I owe $125,000 in private student loans to one institution. How to get them to settle?

[Anonymous]

Of the $125K, how much was used towards actual tuition/books and how much towards your living expenses?

Maybe it shouldn't matter, but if only insignificant amount was used for living expenses, I will sympathize more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So anyone who has private loans that they can't pay, they have to chose between paying their student loan vs. shelter, food on the table, clothing for their kid, or otherwise wages are garnished. It's insane! And they won't make a deal to lower the payments, and I've already maxed out my (2 year) graduated repayment plan and forbearance periods. I'm totally screwed. I would have been better off getting a minimum wage job and living off the stupid government.

No, life is about choices. You go to a more affordable school, you find an employer who will help with tuition assistance, etc. When you took the loans, you know you will have to pay them back. That is what a loan is about.

This exactly. I do not understand the people who are angry they have loans to repay? A person has a right to despise the money they owe of course but how can you be angry or surprised when it is time to pay back what you knowingly borrowed. Also, why should they make a deal to lower the payments? If you were the one lending out the money wouldn't you want all of it paid back? I do not understand these people!

Exactly! And how do you spend $125k on two years of private college? At least that's the way I read her description. I graduated with a ton of debt but I lived frugally and paid it all off early!

She said she did undergrad at the private college (nursing programs are full four year programs) and followed it up with a masters in health administration (2 + years?), also at the private college. So six plus years

[Anonymous]

I am enlist in the military. What if I get deployed? What exactly will I do with my kid?

I worked full time when I was in school - well, practically full time. The choices of schools I had to go to we're limited because I neede to take the nursing courses at night, and do evening and weekend clinics. The community colleges (this was in MNat the time) did not have the option of doing nursing classes and clinicals on evenings and nights. In fact, it was the only school in my city (where I used to live) that offered that type of program.

The 125 K was not the amount of the loans that I borrowed. It's the payoff amount for all of the loans if I were to pay them off today, with the capitalized interest. It was a 3 1/2 year Associate's program. That's less than 40k per year. Books were 700 a semester. I had to pay a sitter for when I was in school. I did not take any private loans after my associate's program. I did take federal stafford loans throughout my program, but they didn't even cover half the cost of tuition.

[Anonymous]

^^ I meant, *what* if I enlist in the military... That to me is not a realist option.

[Anonymous]

Sorry my typos - I meant it was the only school that offered evening and weekend classes and clinicals - basically a program for adults seeking a career change who already had full time jobs.

The community colleges all had nursing classes and twice weekly 8 hr clinical days Mon - Fri during the day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry my typos - I meant it was the only school that offered evening and weekend classes and clinicals - basically a program for adults seeking a career change who already had full time jobs.

The community colleges all had nursing classes and twice weekly 8 hr clinical days Mon - Fri during the day.

Was this a for profit college? I am trying to figure out how you had to borrow 40k a year if you still had some income. Also, why didn't you take out federal loans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry my typos - I meant it was the only school that offered evening and weekend classes and clinicals - basically a program for adults seeking a career change who already had full time jobs.

The community colleges all had nursing classes and twice weekly 8 hr clinical days Mon - Fri during the day.

Was this a for profit college? I am trying to figure out how you had to borrow 40k a year if you still had some income. Also, why didn't you take out federal loans?

I was working a minimum wage job, and paying full time daycare.

Yes, this was a for-profit college.

And, once again, my federal loans only covered a fraction of the tuition.

I don't understand all these cynical, accusatory questions. All most of you are doing is rehashing why I am in this position, and not offering any guidance or advice.

If you are just going to keep asking why, why, why - then just stop. It's not constructive at all.

[Anonymous]

I agree with you. The question now is not how you got where you are; it's how to get out of the situation you are in. Hindsight is 20-20 and many of us would have done things differently in the past if we knew what we know now. However, we did not.

This might not be the right forum to ask your question. I like the Money Mustache forum. While the focus of the forum is on people trying to save enough money to retire early, the financial advice on how to make a budget and get out of debt is often good.

Michelle Singletary, who writes a financial column in the Washington Post, has weekly online chats on washingtonpost.com and her focus is helping people get out of debt. I think she has a lot of common sense that people find useful. I forget which day her chats are on, Thursday or Friday I think, but you should be able to find them on washingtonpost.com. She may be able to direct you to some sources of help. I understand that some people have found Dave Ramsey helpful as well (he has a website and a plan) but I haven't personally looked at his materials in any depth.

[Anonymous]

Well, first things first. Get out of admin and get onto the floor. You can work night shift and make good money, and then pick up a per diem job for another 12-24 hours a week. You can surely live on that. Find a nice older person who will feed your kid dinner and put it on the school bus in the morning: you can get a slightly bigger place and offer room and board for child care. Since your kid ought to be at least 10 by now, they don't need all that much supervision.

My rough math says that after loan payments and before taxes, you have about $3500 to live on monthly. Since you are single head of household, you don't pay all that much tax. Eat peanut butter. I'm short on sympathy: you had a perfectly marketable skill and went on to 6 more years of school. You surely weren't 17 at that point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry my typos - I meant it was the only school that offered evening and weekend classes and clinicals - basically a program for adults seeking a career change who already had full time jobs.

The community colleges all had nursing classes and twice weekly 8 hr clinical days Mon - Fri during the day.

Was this a for profit college? I am trying to figure out how you had to borrow 40k a year if you still had some income. Also, why didn't you take out federal loans?

I was working a minimum wage job, and paying full time daycare.

Yes, this was a for-profit college.

And, once again, my federal loans only covered a fraction of the tuition.

I don't understand all these cynical, accusatory questions. All most of you are doing is rehashing why I am in this position, and not offering any guidance or advice.

If you are just going to keep asking why, why, why - then just stop. It's not constructive at all.

OP, I've been following this thread and posting too. Let me explain why the "why, why, why." Please bear with me, this will be a bit long before I get to the point. Also, please understand I do think people are trying to help you, which is why they're asking so many questions. They're trying to get the facts because the way you laid them out just didn't make any sense to us. $125K in debt for an associate's degree? What?? The community college wouldn't accept a GED. No Pell Grants? What?? We've been asking "Why, why, why?" because your situation did not make sense to many of us.

For example, I came from a disadvantaged background but went to Top 30 private university on a Pell Grant, private loans, guaranteed student loans, etc. My BIL went to top rated University of Virginia with just a GED. I'm sorry to say that it really appears that your private, for-profit college snookered you. I just googled "community college and GED" to verify and from these articles it looks like community colleges DO accept GEDs: http://www.communitycollegereview.com/articles/17 http://www.aacc.nche.edu/About/Positions/Pages/ps11011998.aspx

Did you meet with a community college, or just with the other college's reps?

I suspected from the beginning that this was a "for-profit" college because the story you were telling just didn't ring true to me based on my experience with higher education. The practices of many of these for-profit colleges are highly suspect. Just look at this article from just yesterday: http://www.care2.com/causes/how-to-stop-for-profit-colleges-from-taking-advantage-of-low-income-people.html Here's another one: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303293604579254861650304686

I really think you were preyed upon, seemingly misled with inaccurate information, and I'd love to hear from DCUM lawyers on the board - I think you have a case for a potential lawsuit.
C'mon BIGLAW DCUM'ers, what do you think? Wouldn't it be awesome if this thread created a class action lawsuit on OP's behalf?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry my typos - I meant it was the only school that offered evening and weekend classes and clinicals - basically a program for adults seeking a career change who already had full time jobs.

The community colleges all had nursing classes and twice weekly 8 hr clinical days Mon - Fri during the day.

Was this a for profit college? I am trying to figure out how you had to borrow 40k a year if you still had some income. Also, why didn't you take out federal loans?

I was working a minimum wage job, and paying full time daycare.

Yes, this was a for-profit college.

And, once again, my federal loans only covered a fraction of the tuition.

I don't understand all these cynical, accusatory questions. All most of you are doing is rehashing why I am in this position, and not offering any guidance or advice.

If you are just going to keep asking why, why, why - then just stop. It's not constructive at all.

I'm sorry, I was the PP of this question and wasn't trying to attack you; just trying to figure out what happened so I can try to help. Now I understand that you borrowed all your federal loans, plus private. So is your total debt $125 k, or is that just the private part? Have you gotten onto a repayment plan for the federal loans?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel for you somewhat. But you had to know that "private" school of any nature was going to be more expensive then public. I think even 17 yr olds get that concept.

As for getting rid of the debt - charge your living expenses on credit card but continue to pay your loan then declare bankruptcy to clear your credit card debt? Not saying it's a great or good solution but it is a solution.

I had to go the private school route because I had a GED because I got pregnant at 17 years old. I proved myself when I graduated with honors. But no lower cost, higher ranked school would have taken me with a *GED*. Thus, I had to sacrifice my huge amount of debt in order to get a higher education.

Awww, so sad. pay back your loan. (and keep your legs closed)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To people advising that she defaults, she has a full-time job, they will just sue her and garnish her wages

+100

[Anonymous]

Looks like you will e paying those loans back one way or another.

[Anonymous]

oP I just read this , you should try it: If you are having problems with your private student loans, you can contact the private student loan ombudsman at the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The ombudsman can help you resolve problems and disputes, including complaints about payment problems, confusing advertising and marketing materials, deferment and forbearance issues, debt collection problems and credit reporting problems.