Originally Posted by Bostonian
You could argue that if someone is starting college 3 years early, they may have 3 more years of lifetime earnings over which to amortize the cost of a college education, so they should be willing to borrow more than a normal-age college student. The counter-argument is that a gifted 15yo is still a minor and should not be taking on debt. I'm not sure which argument is stronger.

Personally, I'm of the opinion that NO student debt is actually "good" debt at this point in time. It's non-dischargeable debt-- so if your child were to be hit by a car and completely disabled prior to his/her senior year... or, for that matter, on the way to his/her first job--

they'd still be on the hook for repayment of any educational debt. Yes, one would hope that such a thing is rare... but really, the ONLY debt that I think is remotely acceptable is that which can realistically be repaid while being seriously underemployed for the entire period of repayment. Nobody knows for sure what their future holds. There's no real insurance policy to cover "inability to work" in educational debt.

That's a third factor for us. It may be that this is because we know a few people to whom such things have, in fact, happened. A single auto accident can do it in a split second, even if it isn't you at fault.

In other words, all educational debt is unsecured debt. Think of it as being like a Visa that you only use for restaurant dining.

Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.