Comments for Student Loan Watcher.com - News on Student Loans & Financial Aid

Comment on Colleges Must Stop Copyright Infringement, or Risk Losing Government Financial Aid by 101DoFollowBlogs

101DoFollowBlogs — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:05:58 +0000

I’ve heard some good things about this blog. Remember to balance the pics with the text tho. cheers!

Comment on Advice for College Grads with Student Loans by Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:39:12 +0000

This was relatively good but it would be nice if you would do a piece on dealing with defaulted student loans. Also, I am curious as to why the average student debt that is quoted as 20,000 after graduation hasn’t changed since the mid nineties. Is school getting cheaper? I think the DOE is not counting certian information and suspect that the average student loan debt is much higher.

Comment on Obama Promises College Tuition Tax Credit to Help Ease Student Loans by Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:29:19 +0000

Well, a tax credit would be nice but what happens with a lot of these bills is that they put so many stipulations on them that they only pay off for a very small portion of students. But hey it makes the creator of the bill look like he has done something when they have done nothing at all. For instance, in the last act if you work for a government agency for 10 years you can have the rest forgiven but DOE has put so many stipulations on it that if you miss a payment, if you leave the program and come back etc.,. it is no longer valid and you have to start the 10 years over. Not ot mention that they increased the amount the minimum payment can be to 15% of your income. This essentially leaves very little to discharge at the end of 10 years. It’s all a smoke and mirrors. The government needs to restore credit rights to student loans just like all othe loans. This would force schools to lower tuition as they don’t want students bankrupting. Currently as is there is no checks and balances in the student loan system.

Comment on Another New York Times Student Debt Sob Story by Enlightened

Enlightened — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:50:49 +0000

Shouldn’t the financial aid counselors help the student/”Adults” make their decisions? I mean, they DID persuade, I mean, help them to go with high interest loans, right?

No matter how “Adult” an 18 or 17 year old might be, we all know that finances will go over their head and they will more then likely nod and pretend they know what you’re talking about. Sure, there are resources out there to teach you that kind of things but still, it is also the responsibility of the financial counselor to help you understand these things. It is written in their job description, no?

Comment on Veterans Benefits State by State - An Alternative to Student Loans by Randall Lee

Randall Lee — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:51:56 +0000

Is there any assistance dependents qualify for if the parents are veterans and disabled with a rating of 60%?

Comment on Crushing Debt…..Another Piece of Poor Reporting From the Chicago Sun-Times by Donna Borchers

Donna Borchers — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:26:09 +0000

Why aren’t there laws in this Country against this type of thievery? Sallie Mae is a rip off. They are stealing from people.

Comment on Crushing Debt…..Another Piece of Poor Reporting From the Chicago Sun-Times by Jack

Jack — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:51:38 +0000

Aledgely student loans may be discharged due to disability. I have been diagnosed with sever depression anxiety and lower back pain and knee problems. When I first started dealing with getting my student loans discharged I thought the problem was my poor communication skills, depression anxiety and the medications I take make me slow and because I am unable to communicate well at a normal pace I am sometimes irritable. It wasn’t until my doctor described his experience with the process of obtaining disability discharge as being stonewalled did I realize it wasn’t just me. No one can truly understand depression and anxiety without experiencing it. I will just say life is 90% maintenance (which I dread) and I experience no joy in the other 10%. People who commit suicide are not stupid faulty brain chemistry has sucked all the joy out of life. So are student loans responsible for someones suicide? If someone really wants to kill themselves no one can stop them but if it was your son daughter mother or father don’t you think it would be wise if the student loan system could provide assistance and find a workable soultion rather than throwing them to the debt collection wolves. No one gets paid if the debtor commits suicide.

Comment on Another New York Times Student Debt Sob Story by Mr. Kelly McDowell

Mr. Kelly McDowell — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 19:39:02 +0000

Hey, if you are doing any teaching or are interested in a teaching certification, often the student loans are waived if you decide to teach in poor rural areas.
Also, there are many Hospitals who will pay for your student loans if you are a nurse and sign a contract for a certain length of time.
Just a few ideas.
Bank robbery is an option too. Just kidding.

Comment on Another New York Times Student Debt Sob Story by simone

simone — Thu, 15 May 2008 15:48:26 +0000

I am $120,000 in student loan debt. after reading lots of blogs on this subject I am actually considering paying these loans back. It is so frustrating to think that my repayment is going to be $1,300 a month!! Who has that kind of money? Right when I graduated I was making about $10,000 more a year than my friends whom I graduated with, and still not able to pay that massive amount every month!!! For the next 30 years! I want to pay it back, just make lower payments every month. It seems absurd to pay that much. It’s like a mortgage payment!

Comment on Crushing Debt…..Another Piece of Poor Reporting From the Chicago Sun-Times by Connie McBride

Connie McBride — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:49:47 +0000

Yes, the average high school graduate earns 15,500 less than the college graduate.
HOWEVER.
The high school graduate does not have to pay back the HUGE amount necessary to get through college. They don’t have to deal with the loan companies, who can and will threaten, harass, debase and generally bully you until you just want to give up, so that they can put you into default (because they make a ton more money if you go into default), or face the fact that if bad things happen (and they do, which is why we are in this mess to begin with), they will NEVER, EVER get out from under.

I had to borrow 45,000 to get through college (single parent, 3 kids). Even if I HAD paid the loan on time, month after month (and I did that when I got a job), with interest, I would have paid over 100,000 for my college education.
As it is, after divorce, bankruptcy and catastrophic medical issues, I owe 165,000.00, because when the loan goes into default, they tack on 25-30% in fees.
Once THAT happens, any money you pay goes ONLY to the fees. None goes to the interest. None goes to the principle. The loan is gaining 350.00 a month in interest while the fees are being paid off.
That’s about 55,000.00. Just in my case.
How long do you think it will take? I don’t have anyone to borrow from. I don’t have family that can support me until my loans are paid off. It’s just me.

None of us think we should get a ‘free ride’.
What we are saying is the ride is too expensive.
If we did not start out poor, we wouldn’t owe this.
If our lives were perfect and went according to plan, we wouldn’t owe this.
But things happen. And now there is no way out. The loans are excluded from bankruptcy. My wages have been garnished, with no hearing. They don’t even have to prove that you owe them the money. My boss was harassed by the collector, even though he was following through on the garnishment. In my state, garnishment is a valid cause for termination of employment. I was willing to make the monthly payments, even though it is absolutely useless. I was not willing to give the collection agency access to my bank account.
My social security wages will be garnished. If I become disabled, and can qualify for disability, then my SSD will be garnished, because they don’t have the same definition of disability. In some cases, even though the student loan was included and granted in bankruptcy court, they STILL collect on it.
When I filed bankruptcy, if these were credit cards charges, I would have truly gotten a new start. As it is, the student loan went into default a second time, and another 30,000 was added.
This is what the issue is.
I understand the suicidal thoughts. This will never end. This will never go away. I have no hope for my future. I did what I was ’supposed’ to do. I went through school with 3 small children so that I wouldn’t have to raise them on welfare. I fought hard to make through school, with no family support. I dealt with bronchitis AND pneumonia - at the same time. I developed an ulcer an inch in diameter, but I managed to make it through college. That was over 15 years ago.
Well, at least I didn’t have to raise them on welfare.