Student Loan Interest Raise

[chunkygoat]

(borderline political but I have to say it)

Dear U.S. Congress,

You can take your student loan interest raise idea and shove it up your greedy @$$'$.

Sincerely,

Matt

 

[Randomchaos]

I read a report the other day that the total amount owed back in student loans across the country now exceeds the amount of credit card debt owed across the country. I consider myself extremely lucky to be where I am at now without a college degree.

 

[Caesar]

I read a report the other day that the total amount owed back in student loans across the country now exceeds the amount of credit card debt owed across the country. I consider myself extremely lucky to be where I am at now without a college degree.

I think I am lucky too. I also have a good career without a 4y college degree

 

[pookamatic]

I graduated 2002, and locked in a rate of 2% ~6 years ago. Still owe 8-9k but with a mortgage rate of triple that... I have zero, uhhh.... "interest" in paying it down.

 

[chunkygoat]

I unfortunately was not as lucky I'm happy to hear that you're doing alright though. Times aren't like they used to be where you could make a career off of manual labor (as easily). A degree takes you a long ways now a days.

I don't even want to think of having anything other than 0% interest on my 30,000$ student loans - considering the length of time it will take me to pay it off.

 

[Randomchaos]

My wife and me are currently paying off her $18k in student loans at around 6% interest rate. Greatest part is she got screwed by her school, is lacking one class to get her degree. She took the thesis class for her psych degree 3 times. Each time she had the professor tell her no matter what she did her thesis on, she was not going to pass her. She had a 3.8 GPA before that point. Head of the psych degree stuff told her nothing they could do, the Dean even told her the same, since the professor has tenure. So now she has this debt, and no degree to show for it. To go to another school, she would have to do another 2 years or so of classes since the curriculum varies between schools so much.

 

[08fz6]

I have an associates, great job and paid off my student loans in 2 1/2 years. I find that numerous people that have school loans aren't paying them the way they should be. If you have a decent job and can't pay more than the minimum payment on them then you are living above your means. My school loans were paid before I bought my bike. I drove an economy car and lived within my means. When I bought my house this past June I bought at 2/3 of what I was approved for. I am only 26. I also paid off my 08 XB in 3 years. Was leased brand new and then at the end of the 3 years bought it out and paid cash. I paid off $25,000 in college loans in 2 1/2 years with a decent paying job but not a great one. Plus never gave up my cell phone internet etc and drove a brand new car. It all comes down to what is important to you. I personally hate paying interest so I pay off things ASAP.

 

[08fz6]

My wife and me are currently paying off her $18k in student loans at around 6% interest rate. Greatest part is she got screwed by her school, is lacking one class to get her degree. She took the thesis class for her psych degree 3 times. Each time she had the professor tell her no matter what she did her thesis on, she was not going to pass her. She had a 3.8 GPA before that point. Head of the psych degree stuff told her nothing they could do, the Dean even told her the same, since the professor has tenure. So now she has this debt, and no degree to show for it. To go to another school, she would have to do another 2 years or so of classes since the curriculum varies between schools so much.

I feel your pain. Although what happened to me was no where near as bad. I walked at graduation, exit interview whole nine yards. 3 months pass and I call the school to see where my diploma is and they go, you lack 6 credits of general electives. I spent a year trying to fight it. Gave up and did 2 online classes over the summer. Did she ask the professor what she was doing wrong? Could always consult an attorney.

 

[Nelly]

I unfortunately was not as lucky I'm happy to hear that you're doing alright though. Times aren't like they used to be where you could make a career off of manual labor (as easily). A degree takes you a long ways now a days.

I don't even want to think of having anything other than 0% interest on my 30,000$ student loans - considering the length of time it will take me to pay it off.

As the labour market has changed hugely in the last 6 years.
Employers can and will pick the cream of the crop to fill employment opportunities. I have several friends now trying to re-train/up skill. Many of my friends don't even work in professions related to their degrees.
I am so grateful to the UK for allowing me the opportunity of gaining a BSc in Nursing as well as paying me a salary as I trained. The cost of this training was three years of committed work in the NHS (which I really enjoyed and still miss). Don't get me wrong it wasn't all milk and honey, I had to work full time as well as study. It was well worth it.
I really feel for those of you having the burden of debt.
In the future things will turn around and hopefully your education will enable you to pay off your debt.
Good luck
Nelly

 

[Nelly]

My wife and me are currently paying off her $18k in student loans at around 6% interest rate. Greatest part is she got screwed by her school, is lacking one class to get her degree. She took the thesis class for her psych degree 3 times. Each time she had the professor tell her no matter what she did her thesis on, she was not going to pass her. She had a 3.8 GPA before that point. Head of the psych degree stuff told her nothing they could do, the Dean even told her the same, since the professor has tenure. So now she has this debt, and no degree to show for it. To go to another school, she would have to do another 2 years or so of classes since the curriculum varies between schools so much.

Surely that can't be right? My dissertation was blind marked to remove any bias.
You really need to take this further than the university. What you are suggesting is pure plain and simple discrimination.
Nelly

 

[Randomchaos]

I feel your pain. Although what happened to me was no where near as bad. I walked at graduation, exit interview whole nine yards. 3 months pass and I call the school to see where my diploma is and they go, you lack 6 credits of general electives. I spent a year trying to fight it. Gave up and did 2 online classes over the summer. Did she ask the professor what she was doing wrong? Could always consult an attorney.

Yup, she asked them, their answer was pretty much "I don't think you would be a good psychiatrist." I told her she needs to fight it, get a lawyer, contact news agencies, but she was just so fed up with it. Had been in college for 7 years (changed her major from nursing) and was just tired of it all.

I need to get my ass a degree. My main problem is my social anxiety issues. Put me in a room full of people that I don't know, and that have different mindsets than me, and I just go bleh! Have been trying to find a good online schooling program for a 4 year degree for web development, but not sure of going $70k in debt is worth it when the degree might not even carry much weight since its an online degree. Really sucks, cause I have been programming for 14 years now, doing web development professionally for 8 years, have a buttload of real world experience in IT departments, but cant get a good longterm job because I don't have a degree. Contract work can be so stressful.

I envy your ability to pay off loans and stuff fast. I fell into a mentality of just make monthly payments and you can buy ANYTHING! Paying around $550 a month in loans now . I really need to follow my Debt Payoff plans I come up with lol.

 

[Nelly]

Yup, she asked them, their answer was pretty much "I don't think you would be a good psychiatrist." I told her she needs to fight it, get a lawyer, contact news agencies, but she was just so fed up with it. Had been in college for 7 years (changed her major from nursing) and was just tired of it all.

I need to get my ass a degree. My main problem is my social anxiety issues. Put me in a room full of people that I don't know, and that have different mindsets than me, and I just go bleh! Have been trying to find a good online schooling program for a 4 year degree for web development, but not sure of going $70k in debt is worth it when the degree might not even carry much weight since its an online degree. Really sucks, cause I have been programming for 14 years now, doing web development professionally for 8 years, have a buttload of real world experience in IT departments, but cant get a good longterm job because I don't have a degree. Contract work can be so stressful.

I envy your ability to pay off loans and stuff fast. I fell into a mentality of just make monthly payments and you can buy ANYTHING! Paying around $550 a month in loans now . I really need to follow my Debt Payoff plans I come up with lol.

You sound like you have enough skill and talent to set up your own business.
Nelly

 

[pookamatic]

+1 on your own business. If you ever get anxiety working with customers, put your fully qualified wife on the payroll!

 

[Xavias]

I am one of the inbetween fortunate and unfortunate people out there...

Because I went to an In-State, Non-Profit, but PRIVATE university, I now have $52,523.23 in debt across the board. Most of the loans are cosigned by my parents and have an approximate interest rate of 3.5%, with a $6k loan being 6% and a $2k loan being 10.5% (being paid off when I get my tax return back)

Now, the fortunate part. I have a job, and a pretty good job at that.

I'm a mobile web developer for a local company and make $35k/year while living at my parent's house for a short while longer. I haven't been making this money for very long, and have just graduated, so I'm saving up a savings coushion first, then looking to actively pay things off ASAP.

I don't really like debt... and I might end up taking up a part time job somewhere to make some extra cash for paying it off quicker now that I'm out of school, but I'm not sure on that one yet.

But a student loan interest rate CAP would greatly be appreciated. A RAISE in the interest rate would mean a career death for most politicians (I mean seriously, do they really need to get MORE of my money?)

 

[crowelor]

I have an associates, great job and paid off my student loans in 2 1/2 years. I find that numerous people that have school loans aren't paying them the way they should be. If you have a decent job and can't pay more than the minimum payment on them then you are living above your means. My school loans were paid before I bought my bike. I drove an economy car and lived within my means. When I bought my house this past June I bought at 2/3 of what I was approved for. I am only 26. I also paid off my 08 XB in 3 years. Was leased brand new and then at the end of the 3 years bought it out and paid cash. I paid off $25,000 in college loans in 2 1/2 years with a decent paying job but not a great one. Plus never gave up my cell phone internet etc and drove a brand new car. It all comes down to what is important to you. I personally hate paying interest so I pay off things ASAP.

Thanks for sharing, I too followed this type of plan. Although not for a couple of years. I spent the first few years out of college playing the "If I can pay the payments I can afford it" game. And what that does is force you to live below your means in certain areas to support your payments in others. When I was eating Ramen almost every day so I could drive a nice car, I realized something had to give.

It can be painful for a while watching your friends get a bunch of nice things(on payments), go on trips, eat out all the time, etc. but now that I have no payments but a mortgage I feel so free.

I locked my interest rates in around 3% after I graduated, so I don't feel the pain of the current borrowers on the verge of a rate hike, but I do understand having to pay off massive debt. I graduated with 57K in student loans in 2004 with a car payment also, I have only a mortgage left today.

I cant take all the credit though, my wife and I were DINKs for a while, and she brought no debt to the marriage, just having our baby a year ago, so that helped tremendously.

 

[crowelor]

I am one of the inbetween fortunate and unfortunate people out there...

Because I went to an In-State, Non-Profit, but PRIVATE university, I now have $52,523.23 in debt across the board. Most of the loans are cosigned by my parents and have an approximate interest rate of 3.5%, with a $6k loan being 6% and a $2k loan being 10.5% (being paid off when I get my tax return back)

Now, the fortunate part. I have a job, and a pretty good job at that.

I'm a mobile web developer for a local company and make $35k/year while living at my parent's house for a short while longer. I haven't been making this money for very long, and have just graduated, so I'm saving up a savings coushion first, then looking to actively pay things off ASAP.

I don't really like debt... and I might end up taking up a part time job somewhere to make some extra cash for paying it off quicker now that I'm out of school, but I'm not sure on that one yet.

But a student loan interest rate CAP would greatly be appreciated. A RAISE in the interest rate would mean a career death for most politicians (I mean seriously, do they really need to get MORE of my money?)

I don't know how old you are, but if you went to college right out of highschool, your amount of maturity for your age is rare. It's refreshing to see. I sure didn't have that mindset(save for emergencies, pay off debt, etc.) at 22 yrs. old.

 

[BSFL89]

I don't know how old you are, but if you went to college right out of highschool, your amount of maturity for your age is rare. It's refreshing to see. I sure didn't have that mindset(save for emergencies, pay off debt, etc.) at 22 yrs. old.

There are more people out there who have that mindset - though usually they don't ride motorcycles

I graduated with a Mechanical Engineering degree in 3 years to save a year of loans/payments. Now I kind of regret not enjoying college more being in the working world, but live and learn. Maybe I can retire early. haha.

But first year out of college, bought a new car, road bicycle, motorcycle, and a house. Only have a loan for student loans, car and house and of the 3 student loan is the highest percentage @ ~6% (house I got at 3.625%). Money is the cheapest it is ever going to be and I feel secure in my job/income situation that financially makes more sense to invest my money knowing I can make 7-10% in the market depending on the level of risk I want to take versus using it to pay my house off quicker. The only reason I eventually will make an extra payment a year starting next year after I recoup some of the losses in savings is purely thinking about cash flow in the future. Knowing I eventually want a family and my situation will change will be nice if I can pay my house off sooner and have that mortgage payment to start saving for kids etc.

 

[oldfast007]

Agree with O/P!! My daughter will graduate next year with B.F.A in Illustration and have just shy of 80K in debt of which we (the parents) are on the hook for 3/4's of it. So if in a year or two we aren't living in the woods in a cardboard house we'll be doing good: but if we are, I will still have my FZ!!!

 

[Xavias]

I don't know how old you are, but if you went to college right out of highschool, your amount of maturity for your age is rare. It's refreshing to see. I sure didn't have that mindset(save for emergencies, pay off debt, etc.) at 22 yrs. old.

Thanks! I really appreciate it as I don't really hear it every day, to be honest.

I'm 21 (Turning 22 in september of this year) and I definitely went to college straight out of high school.

It's a lot of money to pay back, but I'm starting to break things down and pay this back ASAP. I'm not sure if I'll rent or look for a house yet, we'll see how things play out. I would like to not be in more debt, however I feel like renting is just throwing money away.

My hope is to pay back all of my loans in a couple years. I will most likely be getting anywhere from $2k-$4k back any day now from my tax return (filed an amendment for last year's which will net me $1,000 more in the end.) If it's above $3k, I have 3 $1k loans that I want to pay off ASAP and just be done with them. Then I will take the dave ramsey approach and start paying off the smallest loan possible asap. When that's paid off, I'll move to the next smallest and put the money I had going toward the smallest to that one. Eventually I should be able to pay things off pretty quickly (hopefully) but we'll see.

 

[crowelor]

Then I will take the dave ramsey approach and start paying off the smallest loan possible asap. When that's paid off, I'll move to the next smallest and put the money I had going toward the smallest to that one. Eventually I should be able to pay things off pretty quickly (hopefully) but we'll see.

DR teaches the Debt Snowball because it works, so it sounds like you have a great plan going. The psychological reward for paying off stuff is better motivation for sticking to the plan than a few dollars of saved interest by hitting the high rate stuff first.

People will tell you to be more 'sophisticated' with your money and invest since the interest rates there are higher, but getting rid of debt changes something deep down inside, and then you can invest more because all of your money will be yours instead of going right out the door as soon as it hits your account.

Sorry for derailing the thread, this is a topic that means a lot to me, I'll step out now. :hijack: :ban: