Six Words on a Boardwalk Bench
By Bill Quain
This is the final column in my “Cutting College Costs” series. This goes out to all those college graduates who proudly walked across the stage and made a startling and frightening discovery: nobody had prepared you for how complicated life really can be, or for the financial challenges that lie ahead. Plus, everybody wants your money!
I believed them when they said…
When I graduated from college, times were different. However, even back then, (fifty years ago this spring), I had a big shock that first September. Instead of going back to a place where everything was planned out for me, where all I had to do was choose classes each semester, I was shocked to discover that I had to make plans for the rest of my life – without Christmas, spring break or summer break! Guess what? Almost nothing I learned in college prepared me for that.
Now, I was fortunate. I had studied Hotel Administration at Cornell University, and at least I had a direction. I had also owned two businesses by then, a restaurant and a hotel in Ocean City, so I knew something. However, there were many things that came as a shock, such as finding a place to live, turning on utilities, creating a retirement account, etc. A few years after graduation, I bought a home. I suddenly had to pay property taxes, get insurance, etc. All these things taught me what I like to call “AI”, or Alumni Intelligence.
That said, everything that I dealt with after graduation was nothing compared to today’s complicated world. I didn’t even get my first credit card until I was 28. Today’s young adults have at least one or two credit cards, with credit card-linked online shopping accounts and video subscriptions. They also have techno-predators ready to seal their private information. Above all, many newly minted graduates have a mountain of student loan debt.
Who put them into that debt?
The colleges did! Nobody has student loan debt unless a college advisor or college recruiter advised them to take out a student loan. The students who take on debt for college are not from wealthy families. The debt they incur results in even more negative net worth. It’s ironic that although colleges are happy to take a student’s money, they rarely think about helping them become financially successful after graduation. They never think about how the students are doing post-graduation.
When you are in school, professors and administrators care about you. They want you to stay in school and keep paying tuition. However, when you graduate, you are just a name on a mailing list. No one ever asks you how you are doing financially.
Alumni emails add insult to injury.
Once you graduated, I’ll bet your college sent out a constant stream of letters and emails asking you for donations. If you never donate, does anyone contact you to find out if you are okay? No! Pretending that all of their graduates are prospering, and asking for donations without considering that maybe some alumni are still in debt, is insulting!
Recently, a New Jersey college sent an email blast to their alumni asking for donations for a “space camera.” One of the recipients of the email, who graduated about a decade ago, still owes $65,000 in student loan debt. The college added insult (the donation request) to injury (the debt).
Use your “Alumni Intelligence” to help.
Colleges think it’s fine to take the students’ tuition money, put them into debt, send them out into the world without preparing them for “real life”, and then ask them for donations once they’ve graduated. I think we can all agree that something is wrong with this picture. With a little effort, college alumni (like you and me), can make a difference. Here’s how we can start.
Start by sending me college emails.
I want to collect a large sample of emails sent out to college alumni. Don’t worry, I won’t disclose the college’s name nor any of your information. I just want to see if any college sends out emails that actually try to help individuals. I’d also like to get samples of emails that just “don’t get it.”
For example, my alma mater recently sent out an email telling me that today’s students spend less for a college degree than I did. They asked me for money so they could give students even deeper discounts. They’re saying to me, “Bill, we wouldn’t even consider that you might not be doing so well. Just give us money, so we can continue to get paid, even though we’re charging the students less.” Okay, I’m selfish, but can you see just how dumb that is?
Send me the emails or letters you get from your colleges to bill@quain.com. I’m on a quest to help improve “Alumni Intelligence” by getting colleges to work with their graduates to promote personal prosperity.
As I say each week, I’ll see ya in the papers!
Bill is a Professor in Stockton University’s Hospitality Management Program. He is the author of 27 books, and a highly-respected speaker. Even though he is almost totally blind, Bill is a long-distance runner and runs the Ocean City Half Marathon each year. He lives in Ocean City with his wife Jeanne, and his Guide Dog Trudy. Visit www.billquain.com or email him at bill@quain.com.
