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.

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