Woman wracked up $311K in debt for 3 degrees — and she’s now stuck

Hmmm. What's the definition of "public service" in this case. Would the non-profit, where Helen works as a staff attorney, qualify?

I have no idea - I don't even know the name of the non-profit, or what it does. Anybody know? Have an opinion? I'm pretty sure that if she did qualify for forgiveness, Helen would know. She's plenty smart - just terribly self-misguided. And she had a lot of help - from the lender - in that misguidance.

 

I don't know the answer to your excellent question.

On a tangential note. I just read an article that the Biden administration just completed the paperwork to forgive 153,000 student loans. Folks should be notified soon if they're in that bunch.

 

Possibly, yes. It needs to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and fall under one of these categories: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/qualifying-public-services

"The income a legal professional can make varies, depending on location, type of law and years of experience. However, according to the latest report from the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), even entry-level associates can earn as much as $215,000 in major markets. Helen’s three years of experience should put her above this pay range. Ramsey estimates Helen could make an additional $100,000 a year working as an attorney and get rid of her debt in roughly three years. This, he says, can serve as a temporary measure rather than a permanent career shift, since she doesn’t enjoy the work."

I have much more faith in that idea than Ramsey's suggestion. BigLaw lawyers start above $100K but no way would this person be qualified for the $215K+ that the article writer seems to think. Somehow Ramsey thinks she can make an "extra" $100K a year as an attorney on top of her full-time job. I don't see it. Even billing $150 an hour and pretending taxes don't exist, you'd need to find (and do) 13.5 hours of legal work a week, every week for 3 years. I just don't see someone doing that overnight, especially when they hate the work.

 

So do I. Matter of fact, I have very little faith in another of Ramsey's suggestions. He maintains that Helen's old job as a litigator was less stressful than the existence of her huge educational debt. And maybe she should get back to that kind of work.

How the blazes would he know? Is he a professional? A Psychologist? Psychiatrist? I don't think he has any such knowledge, here. If Helen wanted to be "talked at, not to" with useless, canned blow-hard advice, I'd have had her ask my father - but he died 30+ years ago.

Not a Ramsey fan.

 

Then consider the following info a bonus! Ramsey has fired 3 pregnant employees (a clear Equal Opportunity Employment Commission violation), who are now suing him. He maintains they were only fired for having premarital sex (as if that's better?) He also fires employees if they get credit cards, and was accused of firing an employee who followed COVID precautions. He also faces a $150 million class action lawsuit for promoting a sham "get out of your timeshare" company.

 

Whoooeee! Sometimes my snap judgments are right. This is one. Worse than I thought. Creepy. Thanks, @Dustin.