$100,000+ loan club

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

[Anonymous]

The federal subsidized loan program does just that and so acknowledges that funding an education is different from merely buying a car or a house. Never mind that student loans are impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, while you can discharge your car, house, and gambling debts.

Well, sure. Roll your eyes all you want, but "subsidized by the federal government" isn't the same as "illegal." That seems fairly self-evident, but I guess it needs to be explained. You proposed making it "illegal" to charge interest while a student is in college. That, frankly, is ridiculous. If you think ALL interest on student loans should be subsidized, please feel free to propose it. Given current funding priorities, though, it seems unlikely.

And please, once again, think before you post. You're starting to embarass yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

Ugh! Making loans no-interest while a student is in school would distort the higher ed "market" even more than it is already. Thanks to easy loans, tuition is ridiculously high now...it's a giant bubble that's got to pop sooner or later. That's why we're all suffering, not because we accrued interest on four years' worth of loans, but because of skyrocketing tuition costs in the last 2 decades.

And I say that as someone who works in higher ed. I'm all for affordable education, but anything that works to increase loans will bite us in the ass as a country in the long run -- all that happens is that private loan providers get rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

Ugh! Making loans no-interest while a student is in school would distort the higher ed "market" even more than it is already. Thanks to easy loans, tuition is ridiculously high now...it's a giant bubble that's got to pop sooner or later. That's why we're all suffering, not because we accrued interest on four years' worth of loans, but because of skyrocketing tuition costs in the last 2 decades.

And I say that as someone who works in higher ed. I'm all for affordable education, but anything that works to increase loans will bite us in the ass as a country in the long run -- all that happens is that private loan providers get rich.

They get rich off the interest. I paid 16,000 in interest last year so to say that the problem isn't the interest

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

Ugh! Making loans no-interest while a student is in school would distort the higher ed "market" even more than it is already. Thanks to easy loans, tuition is ridiculously high now...it's a giant bubble that's got to pop sooner or later. That's why we're all suffering, not because we accrued interest on four years' worth of loans, but because of skyrocketing tuition costs in the last 2 decades.

And I say that as someone who works in higher ed. I'm all for affordable education, but anything that works to increase loans will bite us in the ass as a country in the long run -- all that happens is that private loan providers get rich.

They get rich off the interest. I paid 16,000 in interest last year so to say that the problem isn't the interest

Hit submit before finishing. Anyway I completely agree that the root of the problem is the cost of university bubble. It will certainly burst at some point just like the housing bubble and that free flowing loan money is also the problem. Lenders would still make plenty of money on student loans even if interest didn't accrue until after graduation I think, but I do get both your and the snarkier poster's points. I notice that neither of you address that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy unlike pretty much any other kind of debt. Though I would not renege on my financial obligations I do think it odd that one cannot discharge student loan debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

Ugh! Making loans no-interest while a student is in school would distort the higher ed "market" even more than it is already. Thanks to easy loans, tuition is ridiculously high now...it's a giant bubble that's got to pop sooner or later. That's why we're all suffering, not because we accrued interest on four years' worth of loans, but because of skyrocketing tuition costs in the last 2 decades.

And I say that as someone who works in higher ed. I'm all for affordable education, but anything that works to increase loans will bite us in the ass as a country in the long run -- all that happens is that private loan providers get rich.

They get rich off the interest. I paid 16,000 in interest last year so to say that the problem isn't the interest

Hit submit before finishing. Anyway I completely agree that the root of the problem is the cost of university bubble. It will certainly burst at some point just like the housing bubble and that free flowing loan money is also the problem. Lenders would still make plenty of money on student loans even if interest didn't accrue until after graduation I think, but I do get both your and the snarkier poster's points. I notice that neither of you address that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy unlike pretty much any other kind of debt. Though I would not renege on my financial obligations I do think it odd that one cannot discharge student loan debt.

It can't be discharged because it is unsecured debt and if it were allowed, there would be a LOT of graduates declaring bankruptcy. I would declare bankruptcy in a New York minute to get rid of my student loans. ($130k) At least with a home or car there is some form of collateral. You can't take back a degree (though I would give mine back if it were possible to do so to get rid of the debt).

[Anonymous]

...and the lack of dischargability is a huge contributer to the bubble. Its also a moden day debtors prison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

Why? Do you not understand basic finance? Interest is how lenders make their money. Perhaps you should have considered all of these factors before you took out the loan. You don't get to cry foul now that you have to accept the consequences of your actions.

I'm not crying foul. I'm paying every penny back. I just think that there should be a rethink of the student loan industry.

Ugh! Making loans no-interest while a student is in school would distort the higher ed "market" even more than it is already. Thanks to easy loans, tuition is ridiculously high now...it's a giant bubble that's got to pop sooner or later. That's why we're all suffering, not because we accrued interest on four years' worth of loans, but because of skyrocketing tuition costs in the last 2 decades.

And I say that as someone who works in higher ed. I'm all for affordable education, but anything that works to increase loans will bite us in the ass as a country in the long run -- all that happens is that private loan providers get rich.

They get rich off the interest. I paid 16,000 in interest last year so to say that the problem isn't the interest

Hit submit before finishing. Anyway I completely agree that the root of the problem is the cost of university bubble. It will certainly burst at some point just like the housing bubble and that free flowing loan money is also the problem. Lenders would still make plenty of money on student loans even if interest didn't accrue until after graduation I think, but I do get both your and the snarkier poster's points. I notice that neither of you address that student loan debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy unlike pretty much any other kind of debt. Though I would not renege on my financial obligations I do think it odd that one cannot discharge student loan debt.

It can't be discharged because it is unsecured debt and if it were allowed, there would be a LOT of graduates declaring bankruptcy. I would declare bankruptcy in a New York minute to get rid of my student loans. ($130k) At least with a home or car there is some form of collateral. You can't take back a degree (though I would give mine back if it were possible to do so to get rid of the debt).

But it's the same with medical, credit card or gambling debt. What are they gonna do? Take back that transplanted kidney? Seize the overpriced handbag you charged to your credit card? Shake down the slot machine? And the law was only changed in 1998 for federal loans and 2005 for private loans to not allow discharge of student loans in bankruptcy and there have been bills proposed or introduced to change that, so clearly it's not an out-in-left-field proposal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...and the lack of dischargability is a huge contributer to the bubble. Its also a moden day debtors prison.

Good points, both PPs (I'm the New York minute poster above). Medical debt is also unsecured, but no one can be turned away. And we have a huge financial problem in medicine too. Yes, there is a bubble. Yes, it is a modern day debtors' prison -- as one of the prisoners I know this first hand.

[Anonymous]

My brother studied in Europe and he got his student loan interest free. It is somekind of government funded student aid system. The bank still gets its interest, just not from the student.

[Anonymous]

Snarky poster here. Part of the reason that it can't be discharged is that virtually every college student, at the time of graduation, would qualify for bankruptcy protection and the ability to discharge student loans. I certainly would have. And a credit hit would be a very small disincentive, at age 22, to bankruptcy. Is it moral and honest? No, but getting rid of a huge debt to start your life is a powerful incentive. Hell, students likely would delay getting a job just to take advantage of bankruptcy protection.

I agree the underlying problem is the runaway cost of higher education. As the parent of a pre-schooler, I can only hope that the problem is addressed in the next 15 years. Otherwise, at the current rate of increase, a bachelor's degree will cost well over a million dollars when my daughter goes.

[Anonymous]

About $150K between DH (private law 01) and me (private MBA 02) . Wrote the last check last month - all gone finally.

[Anonymous]

DH and I combined had over 100K in student loans. We paid off all the high interest ones as quickly as possible. Now, we've got about $30K left at 2% interest that we're in no hurry to pay off. Working on the mortgage first!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Count me in. I pay about $1,200/month on my loans. It sucks. I think it should be against the law for lenders to charge interest on student loans while students are still in college as that made up the bulk of my student loan payments last year.

It scares me that you (presumeably) got through college and don't have any better understanding of economics than this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had just over 100,000 in loans when I graduated from law school in 2001. I paid them off in about 6 yrs on a gov't salary--- paid 900 a month every month, received between 3500-5500 a year from my agency in loan repayment assistance, lived cheaply (ie with roommates, old car), and threw every bit of extra money I had at the loans.

Impressive to pay it off that quickly on a government salary, though I guess the loan repayment assistance helps. I graduated with $145k (mostly law school but a bit left over from college as well) and paid it off in 3 years at a law firm. Lived like a student in a tiny studio, no car, etc, in order to do so. But I didn't have kids so that helped.