The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden

[marmar]

WSJ, via Yahoo:



The $555,000 Student-Loan Burden

by Mary Pilon
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
provided by The Wall Street Journal


When Michelle Bisutti, a 41-year-old family practitioner in Columbus, Ohio, finished medical school in 2003, her student-loan debt amounted to roughly $250,000. Since then, it has ballooned to $555,000.

Michelle Bisutti borrowed $250,000 to pay for medical school. The debt has since ballooned to $555,000.

It is the result of her deferring loan payments while she completed her residency, default charges and relentlessly compounding interest rates. Among the charges: a single $53,870 fee for when her loan was turned over to a collection agency.

"Maybe half of it was my fault because I didn't look at the fine print," Dr. Bisutti says. "But this is just outrageous now."

To be sure, Dr. Bisutti's case is extreme, and lenders say student-loan terms are clear and that they try to work with borrowers who get in trouble.

But as tuitions rise, many people are borrowing heavily to pay their bills. Some no doubt view it as "good debt," because an education can lead to a higher salary. But in practice, student loans are one of the most toxic debts, requiring extreme consumer caution and, as Dr. Bisutti learned, responsibility. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/108846/the-555000-student-loan-burden?mod=edu-continuing_education

[kiva]

1. This was just under the thread

"500,000 to kill an enemy soldier" - so maybe we shouldn't kill that soldier and reduce Dr. Bisutti's debt to $55,000? :shrug:

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Just another example of how the middle class is under attack

By the time somebody finishes college, they are up to their eyeballs in debt. The banks basically own them as they become virtual slaves.

[Romulox]

3. Anyone else suspect that they trot out the least sympathetic characters they can find for these

sorts of stories?

Remember the one about foreclosure a few months back that lamented a woman who "couldn't make it" on six figures? These stories read like false flag stuff to me... :shrug:

[Cali_Democrat]

4. This is an extreme case

However, there is no question that college graduates now face tens of thousands of dollars worth of student loan debt after they graduate.

This is a crushing burden as college has become too damn expensive.

[Romulox]

5. I sympathize with student loan debtors, but I wonder if the WSJ does... nt