Capitalism in a nutshell

I totally understand. We started with nothing, but you are starting in a huge hole. Universities have priced themselves out. They are too expensive. We should offer more apprenticeship programs so you either pay nothing or get paid while learning your job.

Exactly!!

This should be criminal, I don't understand why the politicians can't meet us half way on this. Why can't student loans be zero to super low interest rates. You pay back the $250k and call it settled (which is still alot' of money btw).

The problem in a nutshell.

I'm fourteen, and I really want to be a special education teacher when I'm an adult, which requires college. I want to have a job that I love, but I can't imagine being that much in debt. Any time I bring it up to an adult, I'm told that I'll "figure it out" or that "I shouldn't be worrying about that yet". But considering the situation my country is in, I probably should have started saving for college two years ago :(

What kind of crazy interest rates are being charged on these loans?!

I'm Gen X. We hae ALL inherited the debts racked up by Boomers and the gutless politicians catering to them. They didn't pay it forward. They loaned it forward, with compound interest....

As a retired professor, I strongly agree with this statement. It is terribly broken, from pre-K up to PhD. The American education system is completely broken.

That's really f****d up, a 17-yo isn't mature enough to take such a huge loan and to understand the ramifications a loan like that has on your life. In my county you could never get that much student loan

What is the ad for?

Can’t even start to believe the blame is being put on the victims...

Must be nice to be one of the lucky ones. I went to college after raising my children and still ended up with $40,000+ in loans. Now my salary isn't enough to live and pay loans. Their "programs" do not help. Wish I had never gone to college. My Masters is worthless.

As a swede with mostly free schools and low cost state loans to cover other expenses it is so horrifying to read all these tragedies :'(

I'm 50 and when I was a (very poor) kid I thought college was only for the rich.. I was right. I went for a few months and dropped out, paid off a very small student loan and started working low wage jobs. Pure luck has given me a decent life but it's fragile. I feel for young people in this country... the system sets them up for a very hard life.

Our country is slowly strangling itself. People trapped in loans they will never escape unless they sell their souls cannot contribute to the economy when they are living in rat-holes, wearing thrift-shop clothes and subsisting on beans and rice.

I am so sorry. Your story is heartbreaking, yet so common. I am also in over my head in student loan debt and it will probably take me the rest of my life to pay off a master's degree that I am not using because of the ridiculous rate of compounded interest (borrrowed $48k, ended up owing $135k by the time I was able to start paying it off). And Navient is making a f*****g insane profit. It's just a sick business. I really hope that Dems take over and take these people to task. This is just criminal

Don't go to For Profit schools. Look at ITT.

Similar issue with Apollo and 'University' of Phoenix, among others. All big promises, just to get you to sign up, then dry up funds, or provide worthless 'degrees' which will never help you to pay the loans off.

And even with IBR, the interest is still growing and will be compounded so that will just balloon your balance. That was a fun surprise for me.

If you're earning $10 an hour at age 45, a college degree was never going to help you. Shame on places like Devry for existing, granted, but you have to have reasonable expectations.

This same scenario happened to me. I was going to DePaul University part time while working a full time job. I received some financial aid through our state but it was cut during a school year. So when I went to sign up for classes again in the next semester I was told that I owed $5k from my previous semester because the grant I received was cut. They told me that I couldn’t sign up for classes unless it was paid. So I had to quit. I didn’t have 5k. I’m still paying that plus the 10k of student loans. My initial student loan amount: $9500 I’ve paid: $2,460 Still owe: $10,107

Devry is a for-profit school that is perhaps designed to kinda screw you.

That’s how they keep us in our place and bleeding cash for the rest of our lives. Then when we die they make our children pay. No wonder poor people can hardly break free. The poorer you are the more interest you pay. You are paying for the people who just quit paying or die and their relatives don’t pay. Oh, I forgot if you think you are covered because you don’t have children they will go after your brothers or sisters too.

I have an MSW which initially was $65,000 but is well over $100,000 now. Starting wage for new MSW. $9.00 per hour. Im 56. If I were a Walton maybe i could pay if off, but im nobody. I tried. My bad.

This could have been written by me. Word for word. DeVry did the same thing to me, and I only had two more classes left. There wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. My only saving grace was that 3 years later I became permanently disabled and was able to have them discharged by the government.

Unfortunately, when you requested or accepted that very first offered subsidized and unsubsidized loan you were required to complete Loan En tdd France Counseling and sign a Master Promissory Note at www.studentloans.gov. Both of those activities told you all about repayment, etc.

No, even if you got your degree you’d still have an issue paying. But I can relate to what he is saying. This is a nightmare. The only way to get out of it is to go in an entirely different direction.

You should stop spoiling yourself and demanding luxuries. If you don't have the money to eat, just don't. It's as simple as that. *sarcasm - just to make sure*

In Australia university was free until 1988, but now it is paid for by Government loans - but repaymemts don't start until your income is over a certain threshold. If you never reach that threshold, you never repay the debt.

Oh yeah, good old Navient.

I just can't understand why AT LEAST the loans couldn't be without interest. I believe that is how the UK has it (correct me if I'm wrong, please).

Just wow.. I only pay 25 USD each month during 4 year of college.. Then (because I work while studying) another 50 USD each year for 2 year of extention.. Totally I spend around 20 Million IDR (around 1.500 USD) till graduate.. #asian

With interest it could become that much and the sucky thing is our children will probably be responsible for some of it

120k is like solitary confinement

What in the entire f**k. The pettiness. Pettiness of this level can only come from the mega rich.

That is a rare accomplishment.

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

There are 2 types of people who are wronged those that say never again to noone else and those who stop progress because it does not help them personally

OMFG I'm surprised boomers aren't being slaughtered en masse in the USA. Pro Tip: Start with the politicians...

It's terryfing that someone has reason to write "i did a terrible thing" because he studied for a job he wanted to do. Not everyone likes to be doctor/lawyer/whatever just to pay off his or hers loans.

I officially paid off my student loans four years ago. Want to know how? My husband died.

If your payments are income based, your (compounded) interest will continue to accrue, which means your loan amount will be more when it's forgiven than when it was initiated. The government could have saved money by just paying for the tuition in the first place.

From malawi a third world country. Paid of my university degree debt in 1 month after getting a job.

That's supposed to be a joke, right? She didn't pay it off, her mother basically did!