When undergraduate debt becomes risky

#711: A computer science degree used to feel like a sure thing. Job placement rates topped 90 percent. Starting salaries cleared $80,000. You could do the math on your student loans before you enrolled.

That math doesn't work the same way anymore.

New York Times "Your Money" columnist Ron Lieber joins us to walk through what families actually need to know before borrowing for college.

He covers how to use the federal College Scorecard to look up earnings by school and by major.

He explains why the scariest student loan headlines are almost always about graduate school rather than undergraduate debt.

And he makes the case that liberal arts majors tend to catch up to their STEM peers by mid-career - even if the early numbers don't show it.

Lieber also makes a case that the financial return on college extends beyond salary data. Alumni networks, mentorship, and lifelong friendships all factor into the equation.

He suggests asking schools pointed questions about reunion attendance and alumni giving rates as a way to gauge how connected - and how useful - a community actually stays after graduation.

On the debt question, Lieber draws a clear line between federal undergraduate loans, which cap around $31,000, and the more dangerous combinations of Parent PLUS loans and private debt that drive the horror stories you see in the news.

He also addresses the community college path in detail - including what it actually takes to pull it off without losing time or credits along the way.

The conversation closes with a framework for parents: keep sparking conversations with your kids, stay curious about what they're drawn to, and treat yourself less as an advice-giver and more as someone planting seeds.

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your college student: https://affordanything.com/episode711

Timestamps:

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(00:00) No BLS jobs report today 

(01:41) Ron Lieber intro – NYT personal finance columnist, student debt expert

(02:41) College still worth it? Ron says yes, despite tough entry-level job market

(05:03) How to use the College Scorecard 

(06:27) Liberal arts majors often catch up by mid-career 

(07:17) The non-financial ROI of college 

(15:08) How much debt is too much? Federal undergrad cap is $31,000

(18:31) Community college as a launchpad; savings potential, but requires high executive functioning

(21:36) Scary student debt headlines are mostly about grad school, not undergrad

(24:39) AI and shifting willingness to pay; colleges facing enrollment pressure

(37:00) Financial aid office dynamics 

(40:39) Peak 18-year-olds; demographic cliff hits colleges differently by region

(45:54) Location matters; urban schools have recruiter and networking advantages

(54:11) Framework for parents and students; stay curious

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