StudentLoanJustice.org

[RadicalTexan]

I've been looking for something like this.

http://studentloanjustice.org/

http://studentloanjustice.org/problem.htm

[Tansy_Gold]

1. I think it would be interesting to see how the penalties and fees on

defaulted student loans compare to the penalties and fees on, say, defaulted car loans.

[GReedDiamond]

7. I had a student loan in default for around 15 years!

I had refused to pay back the loan, because the owner of the audio/video recording/engineering school I attended, a foreign national, had been looting the money and taking it overseas. Without proper funding, due to outright THEFT, the school closed after 1 1/2 to 2 years of this going on.

Eventually, a couple of years ago, I tracked down a federal level bureaucrat (from EdFund; I had always before this point been dealing only with State of CA "Student Aid" bureaucrats, who acknowledged the theft, but refused to dismiss the loan), who found the smoking gun type evidence that led to the dismissal of the loan, and full refunds of all monies taken from me through confiscated tax refunds and etc. My credit record was also cleared.

To answer your question (finally), at the point where my loan was dismissed, the interest rate was at 23%. The original loan amount was $4000.00. After 15+ years of penalties and interest, the amount due at the end was something like $18,000, not counting the over 4 grand they had already stolen from me. So approximate total amount, if I had "bought" myself out, would have been $22,000 (on a $4000 loan).

[myrna minx]

2. Thank you! I've been trying to find some help for my friend

who is defaulted because she makes $12,000 a year and has no way of climbing out of her student loan debt. This is so helpful. If anyone on this board has some helpful advice or links to help guide a person through trying to get student loans out of default, I'd appreciate it. She feels so paralyzed, so I'm trying to find out all that I can for her.

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. For starters, your friend should get a job that pays more than minimum wage

[myrna minx]

8. Delete. Not worth it.

[kenfrequed]

10. Wow.

Seriously, I mean I knew you were a blue dog, but now you really sound like a closet republican. I mean you might as well tell the kids it is their fault that real unemployment is around the 16% range and that there aren't any jobs.

The banks have gamed this system to maximize their own benefit with absolutely no regard to what is good for the country, and the politicians that enabled them to become more corrupt obviously care nothing for young students or young adults jsut starting out.

Has it occurred to you that maybe these massively usurous debts are probably bad for the economy? I mean we have a bunch of young single people and families just starting out?

[Kingofalldems]

11. Always good to hear the repub point of view on this.Thanks!

[seemunkee]

3. Thanks

Sent to my son who has a small loan in comparison to most. Had to take out a loan to get him through his last semester after I lost my job. We are trying to get our daughter through now without putting her into debt.

[TwixVoy]

4. Anyone who takes out a student loan is a fool

it is a GIANT money industry and the fucking SCHOOLS THEMSELVES are in on it. Schools actually make deals with these loan sharks and let them go on campus to solicit. Many times the schools will solicit for them for some cash. Same thing with schools that let the banks send people to campus to push credit cards.

In the country higher "education" is not about education at all - it is about cold hard cash. The sad thing is most of the country has not yet realized that.

[RadicalTexan]

5. I tend to agree

Too bad I didn't realize all this when I was 17 in 1997 and thought taking out a few "good" federal loans would insure me a career earning enough to pay them off and do "better" than my parents.

Pfffsh.

[kenfrequed]

9. Yeah

I will convert to hinduism and then maybe I can die and if I am really really lucky I can get reincarnated as a rich kid that gets school paid for by my parents.

Sheesh don't blame kids for doing what every adult they talk to about higher education tells them they have to do in order to go to school.