'm trying to build a better human and not a bigger bank account?

Self improvement for mere money? You must not think much of yourself.

[Gravitycollapse]

6. BS (Prelaw) Political Science.

[Posteritatis]

15. Good luck topping that straight out of just about any undergraduate program. (nt)

[frazzled]

4. You needn't pay more than 10% of your income above basic living allowance

You (and your counselor) should know about new laws.

To ensure that Americans can afford their student loan payments, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act gives student borrowers new choices in how they repay their loans. The initiative was developed by the Middle Class Task Force chaired by Vice President Biden, and it will expand the income-based repayment plan for federal student loans that was put in place last summer. More than 1.2 million borrowers are projected to qualify and take part in the expanded IBR program.

Under this new law, students enrolling in 2014 or later can choose to:

Limit Payments to 10 Percent of Income: Borrowers choosing the income-based repayment plan will pay no more than 10 percent of their income above a basic living allowance, reduced from 15 percent under current law. The basic living allowance varies with family size and is set at 150 percent of the poverty line, currently equaling about $16,500 for a single individual and $33,000 for a family of four.
More than 1 million borrowers would be eligible to reduce their monthly payments.
The payment will be reduced by more than $110 per month for a single borrower who earns $30,000 a year and owes $20,000 in college loans, based on 2009 figures.

Forgive Any Remaining Debt after 20 Years, or after 10 Years for Those in Public Service: Borrowers who take responsibility for their loans and make their monthly payments will see their remaining balance forgiven after 20 years of payments, reduced from 25 years in current law.
Public service workers – such as teachers, nurses, and those in military service – will see any remaining debt forgiven after 10 years.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/education/higher-education/ensuring-that-student-loans-are-affordable

[Warpy]

5. Wait until you get old and retirement planners tell you how much you should have saved

every year since you turned 20. According to them, I should have saved $2000/year every year. What they don't ever realize is the inflation this country has been through in that period of time. When I was 20, I took home less than their magical $2000/year and I was working full time at a job that demanded skill.

Honestly, I think a requirement for a business major is that you check your brains at the doorway on your way in and you don't get them back when you leave. It's either that or one can go through many years of business and management education and never be introduced to the concept of inflation and how to index things to it.

[Bunnahabhain]

9. You think inflation is a concept not covered?

I mean, seems to me, the time value of money was something drilled into my head starting in basic finance.

[Warpy]

21. Not as something that applies to PAY

They're fully educated in the way it affects capital.

[Bunnahabhain]

22. Because PAY is some different type of money than capital?

I do not think so. NPV determines what the relationship of a dollar today will be to a dollar in the future. Inflation assumptions are used in determining what this as one is trying to determine the real rate of return vs. the nominal rate of return. Trust me people in b-school understand inflation...better than you I am thinking.

[Skittles]

7. JAYSUS what a scam

I really feel for you young folk

[reformist2]

10. We really do live in the most backward 'advanced' country on earth.

[PsychoBunny]

12. It really shouldn't be a problem

if your degree is in Petroleum Engineering.

Political Science? Yeah, good luck with that.

[lumberjack_jeff]

14. They do this if you buy a car. They call it loan qualification.

It seems eminently reasonable to counsel borrowers about the realities of repaying the debt.

[Gravitycollapse]

16. Apples and oranges.

If you're financing a car, you need to already have income.

The counseling portion involves explaining the loan and repayment. The people at the Dodge dealership don't sit you down and say "Okay, in order to afford this car, you must go out and make sure to find a job making X income."

[lumberjack_jeff]

17. True enough. Student loan borrowers have no idea if they'll be able to repay it.

It's a good thing. They're asking incoming freshmen to think hard about their prospects of repaying the debt because there's no credit department who will apply that discipline (denial of credit) externally.

[Gravitycollapse]

18. Students shouldn't be denied funding. Everyone should be allowed to attend college...

If they so wish.

[lumberjack_jeff]

19. Everyone IS allowed to attend college.

But only the student is obliged to pay for it, and bankruptcy doesn't get them off the hook.

Better pick an area of study carefully. It's about time that colleges are doing their part to explain things to kids.

[Gravitycollapse]

20. Students ARE NOT being allowed to attend college because of financial barriers to entry.

Going to college shouldn't be about going into a well paying field. If that is your only concern, you're living foolishly.

[madville]

23. My son wants to stay in our rural hometown

I'm advising him to go to technical school, maybe HVAC since we are in Florida. People I know in that trade make decent money. I've suggested the Coast Guard or Air Force since they pay decent these days and get free college but he doesn't want to leave this area, that could change though.