I Owe $130,000 in Student Loans

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[Sub-Driver]

I Owe $130,000 in Student Loans

Jennifer Sammartino has a great education and a mountain of student loan debt By Gemma DiCasimirro and Alexis Leonard | Thursday, Feb 9, 2012 | Updated 5:43 PM EST

When Jennifer Sammartino needed help paying for college, she, like many students, took out federal and private loans. Now she’s faced with over $130,000 in student loan debt.

After Sammartino graduated from La Salle University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology. she had no luck getting a job. She then made the decision to go back to school, hoping that a Master’s degree would bring in more job opportunities.

But graduate school also meant more loans.

Unable to get approved by herself, Sammartino’s parents co-signed for the majority of her loans. Now they could be in serious financial trouble too.

If Sammartino defaults on her loans, her parents could lose their home.

Sammartino, now with her Master’s degree is still unable to find a job in her field. She works as a case manager for special needs children, but her salary isn't enough to pay back all the money she owes for her education.

The debt seems overwhelming to Sammartino. “I would like to be able to pay my student loans, and we know that we have to pay them back,” she says, “But we don’t know where to start.”

[aruanan]

I apologize in advance for the sexist comment, but when I was in college, most of the women at my school were actually studying for their MRS degree. Psychology, or art history, was just what the university put on the diploma.

In my school, I thought that what a lot of the early childhood education majors really wanted to be was a mommy rather than a teacher.

[FreedomPoster]

I’d rather see fewer loans than see young people in debt bondage to the FedGov for liberal underwater basketweaving degrees, but that’s just me.

[FreedomPoster]

10:1 M:F ratio in engineering school when I was there.

[FreedomPoster]

Are you that ignorant? People wouldn’t make the loans. Tell me again why this would be a bad thing, given the story involved here. Did you read it?

[thecodont]

Here comes reality, frowning and carrying a big stick.

Deserves a tagline, that one.

[SamAdams76]

The problem for teachers & parents is that no one knows where the future jobs will be. The huge debts we saddled our kids with are because they don't get proper guidance & advice because few people really have good advice and are instead told they can be "whatever they want to be".

I've done pretty well in life by "going where the jobs are" as opposed to setting my sights on a particular job. When I entered the workforce in the mid-1980s, everybody wanted to work in computers, such as Wang Labs, Digital or IBM. I took a job fixing copier machines - a job that many looked down upon but I eventually ended up running an entire region with multiple branches and hundreds of employees.

All the education I needed was four years in the Marine Corps. They taught me leadership, discipline, how to deal with adversity, work ethic and how to be a self-starter among other things.

Guess what? I came out of the Marine Corps debt free! Since then, it's been a rocket ride career-wise. I've left those college boys (and girls) in the dust.

Everybody spending all that college money expecting to get a glamorous job right from the get-go are bound to be disappointed. Nobody wants to hire a young kid who feels (due to their college education) that they shouldn't have to get their hands dirty. The best people I've hired are go-getters who never had a college education. They are willing to start at the bottom and work their way up. When hiring, I'll always take somebody with military experience over somebody who went to some fancy college.

[rhombus]

I've done pretty well in life by "going where the jobs are" as opposed to setting my sights on a particular job.

Excellent advice.

[usconservative]

“I would like to be able to pay my student loans, and we know that we have to pay them back,” she says, “But we don’t know where to start.”

Let me give you a clue here sweetie (in the most condescending tone I can muster...)

How about for starters having WORKED while you were going to College to help defray the costs of some of these loans? I worked three different jobs EVERY WEEK while going to college in the mid 1980's to help pay my bills:

- I worked as an appliance repairman for SEARS 4 days a week;
- I sold womens shoes on weekends at a large mall (also got a few dates in the process!);
- I helped a friend build his home wiring business, installing cable, alarm systems and central vacuum systems during the home construction process; typically one or two nights a week

When I finally got OUT of college with my first degree, (Magna Cum Laude) I worked TWO jobs to quickly pay off the $17,000 in debt I had left over, and I did that in 18 months.

I didn't even TRY to go for my Masters Degree until I could actually AFFORD to pay for it back in 2006. Yes, that meant 20 years between my undergrad and grad degrees, but so what. I WORKED for what I earned.

These whining "OCCUPY" morons just don't know what it's like to actually WORK for a living. Spoiled rotten BRATS, every damn' last one of 'em.

[Hot Tabasco]

her salary isn't enough to pay back all the money she owes for her education

And just how much is her salary?

[Hot Tabasco]

He immediately switched from "Liberal Arts" to "Computer Engineering Technology" and is considering a further switch to "Electrical Engineering".

I worked in HR for almost 35 years for my manufacturing company which was a Tier 1 supplier to the Big 3.

Of all the jobs I've witnessed in the plant and elsewhere, those two fields your son is looking at would be the top two on my list to recommend.

As far as non degreed professions, my first pick would be an electrician.....

[justlurking]

10:1 M:F ratio in engineering school when I was there.

It was about 3:1 in our engineering department. But, if you considered the entire university, it was about 1:1, maybe even a bit more women than men.

But, the engineering department was a relatively small part of the university. It was dominated by the business school and law school on the same campus. At the time, those were "promising" careers, so you can easily figure out the attraction for the women.

[rabidralph]

LOL! I would think Prof. Tanaka would be able to give her a reference.

[Popman]

——Unable to get approved by herself, Sammartino’s parents co-signed for the majority of her loans. Now they could be in serious financial trouble too.——

I see the apple didn’t fall from the tree....her parents are idiots or most likey liberals ....but I repeat myself

[Popman]

——During my life I have come into contact with a number of psychologists. It’s my sad duty to report that with the exception of one or two of them, they were all bigger ding-bats than many of their patients.-——
Just about my best friend in high school is now a psychologist .... Was one of the nicest people in the world ....he is now one of the most arrogant sanctimonious religious hating asshats that walk the planet ....

With serious mental issues

[Future Snake Eater]

What a lot of people on FR don’t seem to understand is that when a kid is in high school, NOBODY imparts any wisdom on degree choice. 100% of the effort is on “go to college.” That’s it.

Folks here can call her stupid all day long, but the fact is she was lied to by a great number of people that all she had to do was go to college and everything would work itself out.

[from occupied ga]

me again why this would be a bad thing, given the story involved here

You are eager to spend someone else's money on your pet obsession. A loan not repaid is basically theft by deception. If it is backed by the government, which most of them are, unrepaid student loans would be no different than Soylandra I.e. theft from the taxpayers. So I see that you and 0bama have similar economic ideas I'm kind of curious. Do you or a family member have big student loans that you'd like to duck out of?

[9YearLurker]

If they had good credit their mortgage should have been right at the new, looser 36% of monthly income upper limit.

Conclusions:

1) They probably haven’t managed their income wisely, and

2) That new, looser upper limit maybe isn’t a good idea at that level of income.

[FreedomPoster]

You are working really hard to miss the point. And I have very little debt, the remainder of a house mortgage, and the end of that road is very much in sight. Could write a check if I really needed to. Don’t know anyone with any student loans offhand, though I suppose there are some.

I want gov’t out of the student loan business. There is a higher education bubble still working right now that has similarities to the residential real estate bubble brought on by gov’t loans, loan guarantees, Freddie, Fannie, etc. I want that bubble to end.

While you attempt to paint me with the Obama brush, you would appear the Big Government shill since you appear to be supporting gov’t student loan guarantees.

I want loans treated largely the same for all purposes. I see no reason for a student loan to be treated any different than other consumer debt with respect to bankruptcy. You certainly haven’t made a case why this should be so.

[9YearLurker]

So you’re a really old guy, aren’t you?

[DoughtyOne]

I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know exactly what to attribute this to.

My suspected areas of concern are, the academic environment they have to dwell in while achieving their degree, the peer group they are immersed in, their own flawed sense of what is right and wrong that may deteriorate during this process, and the clientele they spend a good portion of their lives with, once they are established.