Unfortunately some students or graduates become disabled after taking out student loans, and then have to worry not only about the new health problem, but paying back those loans.

The good news is that in certain cases, if you have federal student loans and you become disabled, your debts may be discharged.   To qualify for this discharge, a physician must certify  that you are unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity and that your condition:

 1) can be expected to result in death

2) has lasted for a continuous period of not less than  60 months or

3)  can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 60 months.

If you are interested in reading more about the disability discharge, or making an application, click here:   application for debt discharge

 **Please note that  this information may not be accurate for disabled veterans**

You probably know someone that has a student loan. Maybe it is you.  I have recently met some wonderful young people who are carrying the burden of student loan debt. Every student has a different story that tells about how he/she ended up borrowing for college costs. Here are the profiles of some of the  people that I have had a chance to talk to.  While the stories are true, the names have been changed to keep their identities protected.

Mitzi is a brilliant student who excelled  in math and science at her small town high school. Her parents are self employed and did not attend college. Mitzi chose to attend a large university in a city within her state, but far enough away that she couldn’t commute. Her student loan helped with her tuition and made it possible to  pay for housing in the dormitory on campus.

Tom had a good paying job as a welder at a busy factory. He was a hard worker but wanted to do something different. He began attending classes at night and on weekends, and took some on line classes.  After several years of working and studying he was able to complete the requirements for a degree in business. He is now employed as a manager at another location, but is struggling to make ends meet as he begins making his student loan payments, rent and a car payment.

Karen was in a marriage that was not healthy for her or her three young  children. She decided to pursue career training as part of her exit plan. Her controlling husband got very upset that she was attending school and Karen and the children ended up moving out of the family home and into a shelter. Karen rides the bus to and from  cosmotology school every day and her children now ride a school bus to and from school. Student loans made it possible for Karen to remain in school and pay her tuition.

While these three people are all very different and have  different reasons for atttending college and taking out student loans, what they do have in common is massive debt. As children, they did not intend to grow up and be in debt. They just wanted to grow up and have a career. They were not able to get the money they needed from their parents, but they were able to borrow from Uncle Sam.  But he is not a patient guy, and not very forgiving if debts are not repaid as agreed.

I hope that the StudentLoanList website will bring some relief to people like Tom,Mitzi and Karen. They deserve it.

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!

Have you ever wondered how much you will really spend? How long will you be paying on your student loan ?  Several factors will need to be considered to find your answers. What is the amount of your  initial debt? Your interest rate? Your monthly payment and the number of years that you will be paying will also matter. The longer you pay the more you will pay due to the additional interest. The sooner you can pay off your loan the better!

If you want to find out how much you will have to pay each month on your student loan debt try using the easy to use loan calculator at the website  http://www.finaid.org

Obama at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor on January 27,2012

Brief review of Obamas speech. Link to full transcript

During Obamas speech he told students that college graduates have half the unemployment rate of non-grads, and that their incomes are twice as high as those without a high school diploma. After some talk about the importance of growing industry and creating jobs in the United States he came back to the topic of college. He stated that the cost of college tuition and fees have nearly doubled during the lifetime of his audience members. He reported that federal student aid will be increased ,and mentioned  his recently announced program that will cap student loan payments at 10% of their monthly income.

Obama reminded students that interest rates on student loans are set to double in July, and  encouraged  his audience to contact members of Congress to protest the rate increase. Additionally  he said that he hopes Congress will double the number of work study jobs in the next five years.

He said that he is encouraging the states to make college more affordable, and that states will be rewarded for bringng down the cost of education and making it easier for more students to graduate. He announced a new program which he jokingly called  “know before you owe”  which will provide students more information to compare colleges and college costs.

Lets hope that you arent wondering if you are in default. It wont feel good and it doesnt look good on your credit report.  But the cold hard fact is that the default rate is about 9% nationwide. The default rate varies across the nation and also depends on the particular  school that you went to, and the type of school. Perhaps you have seen the stories on the news lately about how the default rate is much higher at schools that are “for profit”.

So, what is default ?  On a federal student loan:  Assuming that you are supposed to make monthly payments- you are in default if you havent made a payment in 270 days. There are some different options available to you if you think you may be going into default status. Call your lender and talk to them about your situation and see what you can work out. 

For more information about student loan default status, visit The Ombudsman website .

Everyone knows that medical school can be expensive, and becoming a Doctor takes a few years.  But what happens if you borrow your way through medical school and then default on your student loans ? I just found an interesting  article on The Wall Street Journal  education page  about a medical school student that owed about $250,000 when she finished school in 2003.   After beginning her residency she did not make payments on her debt but went into deferrment status.  Then when she began making payments they were $1000 a month. In 2007 she went into default on her student loans  and with  the interest and penalties added into her debt, the amount due  swelled to $555,000.  The good news is that she was able to negotiate a repayment plan with her lenders  and should have the entire debt paid off in 351 months.