Amid student loan tussles, more seek "forgiveness"
Amid student loan tussles, more seek "forgiveness"
Elbot Carman, a 25-year-old aspiring graphic designer, made so little money after earning his master's degree last year that the U.S. government now says he can hold off making payments on his school loans.
Carman owes $140,000 in a mix of government and private student loans. Last year he earned $12,000.
"That was so low that they are not requiring me to make a payment this year," said Carman, who works a paid and an unpaid internship and recently moved back in with his mother in Lawrenceville, Georgia to cut costs.
Carman signed up for a government program that helps indebted students by limiting what they owe each month and, for some, forgiving their remaining balance after 10 or 25 years.
He is not alone. As U.S. lawmakers consider how to keep interest rates on certain student loans from escalating, a growing number of students have sought help through a bipartisan 2009 initiative. In less than three years, more than 675,000 borrowers have signed up, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-usa-education-loans-idUSBRE84719Z20120508
= new reply since forum marked as read
