Archive for May 2012

Today a lucky student was selected to receive a donation !   We have noticed an increase of visitors to the website looking at the donors pages, and we are so happy about that !  We appreciate all  donors and donations !!

The average student loan debt in the United States is $25000-$27000 (depending on what source you use)  but the average debt of the individuals on the StudentLoanList is $68,000.  Yes, $68,000. Our students are hurting and they need assistance and they are grateful for every single donation.

Filling out a FAFSA ( application for financial assistance )  is a routine part of applying for college these days. It is so expensive to go to school that without getting loans, most students couldn’t afford to go.

Congratulations to the student receiving the donation today!

We hope that the StudentLoanList will grow to be the biggest and best site for students to ask for help with their student loan debt, and every donation helps !  Please donate what you can, and pass the word on about the website to any potential donors that you know !

UPDATE  5/23/2012 10:34PM

Today someone registered on the StudentLoanList with $239,788.  in student loan debt. This raises the average debt of individuals registered on the website to $87,269.  Thats more than 3 x the average student loan debt.

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please 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.

I have seen statistics that quote the average student loan debt at the time of graduation to be $25,000. I have also seen it listed as $27,000.  Either number is a lot of money, in fact both are more than my parents paid for a nice 4 bedroom house in southern California back in 1963. Might have been 1964.  Regardless, the payments are going to be difficult  for someone in an entry level job, and the loan balance will keep some graduates from being able to purchase a car on qualify for a mortgage.  Now think about how $68,000 will affect a person. I calculated a payment of $688 on a 10 year note at 4%.  Ouch, payments like that are going to be painful.   No wonder some students choose to defer those loan payments and  stay in school pursuing more and more education until they cant go anymore !  A Doctorate is grand, but it means you have to look that student loan square in the eye and start making payments.  And guess what….. graduates with that level of education usually  have a student loan balance closer to $100.000.  Donors, please register on the studentloanlist and help our students. Pursuing higher education is a great thing, and  its just a shame that tution and fees have gone up so much that it makes paying cash for schooling nearly impossible.

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please 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.

There is a lot of talk about the student loan debt in the United States lately. One of the big questions is whether or not the interest rate for new Stafford loans will remain at 3.4% or increase to 6.8% on July 1 2012. Apparantly both Republicans and Democrats want to leave the interest rate at 3.4%, the big debate is how to make it happen.

My guess is that NO they won’t raise the rate. Politicians don’t want voters disgruntled about this in November.

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please 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.

This morning there was an article on Yahoo news that you might want to take a look at. It features graphs that shows the total  student loan debt compared to credit card debt and auto loan debt, and default rates on the three categories. You might have guessed already that student loan default is the highest, followed by credit cards and auto loans. According to the numbers presented: Student loan defaults in 2009 were about 9% and auto loans for the same time were just over 2%.

While not everyone will agree that borrowing your way through college is a good idea, the article shows a few statistics for wages, and some jobs will pay you almost enough during your first year of employment to repay your loans. Of course it isn’t practical to pay every cent you make to service your debt, but for high paying jobs the hope is that you will be able to budget in enough to get that debt paid off. The problem currently is that many graduates are not getting high paying jobs and they are unemployed  or under employed and yet still have to pay rent and other living expenses regardless of their low wages.

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please 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.

It is smart to evaluate an organization before making a donation via the internet, or any other place. Many savvy internet users check out charities on a website called charitynavigator.org . It’s a smart thing to do.  Is the StudentLoanList on charitynavigator ?  No, because the StudentLoanList is not registered as a 501(c)  a non profit organization.

Monies recieved via the StudentLoanList will go directly to make a payment on one of our registered students student loan accounts. We do subtract a very small handling fee for credit card transactions, which the students pay. Donations made by check do not incur a handling fee at all and 100% of the money will be paid to the student loan account.

Donors may have questions about the StudentLoanList, and using some information on how to evaluate a charity - borrowed from charitynavigator- here are some questions and answers.

What are the program expenses ? In other words – how much of the donation actually goes to the intended cause ?  If paid by credit card 94%,  if paid by check 100%.

What is the executive pay?  So far nothing !  At some point pay for office staff will come from the $10. sign up fee paid by the students and whatever portion of the 6% credit card processing fee is left after pay pal takes it cut.

Is the program you are supporting with your donations growing?  Yes, it is

Is the website accountable and transparent ? Yes. Donations are listed on the expanded profiles of the students, and the manager/owner of the StudentLoanList is easy to contact.

Donor Privacy - Is there a donor privacy policy ?   Yes, there is a privacy policy in place.

Is there a demand for the services ?  Yes. There are 37 million student loan borrowers and 27%  are in a past due status. Student loan debt in the United States exceeds credit card debt and over a trillion dollars  is owed on student loans.

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please click on the PayPal button. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated. While our operating expenses are minimal, they do add up over time. Thank you.

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.

Click here to go to the StudentLoanList page on YouTube

If you would like to make a donation toward the operating expenses of the StudentLoanList, please 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.