I’m gonna keep this particular email anonymous for the time being, if only because the writer agrees that Student Loan industry (INDUSTRY!?) is broken. His message gave me pause, as my father also joined the military (Marines) to help pay for his own college education. My dad’s a Vietnam vet – and while he’s proud to have served his country in such a fashion, it’s always been a touchy subject.

Here’s that email:

My story is a little different, in that I had a pretty low loan balance.

But not by choice…

I started my university journey at 28, via a veterans rehab program. This covered my tuition and books, plus gave me a $330/month stipend. At that age I had already purchased a house. The stipend barely covered the house payment. I had been working steadily before college, and had a good part time job as a computer tech lined up.

A student loan would have been great to cover the ‘just in case’ expenses, but…

I couldn’t qualify, I made too much money. Plus, at my age, the whole ‘parental contribution’ aspect was ludicrous (actually, it always was). In my junior year, I quit the good paying job to focus on my studies (Electrical Engineering junior year is brutal). After one year of not making it financially (and almost having the house repossessed), I qualified for a $3000 loan….

I completely agree that the system is broken.

So, what if the Internet started serving as a University? No books, no exorbitant tuition, local meetups for affinity groups, teleconferencing, etc. Sounds crazy, but at least that idea is more realistic than setting yourself up for a financial catastrophe.