Higher Education is a Scam

Work hard, get into a good school, and you'll be able to live a good life. What a god **damn lie.** I've spent five years in college. I'm about to graduate with a software engineering degree, and the reality of my student loans is starting to dawn on me.<br><br>$62,000. That's how much I owe. And that's **nothing.** My sister has $120,000 in loans for her Master's degree in Environmental Engineering. My mom has $50,000 in loans for her nursing certificate, and my dad has $80,000 for his law degree. My parents, sister, and I have collectively accumulated $260,000 in student loans. We are still paying them off. I won't get any financial assistance from my family no matter how hard I work, because my family is also paying back debt. <br><br>I've been working part time for the past five years. I've always had more expenses than income. And I still have over $62,000 to pay back in loans. I'm going to live paycheck to paycheck until I'm 40. My salary will be used to **pay back the government** because I dared pursue higher education.<br><br>Higher education is a **scam.** The government has no one to blame but itself. They create laws that prohibit us from filing bankruptcy on student loans. They raise interest rates on those loans. And they cut funding for the very universities that cause us to accumulate so much debt. How are we, as a society, okay with this? And no, not everyone can just "not go to college." Jobs require degrees. If you don't have one, good luck getting a job that pays you enough to live comfortably. <br><br>We all work so hard. We work our asses off to get good grades and get into good colleges. And if we're lucky we'll get a good job and be able to afford to live. But most of us won't be able to. We **won't be able to live.** We'll have to spend our salaries paying back loans. <br><br>I **hate** our government. I **hate** our education system. I **hate** capitalism. **I hate being ****forced**** to pay for an education that I would otherwise not be able to afford. I hate that I will be paying for my education for the next 20 years. I hate that I have to live paycheck to paycheck because my salary will be used to pay back loans. I hate that our government is so greedy. I hate that not everyone can afford an education. I hate that I am not in control of my own life. I hate that I have to work to live.**