Just thought I would share with you a message that I got from one of the students registered on the StudentLoanList.   Student loan debt gets some bad press  sometimes, and I thought you might like to hear from a real person that is struggling because of her debt.

Thank you so much Allyson for responding back so quickly.  I hope this all leads to a very happy ending and a positive experience for me.  It has been very stressful for me the past few years financially.  I am happily married with 3 children, but I am definitely not where I want to be financially at this present time.  I just pray every day for a second chance to be debt free so that I am able to provide for my children without worrying constantly about my enormous debt. No matter what, I just want to thank you in advance for giving honest hard working people like me hope and faith that there are good people out there that want to make a difference in a person’s life for the better. God bless you and a have nice day.  I am looking forward to hearing from you soon.

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.

If you have any kind of question about Federal Student Aid, then you need to check out the new website  from the U.S. Department of Education. The web addy is  www.studentaid.ed.gov . It has all kinds of information about what kinds of loans are available, how to get them and  it also has infromation about what to do if you find out you can’t make your payments.

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.

Here is how $100,ooo of student loan debt is affecting one woman registered on the StudentLoanList: 

Having over 100K in student loan debt means I have to pay around 600/month in student loans (and that’s with my federal loans being on the income based repayment while my private loans don’t offer that).  This means that I can’t afford to live somewhere on my own.  I currently live with family.  I also have one vehicle with over 100,000 miles on it that I’m trying to take care of, but if it ever dies, I won’t be able to afford the payment for a new vehicle unless I stop buying food.  I drive about 40 miles a day for work so that’s always a concern for me.

If I didn’t have to worry about student loan debt, I would be able to relax a little and actually enjoy life a little instead of having every last penny going to bills and barely surviving.  I’m not materialistic and don’t want for a lot of things, but it would be nice to be able to afford to travel, or go out to dinner with friends, or just know that I can afford to actually start a savings for the future.

I know that there are people out there that believe if you took out the debt, you should have to pay it back.  I also know that many of us who have so much debt incurred it to pay for school, assist with their cost of living while attending classes, and maybe also help pay for a spouse’s schooling in hopes of getting a high paying job after they graduated when the reality is that most people don’t ever make that huge income they were “sure to get”.  The schools really push you into feeling like the debt you’re taking out will pay off right away.  They make it easy for you to take out more than you need and dangle dreams of making close to six figures a year in front of you once you graduate so that you’ll pour everything you have and all of your future into attaining a degree.  They tell stories of the person who graduated and landed the great paying job to motivate and entice you.  Who wouldn’t want that, right?

The American Dream laid out by colleges is that you go to school, get a degree, and make tons of money after you graduate.  The reality is that you go to school, incur a lot of debt because of it, and, for most of us, make a modest amount of money that doesn’t include enough to afford rent, food, gas, a car payment, insurance, AND the 600-1000 dollars per month for your student loan debt on top of it.  Student loan debt really limits your life for at least your next 30 years and what you can contribute to society.  If we weren’t paying off student loans, then more of our money would be going into other parts of the economy including small local businesses.  We could live and be part of life instead of merely surviving it.

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.

Student loans have become a “normal”  way to pay for education. Students who walk into schools without funds are quickly shown the way to the financial aid office. Young people are getting loans for tens of thousands of dollars quickly and easily. Imagine this person at a car lot – they wouldn’t be able to qualify for a loan to purchase  a used car, but yet they easily obtain financing for schooling with large  amounts of unsecured debt. After graduation they hope to get good paying jobs, but it doesn’t always happen. Graduates end up living back with their parents and begin life in a much different manner than their parents.  Dreams of starting a business are set aside as young graduates struggle to just make ends meet.  This is the reality for many young people today.

If you would like to read more about how student debt affects individuals, read more in the “Student Stories” section of the blog.

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.

Have you been following the Zimmerman case ? It is not being disputed that Zimmerman shot a young man and killed him. He is facing second degree murder charges. What is being questioned is the motive. But with legal problems come legal expense costs, so a PayPal account was created for individuals to make donations for his legal defense fund. An article in the NewYork Times states that donations were received that added up to as much as $135,000. Donors…..why donate to a fund like that, when you can donate to assist someone with their college expenses? Seems like hard work should be rewarded. Our college graduates are the future leaders of our country, and they are saddled with tremendous debt as they start their life. Student loan debt will affect the ability to purchase a home or car, and takes money away that these smart young people could be using to start a business. Donors, please help the students that are on the StudentLoanList. Your donation will be applied toward their debt and you will be doing a great thing for someone. A random act of kindness is a wonderful thing.

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.

Here is a neat website from the U.S Department of Education that can provide you with lots of information about the cost of college. On the College Affordabilty and Transparency Center website you can compare costs for various types of schools and search for lowest or highest tuition. Just for fun I compared public and private schools to see how the costs compared.  For example I found that for a public 4 year school, the highest tution was at Pennsylvania State University -Main Campus at  $14,416.  The  highest tuition at a private for-profit  school was $45,628 at Sanford-Brown College in Virginia, and the highest tuition at a private not-for-profit college was at Bates College at $51,300. Are you looking for a bargain ? You would be surprised at the price of the lowest Public school on the list !  In Kansas – you can attend Haskell Indian Nations University for tuition of  $430.  And thats per academic year !

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.

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.