martin - 5/23/2015 07:37

And I think Chris point about looking at student loans as a business investment is a good one.

If a banker looked at your daughter's application for a $350,000 loan to go to dental school, he would be able to evaluate what dentists (or dental assistants) will make in their lifetime, or over 20 years and come to a conclusion whether it pays to spend $350,000 to become a dentist.  Then that banker would have to look at your daughter's work history and come to a conclusion - is she a person to "stick with it?" - or is she a person to jump from job to job?  That would help a banker to decide whether your daughter is a good risk to invest $350,000 for a future business (dentist).

However, let's say that your daughter wanted to borrow $350,000 to get her PHD in studying primeval Mesopotamian art.  A banker could look at that application and say "Gee, I don't think we have a good enough record of being able to generate income to fund that kind of investment."  A business decision. At which point your daughter would have to decide: a) if she really wants to do this, she is going to have to fund this education on her own - on a pay-as-you-go basis; or find another line of work.  

I think the idea of looking at college funding as a business investment makes a lot of sense to me.