Forgive my student loan!

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  • agthorn
    agthorn Posts: 1,844 Member
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    So if student debt get's forgiven I get reimbursed for all of the classes I paid for out of my own pocket, right?
    Man, I feel like a chump now for busting my butt to pay off my student loans in 2.5 years. I had 2/3 of my tuition paid by grants/scholarships, 10% in loans and my parents and I paid the rest myself.

    I fully support my tax dollars going to need-based aid. I think there should be even more of it! And I fully support lowering the interest rate on student loans, because the 6-8% is not reflective of the actual risk to the company when all the loans are backed by the government and can't be discharged in bankruptcy. I support *earning* loan forgiveness through public service (teaching, military, etc). I do NOT support loan forgiveness across the board!
  • cowgirlashlee
    cowgirlashlee Posts: 301 Member
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    It doesn't seem fair that I paid for my education and now you want me to help pay for yours? My kids paid for their educations with help from their employers. Why didn't you try that route? Sounds like poor planning to me.

    Some of us have employers that won't help pay for our schooling. However, I won't be asking anyone to help me with any form of loan forgiveness. Yes, I have loans, but I'm the one that took them out, so I'm the one that will pay them off.
  • 42kgirl
    42kgirl Posts: 692 Member
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    It doesn't seem fair that I paid for my education and now you want me to help pay for yours? My kids paid for their educations with help from their employers. Why didn't you try that route? Sounds like poor planning to me.
    Honestly, college is a lot more expensive now than it was whenever I assume that you went...unless you went back to school recently.

    There is absolutely no way that I could afford to fully support myself financially and go to the school that I do without my job, my loans, my scholarship, and my grants. It just wouldn't be happening.

    She's write. I went to school worked a part time job and walmart and a full time job at an insurance company. AND.. What do you now. I still Have 50,000 in school loans that I pay monthly. To be honest. I would much rather my tax money go to helping people pay for eduction than to help welfare who dont want to get out and work. I know there are some that cant. But if they can work they should be working.
    I worked a full and part time job out of school to pay student loan debt and live and that was 20 years ago. Boo hoo. Pay your debt.
  • megsmom2
    megsmom2 Posts: 2,362 Member
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    My daughter has some student loans...not a lot, but significant amounts due quarterly. She took those out, knowing she would have to pay them back, and wants to do so....but in this economy hasn't been able to find the kind of work that allows her to do it. She's working two jobs now just to get by. While forgiving the loans would be a weight off her shoulders, and many many other people, there must be some way to allow people to make payments they can live with instead. Reducing the interest rates further and reducing the impact of these loans makes more sense to me than outright loan forgiveness. Or cap the payments at a certain number of years for many folks....if you've been making the required payments for X number of years, forgive the remainders.
  • lour441
    lour441 Posts: 543 Member
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    Really? My husband put himself through school without taking any student loans and no help from his parents. Took him a lot longer, sure, but he graduated with no debt.

    This may sound harsh, but you chose the school and its tuition, you chose the amount of debt to accumulate, you chose your career field...it's time to pay up.

    Choosing a career should be about doing something you enjoy, not doing something that will make you more than enough money to pay your loans.

    Yes. You should choose a career that you will enjoy. But if the career you chose will not afford you the opportunity to pay off a large student loan then common sense should kick in.
  • snewsome7
    snewsome7 Posts: 189
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    She's write. I went to school worked a part time job and walmart and a full time job at an insurance company. AND.. What do you now. I still Have 50,000 in school loans that I pay monthly. To be honest. I would much rather my tax money go to helping people pay for eduction than to help welfare who dont want to get out and work. I know there are some that cant. But if they can work they should be working.

    I totally agree. I would gladly pay higher taxes if it was going to help education. I applied for tons of scholarships throughout my college career and didn't get a single one. I do not agree with paying taxes so people can sit on their bum all day. And like you said, some people can't and that is not who I am referring to. But there are plenty of people out there that depend on the government instead of using their own 2 feet to get a job and support themselves. That is not ok.
  • snewsome7
    snewsome7 Posts: 189
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    Agreed. I don't understand why people are coming in here talking about how they worked their way through college and were able to pay off their loans. That's great for them and that's the way people intend to pay off their loans, but times are different now. The problem today is that new grads cannot find the jobs to pay off their loans while interest gathers on the debt. It's not a matter of "I don't wanna pay; bail me out". Completely forgiving the loans is not the answer, in my opinion, but I find it ridiculous/offensive that the student loan debt crisis is being portrayed as people getting themselves into a predicament that they should not have gotten themselves into, when really they are simply victims of the wider economic crisis. Had there been no economic crisis, new grads would not have trouble finding jobs to pay on their debts.

    ^^^ well said.
  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
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    Student Loan Forgiveness...please. Why should my tax money go to pay for someone else's loans? Nobody forced them to take out big loans. I had loans while in college and for a few years after I graduated but I worked my *kitten* off to get them paid off.

    Glad you were able to find that sort of high-paying job just out of college...


    But more to the point, though my student loans do make life difficult, I'm not sure that it'd really end up helping the economy most to forgive them. It'd do more good than tax breaks, but would I turn around and spend that money back into the greater financial world? I have my doubts.

    High paying job just out of college? Please don't assume you know my situation. I worked full time in high school to save money for college, 2 jobs while taking a full load in college (and not exactly an easy school...Georgia Tech), and 2 jobs after graduating. Not only did I work very hard to get out of debt but I worked hard to avoid it as much as possible in the first place. I just don't understand the mindset that says I should be forced to pay for someone else's education when most (not all) of them aren't working as hard as I did.

    And forgiving student loans better than tax breaks?? A tax break isn't a handout...forgiving student loans is. A tax break is allowing someone to keep more of their own money. It's not the govt's money...it's our money. We already give too much to the govt.

    I agree with you. I have student loans that I would LOVE to not have to pay back, but it is a loan that I took out with the expectation of paying it back. I realize now that I didn't know enough about finances and budgeting when I was in high school. I wish I could start over...either knowing what I know now or having waited until I was more mature. I think I would have benefited greatly from maturity. :-) I say congrats for working your butt off like that to pay them off.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,738 Member
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    i'm fine with paying back what i borrowed -- but the govt making 7.8% on loaning me money that never really existed in the first place... really? and dont get me started with sallie mae and their insane interest rates. i'm just glad i'm in a position to pay off my loans in the next... decade... unless interest rates keep going up.

    This is my issue with it too. I worked and had scholarships, but still needed to take out loans. I don't mind paying them back, but the interest rates are ridiculous.

    Also, the economy simply cannot get better while we are supporting our government with the ridiculous interest rates. Economies get better when people purchase things. People used to graduate and buy cars and houses--that's how jobs are created. I haven't been able to buy either of those things and many other college graduate haven't been able to either.
  • RunningAggie
    RunningAggie Posts: 58
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    If I had known that student loans could be forgiven I would have taken out a lot more! LOL... I took our a few loans in undergrad and got them paid off rather quickly - not because I had a high paying job when I graduated (I was a field biologist) but because I only took out what I absolutely needed. For my years of graduate study I've paid out of pocket to avoid having to take out more loans. I know some people aren't able to do this. I was fortunate, but I also know people that took out a lot more than what they needed just so they could have more money. Now they are stuck. It's the same thing that happened with real estate. People bought houses they couldn't afford and got stuck. Yes it sucks that they lost their homes and it sucks that people are having a hard time paying back student loans. My thought is that you took the loan knowing that you would have to pay it back... you should pay it back. Many on this thread have the same idea - "I borrowed it, so I'll pay it back". Thanks to all of you.
  • snewsome7
    snewsome7 Posts: 189
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    My daughter has some student loans...not a lot, but significant amounts due quarterly. She took those out, knowing she would have to pay them back, and wants to do so....but in this economy hasn't been able to find the kind of work that allows her to do it. She's working two jobs now just to get by. While forgiving the loans would be a weight off her shoulders, and many many other people, there must be some way to allow people to make payments they can live with instead. Reducing the interest rates further and reducing the impact of these loans makes more sense to me than outright loan forgiveness. Or cap the payments at a certain number of years for many folks....if you've been making the required payments for X number of years, forgive the remainders.

    If I understand this correctly, you pay 10% for 10 years then the rest is forgiven. If it passes after someone has started making loan payments, they will work it out where you don't have a full 10 years left. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is how I understood it. It isn't TOTAL loan forgiveness. You still have to make payments for 10 years.
  • spottedlee
    spottedlee Posts: 372
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    Personally, I am in favor. I have a disablity and do not qualify for disablity forgiveness,,, without a job, I can't pay,, even if I file bankruptcy, chances are very high that it won't be forgiven. I think if you have a job and can pay,, it's not good to get away. But then, it's a good bill for those who REALLY need the help.
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
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    Canada has a student loan forgiveness program. But it's not what you think it is.

    In Canada, once you are out of school, for up to 5 years (I believe, don't quote me on that ....as I never used it, but a friend of mine did).

    Essentially, you fill out a bunch of paperwork every 6 months to have your loan "forgiven" which means they freeze your loan balance and don't apply interest rates. You also do not make payments at this time.

    That allows you to find a good job, get established and out the door so to speak.

    Once you are earning enough, then they will no longer allow the forgiveness and you are expected to make your payments and pay off your debt. Maybe a program like this is needed in the States?

    Also should you lose your job and find yourself without the funds to pay the loan, at that point you can also apply for "forgiveness". It does mean that a person may have their loans hanging over their head for a long time but at least it's more manageable. But the idea is that you took out the loan you STILL pay the loan.

    I have friends who have done this and find it to be a blessing. As for me, when I came out of school, the loans program sent me a package showing how much they felt I should pay a month that would leave me paying them (at a nice low payment amount) for over 15 years at an interest rate I was NOT interested in.

    I accelerated my payments and will save thousands on interest.
  • JennBunny73
    JennBunny73 Posts: 292 Member
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    I would love to not have to pay it back; however, it's not fair to the taxpayers to pay for part of my education.

    In Germany, we pay higher taxes so everyone can visit university free of charge (or at low rates such as 500 Euros a semester). Worth it? I think so.


    That is awesome what they do in Germany.
    I myself have student loans that I am paying back, but my son is graduating from high school this year and the tuition is so much more than when I went to college just 12 years ago that he can't afford to go. Back when the economy was good, it wasn't such an issue, but now it is. Not only that, many that graduate cannot find jobs like they did 10 years ago.
    There is only going to be more crime with young adults because they cannot afford to go to college to get decent jobs, so they have to try to get factory, construction, etc. jobs which makes it harder for ends to meet..and when people are in debt and stressed then they are more likely to commit crimes.
    Maybe forgiving student debt isn't the answer, but they should at least consider doing something about the outrageous costs of what it is to go to college today..Those that go to college are going to start their lives before they have a job to pay in serious debt from student loans. It is starting in the bottom of a pit, trying to fight their way to the top.
    I told my son ..I would rather him try to work a few years at a blue collar job and try to save as much as possible and then he doesn't have to take out so much debt with the student loan..maybe take a couple classes each semester. It will take longer, but he will be in much less debt starting out in his young adult life.
    There is also other things to consider..it takes him more money to drive to college..since he could only afford to go to a community college with no housing and gas alone is taking the majority of what he can earn.
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    Inflated military budget? Sure
    Forgive student loans and have universal health care? No wai you commie!

    AMURIKAAAAA **** YEAH!
  • Marie3391
    Marie3391 Posts: 202 Member
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    Also thought I'd add that whether you like it or not, taxes ARE paying for some people's educations...like mine. I get a few grants each semester on top of my loans and scholarship.

    I don't understand people who oppose government funding for college... education is an important investment. I'd rather see my tax dollars (well, when I have a job that actually makes enough to pay taxes) help someone get out of poverty and allow them to make a decent living for themselves instead of relying on welfare and assistance. That just seems like common sense to me.

    ^^^ Completely agree
  • hollyhunt123
    hollyhunt123 Posts: 19
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    Student Loan Forgiveness...please. Why should my tax money go to pay for someone else's loans? Nobody forced them to take out big loans. I had loans while in college and for a few years after I graduated but I worked my *kitten* off to get them paid off.


    agreed!!! I worked my butt off for my education, paid for it myself, made smart choices in the college I went to and how I did it so I wouldn't have so much debt! And when I finished, I continued to work my butt off to pay it off!!! Why must I pay for everyone else's now?????
  • Nopedotjpeg
    Nopedotjpeg Posts: 1,806 Member
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    While we're at it, let's get rid of public schools in general. If your family can't afford to send you to school, then that's your problem. AMIRITE?!
  • kimmieey
    kimmieey Posts: 87
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    I would love for someone else to pay back my 17,000$ student loan but it wouldn't be fair.

    I wouldn't want to pay for someone else's education, why should I make someone pay for mine?
  • Rhea30
    Rhea30 Posts: 625 Member
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    I think part of the problem is that students/young adults aren't even educated on making a sound choice when it comes to taking out loans. I know a handful who have taken out loans to go to a more pricey school and it turns out their degree still earns the same as the person who went to a state school which was cheaper. I know this becomes different when you're speaking of things such as Med or Law school etc but many degrees aren't going to give you a higher pay just because you went to a pricey university. Also they don't teach students anymore the importance of saving or how to better invest their money, its all about credit/loans now.

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