Undergrads themselves are simply not allowed to take on so much debt, at least with our government-run student loan program. The parents probably had decent jobs (until they lost them) such that the kid was probably not offered much financial aid.
Once again, the middle class gets screwed.
On the other hand, I have come across programs where PARENTS are allowed to co-sign for loans. For my daughter’s university, I was offered a $60,000 loan from a private company, referred by her university. I was amazed how quickly and easily it could have been done. What a time bomb that would be, I thought.
They didn't get "screwed"....they walked right into that Cat House, opened up their wallets and said "Screw me good." There is no sympathy from me for them. They asked for it by not thinking.
Guess which loan I have has the highest interest rate?
Yep - student (parent) loan 7+%.
For these parents...59 and think you’d be retiring, really? Plus, that much money and you knew what programs they were in, really? What did you think would happen?