I completely get the impossibility of paying off 200K for an expensive non marketable degree and not being able to find a job, but I'm not fully understanding the issue with paying off a moderate loan when hired after graduation.
Comparing it to my loan, I graduated with $9,500 in debt and was hired at $10.50/hr. That creeped up of course but I initially made less than 25K/year. Compared to 104K now, that was very little income.
I was the sole earner, paid my rent, had a new but modest car, paid for my two kids (didn't even have maternity benefits on the first (the health insurance industry has never been a bed of roses), had a couple of horses and still paid off my loans in 10 years.
What I don't get is the primary reason why that doesn't work the same for anyone that graduates with student debt that is roughly half of their annual income these days.
I'm sure interest plays a part, but what else?
Do people just resent having to pay them back? They're cramping the new lifestyle norm?
I'd love to hear from some recent grads who are living the situation rather than a lot of speculation about other people's motives and habits. So glad so many of you have escaped the debt trap.
I owe about $28,00. I've never been late, and have never gone into deferment due to unemployment though I have lost my job twice (I'm an Occ Health Nurse in Industry).
My decision to borrow was based upon the presumption that 1) Jobs would be available and 2) they would be 40 hours per week.
My current job, which I love is 24 hour per week, so I'm a bit squeezed. My pay rate is good. I have no negative thoughts per the loan program. But I do have negative thoughts for the politicians when occasionally I find a nickel in my pocket from the early 60's and realize that today it takes 20 to by a regular sized Milky Way bar, yet when that nickel was made it took only one.
My only fear is that my 24 hour job will disappear or some jerk in the White House will create some scenario such that 24 hour jobs do not become the norm, but rather, maybe 16 hour jobs.
Few would complain if there were, in reality, plenty of decent, appropriate (historically speaking) jobs. I do realize that I'm both lucky and wise. Mostly because long ago I went into nursing because I believed there would be job security. And there is...somewhat.
I was young and stupid, went to an expensive college for a year before I realized I couldn't afford it. Got a BS in biology because nursing schools were insanely competitive (I'm in MA. Had a 3.9 with all prerequisites for nursing done). Then finally did an accelerated BSN. I was in survival mode and took loans to get myself through the two degrees. Always took extra so I could buy groceries. Now I'm sitting with around ~70k in loans and a $900/month bill. Yeah, it sucks. But I was young and stupid, didn't look into all my options, took out high interest rate loans, etc. At the end of it all I got to where I wanted to be and paired with my husband we make a good living. I think of my loan debt as a brand new luxury vehicle. Except what I got for the 70k will never depreciate :)
I like your attitude. It is what it is and you are making the best of it. Good luck getting your loan paid down and enjoy your nursing career. :)
And if law schools are pumping out the ridiculous number of lawyers that nursing schools are now without the need it seems as if some of them closing isn't a bad thing, right?
(Eventually, the student loan crisis will come to a head. It's happening in the legal field. Very high student loan burdens combined with a lack of jobs has led to an enrollment crisis. Law school applications are declining rapidly, and some law schools are in danger of closing.)
It's happening already, on Sunday, a few days ago Corinthian College in California closed its doors stranding 16,000 students.
The abrupt closure of for-profit Corinthian Colleges Inc. may cost U.S. taxpayers more than $200 million in canceled student loans.
Corinthian reached an agreement on Sunday with the Education Department to shutter its 28 campuses serving about 16,000 students. Forgiving their debt, if all students request it, would cost the government about $214 million, according to Denise Horn, an Education Department spokeswoman.
I was young and stupid, went to an expensive college for a year before I realized I couldn't afford it. Got a BS in biology because nursing schools were insanely competitive (I'm in MA. Had a 3.9 with all prerequisites for nursing done). Then finally did an accelerated BSN. I was in survival mode and took loans to get myself through the two degrees. Always took extra so I could buy groceries. Now I'm sitting with around ~70k in loans and a $900/month bill. Yeah, it sucks. But I was young and stupid, didn't look into all my options, took out high interest rate loans, etc. At the end of it all I got to where I wanted to be and paired with my husband we make a good living. I think of my loan debt as a brand new luxury vehicle. Except what I got for the 70k will never depreciate :)
You have a strong mature attitude.
I'm curious, my SO did finance a 65K luxury vehicle once (long since totaled by his ex wife, so talk about young and stupid!) and I think he paid it off in 6 yrs with huge payments, is that something that is possible with student loans with $900/mo payments?
To quote the OP Do people just resent having to pay them back? They're cramping the new lifestyle norm?
Can someone explain this to me? Am I being dense?
I waded through pages and pages of "well when I went to nursing school...." and "silly young people just sign on the line and take crazy loans", but I didn't see many answers from anyone who is living with high amounts of debt, chiming in to say what they were doing/feeling about the amount of debt they had.
To quote the OP Do people just resent having to pay them back? They're cramping the new lifestyle norm?
Can someone explain this to me? Am I being dense?
I waded through pages and pages of "well when I went to nursing school...." and "silly young people just sign on the line and take crazy loans", but I didn't see many answers from anyone who is living with high amounts of debt, chiming in to say what they were doing/feeling about the amount of debt they had.
Sure didn't, good point.
Is it then hype that there are climbing numbers of borrowers either defaulting or resentful and feeling screwed even though gainfully employed? Or are most holding a degree that isn't worth the paper it's written on in this job market (not exclusive to nursing degrees)?
What really bothers me the most is that such huge loans can even be granted to young adults, I wouldn't even call my own 18 yr olds adults, they're just getting there in their early 20's. Just. Some may be mature and wise at 18-20 but I can't say that I know any that were ready to determine if a 100K loan was a good decision.
I know a young attorney, 30ish. Very smart, very articulate, certainly more versed than me. Both she and her husband have 200K in student loans between them, which she regrets deeply. She doesn't even want to practice law after finding out what her particular education/college degree could get her which is a whole lot of dysfunctional and/or heartbreaking clients and having to wade thru so much BS in the legal system. She definitely doesn't make enough money to make big strokes on her loan and says they'll be making payments for decades. This was a young woman sharp enough to graduate from a respectable university and complete law school, she is also a savvy horsewoman with practical common sense (I'm partial to horsewomen) and she still didn't have that foresight that only comes with life experience.
I don't think the answer is to deny assistance to people who believe they have it figured out, but there doesn't seem to be enough safeguards to prevent young people from burying themselves.
This was a young woman sharp enough to graduate from a respectable university and complete law school, she is also a savvy horsewoman with practical common sense (I'm partial to horsewomen)...
My wife is a horse trainer and a lifelong horsewoman. There is just something about them, isn't there? Physically, emotionally, and morally strong. I wish I had known about them earlier in life.
I'm curious, my SO did finance a 65K luxury vehicle once (long since totaled by his ex wife, so talk about young and stupid!) and I think he paid it off in 6 yrs with huge payments, is that something that is possible with student loans with $900/mo payments?
My interest rates vary- I have some at 3% and some at 10.5%. I have them through both the dept of education as well as through sallie Mae. I'm not sure when exactly my loans will be paid off. I've looked into consolidating them, at a higher interest rate than many of mine are sitting at. It seems REASONABLE that I could pay them off sooner than 25-30 years they're probably at. My largest one through dept of education is 40k, and I'm on a tiered system with a certain number of payments at x amount, then another number of payments at a higher rate. I probably should look into consolidation because it seems silly to stretch it over 30 years when people pay car loans off in 5-6 years for the same amount...
I started out with $30,000 in loans total when i finished my Bachelor's. I live in Texas and luckily they had a 'B-on-time' loan available. The stipulations were that you had to complete the degree within four years and maintain a certain GPA throughout. They ended up forgiving around half of my loans which left me with a $16,000 bill. I whittled it down to $12,000 now and I pay $150 a month. I don't feel like they're crippling me financially since I got such a good deal. If it weren't for these loans, I would have never been able to go to college since my parents just couldn't afford for me to go. I'm very grateful and I gladly pay my monthly bill.
ixchel
4,547 Posts
What specifically would you like to hear about?