Archive for January 2012

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

As we approach the end of our first full month on line, we would  again like to say “welcome” to the students and graduates that have signed up on the StudentLoanList.  We have had page views from all across the United States as well as Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, India, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Russia and Thailand.  We have been active on twitter and also have made posts on our Facebook page.

Our advertising thus far has been directed at students, and as the list grows we will be advertising for donors. The more listings we have from one area or from one school increases the likelihood of target marketing in that area.

We ask that you help the StudentLoanList grow to become a website that will truly be  useful to you. Please spread the word about the StudentLoanList by telling your friends !  Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook !

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 .

Bicycles at the University of Colorado – Denver. I visited this campus last October and I was really impressed with how the city of Denver incorporates bicycle lanes and routes through out the city. This makes getting around town easy and inexpensive for students. There are more than 400 miles of bike routes in Denver, and there are 40 miles of bike lanes. The downtown area features 600 bike racks to lock your bike and there are even places you can check out a bike and borrow it for the day. Click on the link to read more about bicycling in Denver

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.

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.