What Changed?

Over 30 years ago, I picked Ball State from among the state colleges and universities. I never seriously considered private colleges because I felt my family couldn't afford to send me, and I certainly couldn't afford them either. Ball State was familiar, as I had been to a summer music camp and dated a girl from Muncie. Ball State seemed to really want me; professors reached out to recruit me in person, and the school offered me a full tuition scholarship.

I looked at Indiana (too big) and Indiana State (didn't like it or Terre Haute). I never considered Purdue, because I didn't think Engineering was in my future.

So I went to BSU. In the Spring of my Freshman year, I ran out of money. I was embarrassed to have to ask my parents for help to finish out the Spring Quarter. I resolved not to have to ask again.

I succeeded, at least from the standpoint that I never asked for help after my Freshman year, except for when I asked for a co-sign on a used car loan. Parental assistance was given freely at different times through the rest of my college career and was sincerely appreciated. But I took care of all my scholarship and financial aid paperwork, budgeted my hard-earned money from summer and on-campus jobs, and when absolutely necessary took out one small temporary student loan.

Now it seems college kids go where they want whether they or their parents can afford it or not. They mortgage their futures by borrowing the money to fill the gap. Stories abound of college graduates entering the workforce saddled with debt in 5 and even 6 figures.

I worked construction and factory jobs in the summer and hated nearly every minute. But those were the best paying jobs available to me, and I felt an obligation to work hard to prove I could pay my own way.

Now college students take unpaid internships or below-minimum-wage camp counselor summer jobs. They don't even earn enough to keep their car maintained, gassed, and insured, let alone have cash to meet expenses through the school year.

What changed in 30 years? Or am I the anomaly?