I guess you can say this

lawyers are a dime a dozen. Why one earth did you take out loans in that amount to be a lawyers?

Those of you complaining about the Student Loan repayment program for feds, why don't you just work for the feds?

OOOOOhhhhh, that's right. Because those of you who wracked up $400K in debt are doctors and lawyers, and you'd rather work in the private sector where you can earn $200-$400K per year, instead of the Federal government where you might earn up to like $120K per year.

Description
The Federal student loan repayment program permits agencies to repay Federally insured student loans as a recruitment or retention incentive for candidates or current employees of the agency. The program implements 5 U.S.C. 5379, which authorizes agencies to set up their own student loan repayment programs to attract or retain highly qualified employees.

Employee Coverage
Any employee (as defined in 5 U.S.C. 2105) is eligible, except those occupying a position excepted from the competitive civil service because of their confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating nature (e.g., Schedule C appointees).

Loans Eligible for Payment
Loans eligible for payment are those made, insured, or guaranteed under parts B, D, or E of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 or a health education assistance loan made or insured under part A of title VII or part E of title VIII of the Public Health Service Act. (See Q&A 17 for examples of the types of student loans that are eligible for repayment.)

Limitations
Although the student loan is not forgiven, agencies may make payments to the loan holder of up to a maximum of $10,000 for an employee in a calendar year and a total of not more than $60,000 for any one employee.

Discretionary Authority
As with any incentive, this authority is used at the discretion of the agency. Each agency must develop a plan to describe how the program will be implemented.

Service Agreement
An employee receiving this benefit must sign a service agreement to remain in the service of the paying agency for a period of at least 3 years. An employee must reimburse the paying agency for all benefits received if he or she is separated voluntarily or separated involuntarily for misconduct, unacceptable performance, or a negative suitability determination under 5 CFR part 731. In addition, an employee must maintain an acceptable level of performance in order to continue to receive repayment benefits.

Periods in a Non-Pay Status
Periods of leave without pay, or other periods during which the employee is not in a pay status, do not count toward completion of the required service period. The service completion date must be extended by the total amount of time spent in non-pay status. However, as provided by 5 CFR 353.107, absence because of uniformed service or compensable injury is considered creditable toward the required service period upon reemployment.

Annual Reporting
Agencies are required to report annually to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on their use of the student loan repayment authority. Before March 31 of each year, agencies must submit their reports for the previous calendar year. The reports must contain--

The number of employees who received student loan repayment this benefits;
The job classifications of the employees who received student loan repayment benefits; and
The cost to the Federal Government of providing student loan repayment benefits.
Annual reports to Congress on agencies' use of the Federal student loan repayment program.

Anonymous wrote:I have 160,000 and I am not a big time lawyer. I am a psychologist who makes pennies compared to these lawyers. It kills us to pay $850/month and not be able to make the return that lawyers do.

Not all lawyers are "big time lawyers"--in fact, most aren't. You obviously do not know much about the legal market. Many "big time lawyers" have been shed from big time law firms and remain unemployed for long periods or go into underemployment. Many others by choice work in lower-paying but rewarding positions in government, non-profits and "the system". Do you know what a legal aid lawyer makes? It's a lot of work and stress and little pecuniary return. So yes, a minority of lawyers are making a lot of money. More than that are struggling under the burden of high educational debt. In any case, as a psychologist, you should be aware of the statistics regarding suicide and substance abuse in the legal profession--it is a very high stress career, regardless of how much money is made.

I'm not saying all lawyers have it rough or should be pitied, but if you're going to have a pity party for yourself and resent lawyers, at least get your facts straight.

Psychology is one of those degrees people get because they are easy. Yes, they are very common.

Tell us, which part of a 4 yr undergrad then 5 - 7 years of graduate / doctorate is the easiest part! Tell us about your own 11 years of higher education in the same field!

No way! You don't have 11 years of concentrated higher education yourself? C'mon! Really??

That is surprising to hear because you just seem so educated and eloquent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 160,000 and I am not a big time lawyer. I am a psychologist who makes pennies compared to these lawyers. It kills us to pay $850/month and not be able to make the return that lawyers do.

Psychologists are a dime a dozen. Why one earth did you take out loans in that amount to be a psychologist?

And where do you offer therapy?

boy, are you ignorant and an ass.

Psychology is one of those degrees people get because they are easy. Yes, they are very common.

Again, why did you take out those kind of loans? Educate me. Because honestly, the ignorant and an ass comment is not very educational or theraputic.

So be a therapist and help me understand the errors of my ways.

I don't even know the total right now but I think we're down to about 160k? I'm a lawyer and my husband is a dr. I have career regret pretty much EVERY DAY. Thankfully with my husband's salary we are making pretty good headway in paying them off, but it still sucks. I feel like they are this big black cloud hanging over us. Ugh.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have 160,000 and I am not a big time lawyer. I am a psychologist who makes pennies compared to these lawyers. It kills us to pay $850/month and not be able to make the return that lawyers do.

Psychologists are a dime a dozen. Why one earth did you take out loans in that amount to be a psychologist?

And where do you offer therapy?

boy, are you ignorant and an ass.

My DH and I owe $300k+ combined. Both lawyers, plus a worthless but expensive masters degree thrown in for good measure (his). And, I am a SAHM. And, we have three kids and will probably have another. And, I hated being a lawyer and will never use my degree again. And, we are currently paying only interest because that's all we can afford (this will change after DH makes partner next year). And, my DH didn't graduate until 2006, BUT he was already 30 instead of 25. So we are way behind the curve on saving for retirement. I have to laugh when I see all those posts about people saving 20% of their income and putting $1000/mo in 529s for their kids. That is just so far outside the realm of possibility for us that it's like a whole other universe.

I found that I hated being a lawyer too. I mean HATED it. But, I owed $80K for law school, so I stuck it out at a law firm for 4 years, lived like a pauper during that time, and put everything I could toward paying back the $80K that I owed as fast as I could so I could get out of there. I left 2 months after I made my last loan payment. Then I found a very different kind of lawyer job (govt, in a regulatory position with no litigation) that paid less but was possible because I no longer had loan payments. I still don't really like being a lawyer, but I have a good job that pays well and provides a lot of security for our family while enabling me to spend lots of time with my kids (I'm part time on about a half-time schedule).

It seems sort of irresponsible to take on that much debt and then decide you don't like the profession so you're just going to opt out. Most of us don't get up in the mornings thinking "yippee! time for work!" but we do it because we have obligations. If you're not saving anything for retirement, do you expect your children to take care of you when you're older? And what happens in an emergency when you have no emergency fund? In addition, you're probably not able to save for your kids' education, so are they going to wind up in the same boat you're in?

Anonymous wrote:I have 160,000 and I am not a big time lawyer. I am a psychologist who makes pennies compared to these lawyers. It kills us to pay $850/month and not be able to make the return that lawyers do.

Psychologists are a dime a dozen. Why one earth did you take out loans in that amount to be a psychologist?

And where do you offer therapy?

I went to state schools and was a commuter...never lived in a dorm...took 4 buses a day to get to college. I thought I had it bad because my parents didn't pay a dime for my college. Now, I feel very thankful reading these posts that I never took out any loans.

I have 160,000 and I am not a big time lawyer. I am a psychologist who makes pennies compared to these lawyers. It kills us to pay $850/month and not be able to make the return that lawyers do.

I'm the poster being affectionately referred to as asshole. Thank you, thank you very much.

Everytime there's a discussion about lawyers and law school everyone goes on and on about how the law schools are to blame, they lie, etc.

Let's call a spade a spade. Who in their right mind thinks it is smart to take out loans totaling $200K+ and honestly thinks it is going to be all peaches and cream to pay it off? What it really comes down to is greed on the part of the person taking out the loans. They believed they were going to get a ginormous paycheck for going to law school. Even in a good economy and a great year, I can't imagine the percent of graduating lawyers is that large who would find it easy to pay off that kind of debt.

But yes, I'm an asshole. I chose to go to a state school, not go into crazy debt, graduate in four years, get a degree and be self-sufficient and pay my bills and my taxes. Of course, I don't get to tell everyone I'm a fancy-pants lawyer and have huge amounts of debt. Obviously everyone is free to make their choice, but don't whine about your loans and try to say you didn't know better, be honest and own it: you were greedy.

I'm with the previous poster, who was much more eloquent than me, if you are truly giving back to a community in a rural area, then yes, there should be some sort of loan forgiveness, but I imagine this percent is truly small.

As far as teachers: sure if they are teaching in afflicted areas. But honestly, when was the last time a teacher came on complaining about their student loans? Nothing comes to mind. I don't think most teachers contemplate taking out 200K+ loans as they know there's no way they will pay it back.

Ok, I was younger than he was! I went straight through. He took out the masters degree loans when he was young (22). Then he went to law school so he could pay off the masters degree ... because like a lot of prospective law students he was led to believe that job prospects and salaries were better than they actually turned out to be.

Sorry, you can't play the "youthful indiscretion" card when you are 22 years old with a BA. And him - 25, with a Masters he already was in debt for? And you say, "we were young, we didn't know any better?" Aargh.

And count me among those who question your subsequent choices, PP. It's none of my business, of course, but I just can't fathom owing $300,000+ combined, and then taking on a mortgage, and then having kids, and then having person quit. That's nuts. Your whole attitude reeks of "I want what I want, and the realities of the situation don't matter to me - I want it!" I wouldn't put up with that from my 4 yo, and yet you are proud of it. Interest only, on a $300,000 debt, for the last 5 years? And then you have three kids? And then you leave the workforce? I understand you want to be a SAHM, but there are lots of things I want that I can't afford. Getting them woudl put my family in a precarious financial situation. So you know what? I don't have them. That's what grownups do. Sorry for the rant/lecture, but this really is astonishing.

Wow OP, so sorry. I had about $24,500 but paid them off.