Category: Student Loans
April 21st, 2012 — 5:43am
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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April 6th, 2012 — 9:37pm
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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March 10th, 2012 — 4:52pm
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
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March 7th, 2012 — 4:06am
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
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February 10th, 2012 — 8:48pm
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!
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January 11th, 2012 — 4:11am
There are many differences between schools that operate without regard to profit as compared to those that operate for-profit. One major difference is the student loan default rate. According to figures from the Department of Education for the year 2009: default rates at for-profit schools were 15% compared to 4.6% at not-for-profit schools. And nearly one half of the total defaults on student loans are from students that went to for-profit schools. An article in the New York Times states ”for-profit schools depend on federal student aid for more than 80 percent of their revenues”.
Students considering enrolling in a for-profit school should carefully research the tuition cost, accreditation and the ability to transfer credit hours to other institutions.
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January 6th, 2012 — 1:15am
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.
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