What student loan debt does to people (it's not pretty)

[Demovictory9]

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-student-debt-does-to-people-its-not-pretty-2018-11-14

It’s no secret there are widespread hazards with hefty student loans, but a new report from Student Debt Crisis, a nonprofit organization, and Summer, a start-up geared at helping student-loan borrowers figure out repayment, paints a stark picture on just how crushing the obligations can be as Americans try repaying $1.5 trillion in student debt.

The survey found:

· 80% of participants ­— with average debt loads of $87,500 versus average annual incomes of $60,000 — said their student-debt obligations prevented them from saving for retirement.

· 59% said they couldn’t make large purchases because of their student-loan bills and 56% said they couldn’t buy a home

· Student loans were a “major source of stress” for 86% of the respondents and one-third said student debt was the No. 1 cause of their stress

Monthly student loan payments topped expenses for necessities like food and health care, according to the majority of the 7,095 survey participants.

· 65% said their monthly student-loan bills were bigger than their food budget

· 56% said their monthly student-loan bills were more than health insurance

“It’s frustrating and honestly makes me feel completely defeated,” confessed Colleen from Pennsylvania. She was one of the people quoted in the report, talking about their struggles after incurring debt to get a good education.

Another woman in Texas, Melissa, said, “Regularly, I contemplate selling everything and living in my car to help free up money to pay off the debt sooner.”

The survey respondents are a sliver of the people on the hook for education bills.

Right now, 44 million American are repaying an outstanding $1.5 trillion in student debt, the report notes. That debt number has skyrocketed, tripling since 2005.


https://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-student-debt-does-to-people-its-not-pretty-2018-11-14

[smirkymonkey]

1. K&R

[Celerity]

2. this is a HUGE issue for me and my friends in my age group (millennial to GenZ)

[Adrahil]

3. I hope we can get my daughter through school without debt.

Here's hoping!

[demtenjeep]

4. I pay almost 900 a month and the original loan doesn't seem to shrink

I could kick myself for taking so much in loans, we didn't need to take them but at the time it seemed to make life easier

[Progressive Law]

5. Those with high student loan debt, please, consider the government's Income Based Repayment program

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven

1. Your monthly payment is limited to only 15% of your monthly discretionary income.
2. If your income is low enough, you could qualify for $0/month payments.
3. If you make 10 years worth of payments while working in the public sector, you can have the remaining balance of your loans forgiven. (25 years if working in private sector)

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/understand/plans/income-driven

[W_HAMILTON]

7. I'm not sure who all qualifies...

...but I think some of the repayment plans include discharge after 20 years. I believe I am on that repayment plan now. Unfortunately, I figure that is only way I will ever satisfy my student loans. I've basically resigned myself to the fact that I will basically try to make the lowest monthly payments available and just have it all discharged after 20 years rather than trying to pay it off within 10 years or whatever the normal repayment plan is.

[demtenjeep]

6. I figure I will die with outstanding student loans and Sallie Mae or what ever the fuck they are cal

themselves now can go fuck themselves

[Doreen]

10. I remember when my x and I were paying school loans that one month we would be with Sallie Mae then

four months later we would be with someone else and then almost a year later we were with Sallie Mae again then our accounts were sold again. Out last payments went to Sallie Mae.

Each company had different ways of billing you or the info they would give you and some did not give you anything except your account number. one had a number on a paper with the company name and that was it. We are lucky to not have student loans anymore.

[keithbvadu2]

8. Many grandparents on Social Security are bound to student loan debt that they cosigned for the grand

Many grandparents on Social Security are bound to student loan debt that they cosigned for the grandkids.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I have been telling people for some 20 years now NOT to take on student debt.

I was asked to speak to students about that long ago, so long ago I forget why I was asked to speak, and apparently the person asking me to speak thought I'd be completely sympathetic to all student debt. I told them NOT to borrow money for day-to-day expenses (which apparently you can do) and it's OK if you take a few years longer to finish school if in the meanwhile you work and take on less debt.

I've known students to say things like, "I absolutely MUST complete my degree before I'm 30!" To which I ask, "Why?" What terrible thing will happen if you turn 30 and you don't have the degree?"

Here are the basic rules:

If your parents are rich and will pay for all of your college, fine.

If your parents are middle class, you can probably get excellent loans. Don't be fooled. They are still loans and need to be paid back.

If you are very, very smart, you might get an excellent merit scholarship, in which case, good for you! Don't fail to appreciate how wonderful this is. You might also be offered a good merit scholarship to a school you might not have otherwise considered. Consider it. Trust me, finishing school with little or no debt is worth it.

If you are merely reasonably smart, there are a lot of schools which might want you as a student and will offer you good scholarships. Teasing them out can be complicated, but do it.

Otherwise, do this: Start at your local community college. You might be surprised at the quality of education and instruction you will get there. The teachers are not locked into the stupid "publish or perish" thing. Most of them really care about teaching, and they are readily available to you if you're having a problem in that class. I've attended both major universities and community colleges, and have found the quality of teaching at the community colleges to be better.

Take every possible prerequisite you can at the community college. From the very beginning work with them about transferring your credits, and don't waste time taking a class that is not transferable. These days, almost every class you can take at your local community college will transfer to the University or 4 year college in your state. This is a big improvement over the old days.

Now transfer to your state University or College. By this time you should know exactly what your major is and what your goals are. Even if you cannot attend school full time because you are working full time, you should complete your degree in relatively short order. I sincerely hope it's in a field that has high employment.

Here's something else a lot of people don't realize. If you are in the hard sciences, you should not have to pay a penny for school, other than living expenses, after the bachelor's degree. Even if you attend a school in another state. They will start by forgiving the out-of-state part of the tuition, telling you that you are only obligated for the instate amount. And then they'll forgive that, and you should get a stipend based on your teaching assistantship. Meaning you'll TA a class or two each semester. The precise amount will vary from school to school, but is typically around a thousand dollars a month. In some parts of the country that's almost enough to live on. In others, it will cover most, but not all, of your apartment rent.

I'm speaking from experience here. My son is in physics and astronomy. He was in a Master's degree program in the midwest for one year, had the TA thing I was talking about. He then transferred to a school on the east coast and has a Research Assistantship meaning he doesn't teach but is doing research, and has about the stipend I mentioned above. In case anyone reading this actually cares, he's doing research in exo-planets, those outside our solar system but within our galaxy. He went to Cambridge, England back in July for a conference on that topic, and will be attending another one in Switzerland in March. Cool.

While I feel sort of smug that my son's graduate school is essentially paid for, I recognize that it is totally different for anyone in the humanities. Which isn't right. College and grad school should not be a huge financial burden. And for those who worry that if we make college free for all that people will stay in forever, the easy solution is that it's paid for through some certain number of credit hours, no more than 150% of what it normally takes to graduate. After that, a student has to pay the going rate.

[aikoaiko]

11. We've heard the extreme stories, but student loans can be a smart way to obtain a degree

I graduated with my doctoral degree in 1999 with $44,000 in debt. I put it on the long-term repayment plant and have paid $350 per month for 19 years and I'm in my last year now.

I have the job I always wanted and some measure of job security. I don't make a lot of money, but I like my job and my colleagues.

I'm grateful for student loans.

[MichMan]

12. Student Loans were a godsend for me too

While it has been many years since I graduated, I could not have done it without Student Loans. So thankful that I was able to obtain the help I needed. I had gone to college right out of HS and had changed my major setting me back a couple years before running out of $$. I took a few years off while I tried to find my place in life.

I was working a variety of minimum wage type jobs and barely getting by living on my own, but always wanted to go back and finish. Borrowed via loans for tuition and spent four years going part time at night. It was a tough grind, but was able to finally earn an Engineering degree. While never rich, I have earned a decent living and other than 2009 never had any issues finding a job. Took me 10 yrs to pay off the loan

The student loan was by far the best investment I ever made and was life changing. I can't imagine what I would have been doing for a living without it.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. My son and DIL were denied a mortgage with 30% down payment because of

their combined student loans.

[applegrove]

14. This affects lower income people more than the well off. Does Trump's

base know this?