Posted on 04/01/2009 9:40:35 AM PDT by Arguendo
I’m about to talk about two little words that make most people cringe. The mere mention of these words usually incites the same reaction in everyone: a) fear b) denial c) a throbbing headache and d) the desire to run away screaming and crying and begging to go to a “happy place.” Yes, I am talking about STUDENT LOANS. If you don’t have one, you know someone who does and you sympathize with them. In the midst of the credit crisis, home foreclosures and bailout turmoil, the amount of debt that graduates are facing is overwhelming.
I am 23-years-old, two years out of college and I am sitting on $115,000 of student debt. And based on my lender’s loan terms, I only have roughly 12 years to pay it off. How much does that make my monthly payment, you ask? A whopping $1,200 a month. And let’s just say my lifelong dream career in television doesn’t lend itself to that. The only option my bank is giving me is to go on “graduated repayment plan.” That means that for four years I will only be paying off the interest every month. How much is that? Well, $115,000 with interest rates between 4-8%… that’s about $600 a month and that doesn’t even touch the principal amount. People don’t pay off houses in 12 years and I am expected to pay off this student loan in an entry level position?
Some might say, “Sam, you shouldn’t have gone to a private school in New York City if you wouldn’t be able to pay it off.” Well, I made a lot of mistakes when signing up for my loans, but I was uneducated on the process and on the repayment and now I’m stuck.
(Excerpt) Read more at ac360.blogs.cnn.com ...
Colleges are producing crap. That’s irresponsible. The colleges TEACH nothing so well as how to be irresponsible. How to fix? Take away the easy upfront money, the crack cocaine of academic depravity — government protected student loans!
You disagree that the student loans became nondischargeable due to past abuses? Care to cite some controlling authority? Now if you are disagreeing because you think I was attributing it solely to professional degrees, you might have a point, although it was the high-debt, high-income-stream situation that made the abuse so blatant.
BTW, don’t be too confident about your own income potential. I wish you luck but attorneys are struggling also. Another BTW, you have my utmost respect for resolving to pay your loans.
Human ingenuity can’t overcome human nature, and so we need a system that avoids perverse incentives whenever possible. Allowing student loan debt to be discharged without a very good reason would create a huge perverse incentive.
Are you serious? So you think everyone should be able to go to college, get a big fat degree, then never pay for it? What an idea! Wow, can you include houses in your dream world so we can all buy a house then keep it and tell the bank we want to dismiss all our debt?
But that’s what the colleges are in fact teaching — viz Obama.
To avoid this, our daughter lived at home for 3 years and went to community college. She will transfer to a large university in the fall and will have to go 3 semesters to get her degree. All of her credits transferred. She took a relatively light load while she was working. We kept saving, we have $$ in the bank for 2 of the 3 semesters and only have to save for her last semester. She will graduate with a BS in biology with no loans. That was our goal.
Student loans are as out of control as were the housing loans. They will be another ‘bubble’ to burst ... only you can’t repossess a degree ... or can you?
You’re wrong, the human spirit can conquer its base urges. That’s Judeo-Christianity 101. You want to replace personal responsibility with process, like any statist.
bvw, the students are the consumers. Until they start demanding quality education, they won’t get it. How many students do you know are demanding more challenging courses, less costly textbooks, more relevant courses? A lot I know are hoping to skate by on the easiest possible courses and rely on a degree from a decent college as enough to get them a job, regardless of their individual qualifications.
Unable to parse. Please re-enter.
One for the Dave Ramsey ping list, perhaps?
I will dance for joy the day we kick Sallie Mae out of the house (only $1400 left to go). Student loan will be a phrase not heard in our house again (nor any other non-mortgage debt!).
Every semester there are nurses and doctors and teachers and scientists graduating who are making a huge difference in the lives of many people. One of those graduates will possibly find the cure for cancer, or treat someone in your family with care and skill - yet you claim their education is so worthless they should be able to earn a salary, yet not pay for the very education they are using?
Wow I thought I had read everything on FR... wait, is this an April Fool's joke?
Bail them out.
It’s rough for everyone, but luckily I got a job at a firm that should give me at least a couple safe years. Now I’ll just have to make sure those are a couple very frugal years until my net worth is back in the black.
You have learned well, Grasshopper. When do you graduate and what bar will you take?
My son owes $250,000 in student loans. We helped him get through college initially, but he decided to go on for advanced degrees and also went to Oxford. After his first degrees, we had to opt out as we could no longer afford to finance it.
I told him a while back that $250,000 is not all that much money in the scheme of things, and that it is like how you eat an elephant - one bite at a time. So, that’s what he’s doing, living lean and paying it off. A hard lesson.
It is so depressing to see kids running up credit card debts of maybe $9,000 and then committing suicide because of the hassle - and $9,000 to a child from a poor background looks like such a large sum of money. These credit card companies have used some stinkin’ nasty tactics for the almighty dollar.
You’ll soon see that your $100,000 debt is very do-able and you’ll knock it out pretty quick.
Summary wrong, details right. Leadership and mentoring starts with the President, the Trustees, the Provosts, the Deans, the Department Chairs (and the persons who therein sit), the Professors Emeriti, the Professors. Young persons learn! Morals are taught, are very teachable. Expect it, we will get it.
This is exactly WHY you must investigate the average starting salary for your chosen field! If you won’t make a lot starting out - you have no business going to the school that will keep you in the poor house the rest of your life!
Sad style of argument. I refuse to further engage you.
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