The most recent   video added to the StudentLoanList page on  YouTube is of  President Obama at Fort Stewart in Hinesville,Georgia on April 27,2012.  Speaking to members of the military and their families, he expresses his unhappiness with representatives of various schools which have been praying on members of the military.  They get prospective students to  sign up, obtain student loans and then the student  may or may not get an education. He calls this practice “abusive recruiting” and vows to put an end to it. Obama explains the “know before you owe” information sheet which will give prospective students detailed information about  college tuition and other costs of attending a particular school and obtaining student loans.

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How much student loan debt is reasonable ? What happens when students borrow more for college than they can pay back ? Student loan debt has been expected to reach the one trillion dollar mark this Spring, and today was  noted at many activities across the nation as the day that it would happen.

Students protesting the student loan debt problem were at several different colleges today in an effort to draw attention to the dire situation of students leaving college with large debt that will seriously affect their lifestyle. The cost of college tuition has far exceed the rate of inflation, and students cannot work summer jobs to pay for college as their parents did.  College graduates may be in for a rude awakening when they realize that high balances on student loan debt will affect their ability to purchase a  car or a home and other consumer purchases that college graduates assume that they will be able to afford.

As it stands, on July 1 the interest rate on federal student  loans may double. Currently at 3.4 %,  federal student loans that originate after July 1 will have a 6.8% interest rate. President Obama has made Congress aware of his desire that this does not happen, but it is not his decision to make.

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With student loan debt over a trillion dollars, this situation is no laughing matter. It is downright scary. But just for now, here are some funny graduation quotes that I found on another website.

I think sleeping was my problem in school. If school had started at 4:00 in the afternoon, I’d be a college graduate today.             George Foreman

Your families are extremely proud of you. You can’t imagine the sense of relief they are experiencing. This would be a most opportune time to ask for money.     Gary Bolding

People will frighten you about a graduation…They use words you don’t hear often… “And we wish you Godspeed.” It is a warning, Godspeed. It means you are no longer welcome here at these prices.       Bill Cosby

Commencement speeches were invented largely in the belief that outgoing college students should never be released into the world until they have been properly sedated.  Garry Trudeau

The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.  Doug Larson

If you feel that you have both feet planted on level ground, then the university has failed you.     Robert Goheen

Of course there’s a lot of knowledge in universities: the freshmen bring a little in; the seniors don’t take much away, so knowledge sort of accumulates.  Dr. A. Lawrence Lowell

To those of you who received honors, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you too may one day be president of the United States.  George W. Bush

A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.   Theodore Roosevelt

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I previously wrote about how some individuals with student loans can have them discharged if they should  unfortunately become permanently disabled.  What a wonderful relief this must be to someone who has had the trauma of becoming disabled !  But wait, apparantly it is not that simple. A woman in New Jersey had her $91,000 debt discharged but then she was informed that the $91,000 would be reported to the IRS as “cancellation of debt income”.  A more in depth article on this subject on yahoo.com  states that  ”The Department of the Treasury has specifically stated that student loans cancelled due to the Death and Disability Discharge (Section 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965) are taxable”.   However, it appears that if you have yourself declared “insolvent” prior to the debt discharge, there may be a chance that you will not be taxed, but you must know to declare yourself insolvent, or the insolvency exclusion may not apply to you. So be sure to consult an attorney or accountant if you are considering filing for a disability discharge.   To read a  yahoo article on this subject, click here.

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The numbers are staggering - watch this clip  of Brian Shactman giving statistics about student loan debt  on  MSNBC  ”Business Before the Bell”  on  March 6,2012 .  The numbers are amazing.  YouTube link  

Hopefully your experiences with your student loan lenders have been pleasant, but if you have had problems with  billing, confusing advertising and collection by private student lenders then you may have thought about making a complaint.  The  folks at the  Consumer Financial Protectin Bureau are now handling complaints about private lenders.  If you have had problems with federal student loans they will also take your complaint but will send your information to the Department of Education to be evaluated.

Information was found in an article written by Daniel Wagner for the Associated Press

Show your support for the StudentLoanList ! Donations are always welcome to help with the operating expenses. It’s simple to donate – just click on the DONATE button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you!

One way to decrease your need for student loans is to obtain a scholarship. A quick search of the Internet found several unique scholarships listed. Stuttgart,  Arkansas  Chamber of Commerce sponsors a duck calling contest with $2000 going to the winner. Tall clubs International has $1000 scholarships to tall ( men 6’2 women 5’10 ) first year students. You might also consider the $7500  Scholar Athlete Milk Mustache of the Year award, The Patrick Kerr Skateboard Scholarship ($5000). If you are a graduate student who wants to study potatoes then you might like to look into the Potato Industry Scholarship ($2000). There are many more scholarships available too.  Ask around, do your research and put in lots of applications. Good luck !

Some information for this blog post came from http://www.collegeandfinance.com