Tragic but it shows a number of things. 1. The cost of college courses in usa is excessive. Here you're looking at about half that cost. 2. Most people on the list seem to not understand that if you pay the minimum repayment rate you won't get out of debt. The banksters do this to keep you trapped. Try pay slightly more than required. If you just pay the interest off, the debt NEVER goes down. 3. You can sign up for degrees in other countries which are cheaper, e.g. EU, Africa, etc. A few of our universities here often come up in the top 100. 4. By all means, keep voting for capitalists. ORRRRR maybe make a socialist party and vote for them?

I'm from Canada so I know things are probably different, but it took me 14 years to pay off a little under $10,000 in student loans... my loan was also through a Provincial Financial Aid program and not through a bank so my interest rate was probably much lower, my payments were never more than $100 a month which at times, was more than I could afford. I know some of the comments on pictures are saying of course you're not going to pay the debt off if all you're paying is the accrued interest, but how can people afford to pay more than that when they're not making a livable wage? On one post the monthly payments were almost $500 on the interest alone, and the principal amount never changed.... it's all kinds of messed up.

When I started college in the Fall of 1968 one could pay for a full year at a state college with one good summer job!!! I lived at home that first summer and worked as an apprentice baker for $3.50/hour. That more than covered the cost for my first year and that was room and board at the dorms, plus books, tuition and fees. Working ones way through college was the norm. Except for scholarships, there was neither financial aid nor financial services. If a student loan was necessary, one went through their bank. Typically, those going that route were majors like pre-med or medical that required such an intense commitment that there was no room for outside employment. (But, such career paths more than compensated for the financial burden of student loans.) Instead of demanding yet ever more government aid, why not go back and take a comprehensive look at what was different in the past; a time when a college education really was quite affordable?

Couldn't it bei cheaper to study abroad where universities are freue?

I´m glad i live in Germany. If you want a higher graduate, but lack the Graduation to do so, but have work experience for at least 4 years in a specific profession, you can get something called: Aufstiegs-BAFÖG. That means i get 50% off from my fee. And if i manage to graduate on my first try (not likely, but still), i get another 50% off. So i decided to get a commercial specialist (bachelor) and have to pay roughly 4.000€ without discount for it. I would say this is manageable. If i would live in the Us, i would be forever poor, that is scary.

Some of these student loans look more like a mortgage, where the interest is paid off first and as you pay it's becomes more towards principal. If so, and you can send in a little more that will come off the principal, you can make real strides of getting this paid off. My mother did this with her mortgage, paying and extra $100/mo and paid off her mortgage many years early.

WHY does it cost this much for a college education in the first place? Let's force them all to give an itemized statement as to where the money is going and give one helluva justification for it all. You should have the right to know where every penny is going on this. This is just plain wrong. Gotta wonder if there are some backroom dealings going on here that we don't know about between lenders and colleges. Just know that once you get this all paid off and you're really left with not much and no money saved for retirement because you were paying of your debt, you will have the "luxury" of the freedom to say "You'll get it when I'm dead".

My dude still owes a mounting debt of 10's of thousands to a scam diploma mill college from the 90's that was shut down for being a scam.

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These low life scum spent the money and not just for books. The money is spent on cars, computers, games and drugs and alcohol. I know as I was one of these students. I also payed off my debt early and didn't try to get a handout at the expense of the taxpayer.

I have over 70 grand in student debt. U was homeless for 7 yrs. It went into default. I completed the loan rehabilitation program to get it back in good standing. When I started working,, they took all my tax returns..Im not working now because I have a disabled 3yr old. I'm in subsidized housing and rely on food stamps. This is the last year I can defer my loans. So back into default they will go. I will never be able to pay off that debt. And because of it, my credit will always be trash. I'll never have a house or be able to get a car loan. By the way, I have a degree in Psychology in which I used to work in the addiction/recovery field.

Totally absurd, that the interest is so high, the debt only becomes bigger. What a trap... I'm glad that in the Netherlands student loans are regulated by the government, and therefore the interest is always low. Now I'm almost done with paying off my loan, after 15 years, it will be a great relief!

First, select a major that actually will earn you money. It's easy, there are lists of which courses are worth it or not. The people you speak to about which courses to take, don't give a crap about you and will say things like " go for your dream of becoming a museum curator". Second, you don't need to go to a name school. So many times community college will get you the same degrees. It's "embarrassing" I guess, but you won't regret it. Employers are looking for the degree, not where it came from. Third, you are signing a document so pay attention to interest and loan duration. This will happen if you buy a car or home you can't afford as well. They will sell you anything, you have to be a little smart. Did these commenters not see it coming?

I don’t care because I’m never paying mine, even though I could pay it 100 times and still be comfortable. Who cares, it’s not their money to have. I don’t get a traditional paycheck so they can’t garnish me. I think it will catch up to me eventually but I’m not too worried about it.

I'm just happy I'm not an American seeing all these posts. I wasn't born with a silver spoon so it will be traumatic building a new life after university with massive debt hanging over one's neck

I had to pay 13.000 total, upfront, no interest. The actual exam only costs roughly 700. You can take it, and if successful get the degree. What the 12,300 was for, is basically people telling you which topics you need, how to apply some knowledge, and where to focus on. Once again: if you have the money: flying colors. If not, you can apply for help, but usually they only pay 10-20%. You can get loans for 3,25% interest if you need to. That degree was vocational diploma, which you need to go to university basically. But where I live you can also use it, as I did, as proof for future employers that you are willing to learn and grow, that you can go 120% for a while, still producing good results. And as basis to grow further, if they wanna push your career. Also it is beneficial on your salary. Some employers pay the 13k aswell, binding you for some years by contract though.