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Thread: Student loan mayhem!

  1. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by iris lilies View Post
    OMG who is the "steve" who co-signed this guy's new set of loans? Who would be so stupid these days as to -co-sign student loans to the tune of $190,000 when the applicant has made little progress in paying them down?

    Edited to add: the "steve" in this article is the author's friend.

    There is no hope for this generation.

    Get off my lawn.
    I read this article and wow, IL is right, who is "Steve?" I am troubled that the guy had his grandmother co-sign the 100000 of undergrad loans--I guess they were undergrad loans?

    Why would you do either of these things to someone who cared about you? He presents himself as unusually clueless, but he also seems pretty ethically challenged for a bioethicist.

    This article is definitely worth reading as a cautionary tale--both about student loans and being friends to folks with student loans.

    Of my three children, one has students loans remaining from his undergrad years at an expensive private college (graduated in 2004) and not sure how much headway he has made on them. He sort of works in his field but is a freelancer. One graduated with less debt as he received a Hispanic scholarship and attended a low cost school. The third dropped out of college freshman year as he was debt averse and said he saw too many people graduating and not able to get jobs.

    With first son, I paid in about 5000 a year for him to go. With second, I found and arranged the Hispanic scholarship which was about 10000 a year. Then, I paid the remaining 6500 of his debt about two years after he graduated.

    I felt guilty for advising them to go to college, and would probably give different advice today, but that was how I was raised, and with the first, I was still in the mindset of "go to the best competitive school you can as it will pay off later in terms of jobs." It did not work for me and it did not for them.

    It did work for my dil, who took out grad school loans in a good field and has a good job now.

    I am shocked the guy in the article makes 70,000 a year--I have never earned that much, even with a PhD, so I don't know what to say about his loans, except that they seem excessive, and he should never have arranged for cosigners.

  2. #62
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
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    I did not go to college until I was 31 and we had saved up the $ to pay for it. We paid for my first masters even though I could have gotten it for free but being a TA at a college a hour away was too difficult with 3 kids. My second masters was paid for by the Feds if I worked 3 years in public rehabilitation. I spent my career in public service. My kids lived at home and went to the local university. There are ways to do it without going broke. Now for those with big student debt the only thing they can do at this point is try to keep moving forward.

  3. #63
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Re: co-signing a loan

    A young woman we know, only employed part time, is going for a mortgage. This person has lots of personal problems, but suffice to say she cannot get a mortgage without a co-signer.

    ”I can get a mortgage if someone will just co-sign the paperwork” she says.

    ah, no honey, you do not qualify for a loan. If you qualified for a loan, you would not need a co-signer.

  4. #64
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    The whole college game is interesting to me.

    dh went to Big Name School that his father attended for undergrad, because it was always assumed he would. He then went to State School for graduate work because we wanted to get married and it was close to me and offered the best assistantship package. in retrospect he says he should have gone to a state school for undergrad and Big Name School for graduate work, but his work at State School led to his current, well paid, decently located job.

    I had to choose among Major State University (full tuition scholarship), Former Teacher College, and Fancy School. I fell in love with Fancy School, but ultimately my dad talked me into keeping it as an option for graduate school because he didn’t feel that the financial difference was justified at the undergrad level. He was willing and able to pay for most of Former Teacher College and I got a job and graduated debt free. The choice definitely changed the course of my life, because I would not have felt free to get married, have babies young, and stay home for years if I had gone to Fancy School. I also would probably have been much more serious about my school work and taken a more accademic path. Everyone is going to have their own views on that, but I like my life.

    we paid off dh undergrad loans when he was 29. We had already started saving for our kids’ college.

    dd1 took a free ride on academics, ds got a nice academic scholarship, and dd2 got some small scholarships based on activities and competitions. We were able to cover their room, board, books and tuition. (For Dd 1 we covered all of her non-entertainment expenses - $800 first semester, a little more later on- she bought a car for her co-op jobs and we paid her insurance.)

    heartdaughter started college with a full tuition academic scholarship, but couldn’t be a full time student, keep her grades up and work enough hours to feed and shelter herself. She didn’t really understand how the deck was stacked and was too proud and stubborn to ask for or accept help. The university wouldn’t let her go part time. She ended up dropping out homeless after a year. She continued to suck up as much education as she could get, but didn’t accumulate any paperwork. Finally after having doors shut in her face long enough, she went back to school. She let us pay one semester of tuition ($2,700) when she was in financial straights after leaving her abusive husband (and first and last month’s rent on the cheap apartment she found for her and her son) and 7 years later, she just finished her master’s degree. Her house needs a new roof, she’s basically broke, and her car sucks, but aside from her mortgage, she’s debt free.

  5. #65
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ultralight View Post
    You can do two more years standing on your head.

    I still have 8.5 more years in my sentence! haha
    Ah, ok, I see from this old post that UL is now 7 years away from endng his sentence. Well, that is a while, considering how long we here have been discussing his situation.

  6. #66
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    According to CNN, only about 42% of people attending college take out debt. I was a little surprised to hear that.

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/05/pf/c...ats/index.html

  7. #67
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by LDAHL View Post
    According to CNN, only about 42% of people attending college take out debt. I was a little surprised to hear that.

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/06/05/pf/c...ats/index.html

    They probably had other forms of support. I took out a sizeable loan to help my daughter, which I'm still paying off (my DD graduated in 2007). I was absolutely dumbfounded to learn about the terms of the loan. For years, there was absolutely no part of the payment applied to the principal of the loan. My fault for not going through the terms with a fine-tooth comb. But when I had paid 2-3 years of loan payments and the principal had gone down 0%, I called the loan people up and asked them and it was because there was some kind of graduated payment built in because they assume the student doesn't have the means with an entry level job to pay the loan back. But 3 years of INTEREST-ONLY payments????

    Yes, it was my fault for not reading the terms of the mortgage (oops, Freudian slip--I meant school loan). But the FAFSA had determined that we had significantly more ability to pay at one point (after two sons had graduated from a state school) and that left us with the decision for me to find a loan during my lunch hour one day (I cash-flowed the first two years of DD's education) or tell DD that she had to move home and go to a state school.

    So, that 42% may be a little bit off. It doesn't mean that 68% are cash-flowing their education. It probably means that other people are burdened with the cost.

    LDAHL, you and others are probably rolling their eyes at my financial illiteracy, but sometimes we right-brained folk a) don't know what the hell we're dealing with and b) people make choices based on the best prospect for a successful outcome, which isn't always consistent with the best financial outcome for the debtor.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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  8. #68
    Yppej
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    Quote Originally Posted by bae View Post
    We should just nationalize all the universities and colleges, and provide free education, room, board, and medical care to everyone for life.

    I have all sorts of Ph.Ds I'd love to work on.

    Make sure to keep those checks coming in on time, Alan! We're counting on you!
    I would like to get a PhD in Entitlement Studies.

  9. #69
    Senior Member bae's Avatar
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    My daughter graduated today with her BA. She has no loans. I still have $166k left on the parent loans the university offered me (at 3-4%) to help make the full fare they charged us somewhat less painful.

  10. #70
    Senior Member herbgeek's Avatar
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    My daughter graduated today with her BA.
    Congratulation Bae and family. It seems like just yesterday you were posting pictures of her fencing (I'm guessing she was early/mid teens?). And I thought it was just last year when she left for college. Time is just flying by.

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