Dealing with Unpayable Student Loans

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by zanger, Aug 8, 2010.

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  1. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator


    It is absolutely the right thing to do to pay back what you owe. Your extremely rude remarks are becoming annoying. We can also do without the images.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2010
  2. zanger

    zanger member

    I do not know if you are still in the army or not, but the whole idea of soldiers being in college during wartime is a joke. Were soldiers in college during the War of 1812 or WW1? Oh yeah, they were wars that were won. After the World Trade Center the army refused to shut down West Point like during real wars, which signaled to me the war was not going to go very well. Armies that are serious about winning a war bring all available soldiers to the front, not have them sit around in an academy. No wonder the primitives are winning the war.
     
  3. jackrussell

    jackrussell Member

    Aren't we responsible for our own loans and own actions? If we made a mistake we pay for it. The banks can only do so much, they can't put a gun on your head to make you sign up for the loans!
     
  4. zanger

    zanger member

    I did not name anyone in the post. Many people are $100,000 in debt with a worthless degree, since they were tricked the right thing to do is to not pay. Many of these colleges and banks are involved in fraud.

    What is wrong with an image of a Disney character and a graph?

    Financial aid officials that push loans on to teens were found to actually own an interest in the student loan providers who provided the teens the loan. This is called fraud.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2010
  5. zanger

    zanger member

    These same banks are the same banks that knowingly set off the mortgage crisis, they should not even be in business anymore. They are only in business because they paid off Congress.
    It is interesting they can get a bailout but not the little people.
     
  6. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    We borrowed the money, my wife completed the school, we owed the money, I got hit with penalties and interest for ignoring the debt for about 10 years, I paid it back. Maybe I was foolish (in some peoples eyes) but I sleep better at night. By the way, my wife corrected me, they knocked it down to something like $7K if I made payments on time and it was evenually removed from my wife credit after a year of good payments and went from "default" to "never missed a payment". She has a credit score of just over 800 and you can not put a price on that!
     
  7. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Thanks for your insightful views.
     
  8. TMW2009

    TMW2009 New Member

    One thing I must question... What about those of us who haven't been 'duped'? My cost of my undergrad degree has been about 5k. I don't feel duped... I did take out a loan to cover the upfront cost on classes I've taken through EC to meet a credit obligation that I signed up with. I'm going to pay it back, not because 'I don't feel duped' but because I signed up for this loan knowingly and I owe the money on it. I purchased the product with it. I'm paying off the debt from my purchase. Because I'm happy with my purchase, understood the terms of the loan, and plan to pay it back, there appears to be something wrong there? I don't see the quandry in that.

    And I also don't get the whole 'My kid apparently has no common sense, and wanted an expensive degree with no value in the 'real' world. Why should they get stuck in debt *that they can't just have written off*?' situation.
     
  9. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef


    Ya know, in 2005 when I enrolled at TESC, I filled out the forms to apply for a Pell Grant. In doing so, the school "automatically" signed me up for 2 student loans (the subsidized one and the unsubsidized one- I don't recall what their official name is). Anyway, I was sent a paper showing my "financial aid package" and I was to sign it and return it. *oooo lucky me.

    So, even though I had completed roughly 3/4 of my degree before enrolling, my "package" included a $5000ish grant, and two $5000ish loans. That's $15,000!! Even then, the required 6 credit per semester (I know the policy has changed) would not have come anywhere near the cost of $15,000. They just throw money at you.

    I didn't want the loans, but I wanted to Pell Grant, but it wasn't clear how to choose that option. I remember making 2 calls to the financial aid office before I understood how to decline these automatic loans. It was a pain, and frankly, I'm quite sure this is rare because the financial aid office was essentially shocked and confused by my decision to decline the loans. I think I had to complete another form and send it in before they could process me.

    So, in some ways, they REALLY push this money on people. I'm 40 and I had a financial plan before we started- but I can tell ya, some 17 year old kid and his mom are going to sign, sign, sign - because that's what people are telling them to do. Yes, they know it's a loan. But it's all so "common-place" and expected, that I think people just go with the flow. Really, turning down money? Not a lot of people are willing to do that, especially when they don't even have to START a single payment for 4 (or more) years.
     
  10. AUTiger00

    AUTiger00 New Member

    Zanger, your views on the military are a bit out there. In regards to the academies, you're talking about a total of less than 15,000 young men and women (that includes West Point, the Naval and Air Force academies).
    Keep in mind, any student who has completed two or viewer years at one of the institutions can walk away at any time with no financial or military obligation, students can leave during their junior or senior year and not be required to serve, though they will have to pay for the education they received. You shut down the academies during a war and see how many of them don't just enroll at another academic institution.

    In regards to only issuing student loans for particular tracks of study, I think it might be better to look at the institution where the student is studying. Some universities have better placement rates than others. Beyond that, schools that are typically considered to be the best in the country tend to be liberal arts institutions that don't have majors such as business, nursing, etc. If you were to require students to major in particular subjects to secure a loan most Harvard students (or students at most other ivy league schools) wouldn't qualify for loans.
     
  11. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Zanger will not be replying to your, or any other, questions.
     
  12. NorCal

    NorCal Active Member

    Military Student Loan Repayment is kind of tricky. I tried to use it but the fine print got to me. The fine print being that you have a specific amount of time, usually only a few months from when you enlist, in order to file the paperwork and have your loans repaid. In my case it was 60 days, and in the following 60 days from my enlistment I was way too busy being screamed at by a drill instructor to find the time to file the forms; thus I was disqualified when I attempted to file my claim 6 months later.

    Maybe its changed, but I feel like I got screwed by Uncle Sam on that one.
     
  13. BrandeX

    BrandeX New Member

    -3 cheers-

    I don't really disagree with this thread myself, but he should have gotten the ban stick a while back for that racist/white supremacist "skulls" thread here.
     
  14. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    I was in the Army Reserves from 1990-1998 and never took advantage of the military tuition assistance programs. I signed back up in 2002 with the sole purpose of taking advantage of the military tuition assistance. I made it really clear that this advantage was my main motivator (because it certainly was not the pay). I signed up for 12 months (which they tried to switch to 60 months and said, “just sign and we will fix it later” but that is another story) and when I got to my unit the first thing I tried to do was process tuition assistance paperwork. They laughed at me! They told me that they did not have any money but might have some next year. That is when I CLEP’ed my ass off to get as many credits as I could.

    I should have learned after 8 years of military experience that I should have gotten everything in writing!
     
  15. ITJD

    ITJD Active Member

    The fact that they can does not mean that they should. This counter rightfully belongs in its own thread about moral responsibility vs. the fact that parts of the brain that moderate the rational decision making process don't fully mature until the age of 25.

    No excuses, just perspective. Kids need time to grow up and shouldn't be allowed to vote, take out loans or handle grown up stuff until much later than 18, or until they see fit to own property. (in which case normal credit rules apply.) Just two tangential cents.

    A
     
  16. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    I thought I was off, untill I met the Z man.
     
  17. Randell1234

    Randell1234 Moderator

    Don't fool yourself...you're still off...:D
     
  18. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

    Wise guy eh....(Shakes Fist)
     
  19. SurfDoctor

    SurfDoctor Moderator

    Yea, we were trying to be tolerant. I didn't see the white supremacist stuff or he would have been gone sooner.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 9, 2010
  20. b4cz28

    b4cz28 Active Member

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