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I totally don’t believe the picture.

If that woman really borrowed $26,000 and was paying a minimal payment (say 100 dollars), as opposed to the required payment, she still would have been paying it down.

For the penalties and interest to build up to 60 grand, she would have had to basically not pay anything for 10 years.

That sign is a statement of how well that generation understands money .. the sign is bs, and anybody with a 5th grade math education can see it doesn’t “add up”. This one comes close to home. I paid off my student loan ... and can remember making a decision one day to either buy the Life Magazine (with the space station on the cover) or a pound of hamburger. I bought the hamburger and read the “Life” at the local library later. And I don’t consider those “hard times” .. it was simply “the times” many of us went through. Living is about decisions and integrity ... the student loan program is a test of both. Too bad so many of the younger generation fail the test. That is only an indicator that their “hippie” parents forget to teach them anything.

If that woman really borrowed $26,000 and was paying a minimal payment (say 100 dollars), as opposed to the required payment, she still would have been paying it down.

I ran some numbers and she could be correct. She'd be an idiot, but could be right. I made some big assumptions. Let's say she took 6 years to get through school. She doesn't seem too bright, so a logical assumption. And, let's assume a constant interest rate and constant payments throughout the 23 faithful years.

That means she borrowed $4,440 per year, deferred the interest 6 years for the first year, 5 for the second, etc. And let's assume she started her $118.48 payments 1 year after graduation (again, not too bright, so it took her a while to find a job in applied macrame or whatever her degree was in). For her to owe $45,276.63 after 23 years, her interest rate would be about 4.3%.

Going back to deferred interest, her principal when she started paying it off would have been $37,343.55. So, her problem was that she made a payment of $118.48 when the interest alone for the first month was $134.23. She could pay until Kingdom come, but if she pays less than the interest, she isn't going to pay it off. She would have needed to make payments of $208.37 to have paid it off in 23 years. So, quit your whining (her, not you) and pay more.