Rant-- Student Loans

I just found out i'm past due on a student loan from UW-Madison that I didn't even know I had!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!  I haven't even used my college degree, and ended up with an associate's because i couldn't afford a bachelor's!!!!  It should not be this expensive to go to school!!!!!!!!  Arrrghhhh... Anyone else loathe student loans like I do?????  I was thinking about trying to go back to school, too, but not anymore!!

*Jumps in*
*stomps around angrily*
*grumbles about only the rich being able to afford post-secondary schooling*

I'm doing my bachelor degree right now and the student loans I've racked up while working 2 jobs has already approached $25 000 CAN after only 2 years. I still have 2 more years for this degree and 2 more after that for another.

*grumbles and ends rant*

***Pats you on the back**** I feel your pain..

The government should quit pissing our money away if they want a better future by giving it's citizens educations....

I feel your pain.  All I have to say is, I already have $90,000 in loans, and still 2 more years--that'll be another $80K BEFORE interest.  I try not to think about it  :(

I'm having school problems too.  I recently decided to pursue my BA, after spending the last 5 years saying I didn't want to go to school for the very reason of what you guys are going through right now.  90k and 25k of debt just to go to school is outragous to me.  I felt like, how do they expect anyone to get ahead if you are going in debt just to get there.

One day I woke up with the realization that no one is going to that me seriously in the job world with out anything under my belt.  I intially was going to attend Phoniex University online.  I was this close to going forward with them.  The cost is $295 per credit hour. I would've ultimately been 30k in debt after I finished. 

After doing some heavy researchig on

http://www.onlinedegreereviews.org/college/

I found a local state non-profit university where I could obtain my BA for 15k, and that's going in with NO credits.  I already have 35 credits from when I was attending a local community college, so my cost will be a about 13k.  Also, because my income is below poverty level, I qualify for the max Pell Grant allowed, which will cover my tuition for Fall/Spring semesters. 

So from the looks of things, it seems I'm coming out pretty good.   

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Irwiggins-- $90k??? WTF?  What are you pursuing?? Must be something good.

Royal1-- 13K is good for a BA!!  My income isn't below poverty level, but it sure is when I pay my student loans!!!  I've heard things about questionable credibility with online universities, but i don't know if that's all of them or just some of them.. I'd check into how employers view that before making the investment.  Maybe I just heard wrong.

The U.S.'s priorities are so messed up that we'd rather dump money into wars and stuff instead of taking care of education, healthcare, poverty, and everything else that needs to be taken care of.  The politicians don't give a crap, though, they've got money to buy their way through college.

Guera- I've heard things like that too, that's why I'm kind of glad I didn't go forward with Univ of Phoneix.  UOP marketing is out of this world.  I can't go to a single website without seeing them plastered all over. 

The thing about my school is, they're actually a real University here in my state.  I don't know if you watched the news, but this 95 year old woman just made national headlines for being the worlds oldest college graduate.  Well she graduated from the school I'm attending. 

Plus there won't be anything on my degree indicating that I didn't go through the traditional classroom setting.  Ultimately once I graduate, I will be moving to Texas because they have the best paying jobs in my field.  I think it will make sense for them to see on my resume that I'm from Kansas and so is my school, so they shouldn't even question it.  I hope, lol.

1)  Go to a public school, people throw so much money away paying for private school when there are many quality public schools out there.

2)  I don't think you can get a student loan without first requesting it or signing a Master Promissory Note (for a federal loan at least). 

 There is no way that you can have a student loan without your knowledge.  It is your responsibilty to repay it whether or not you actually do something with your degree and it will be difficult, if not impossible, to obtain more financial aid since you have defaulted on your existing loan. 

I am currently using a student loan to pay for my school.  The government has wonderful financial aid programs available to those in need and I think it is quite ignorant to say that education is only available for the rich (at least in the US).  You CAN go to community college for the first two years.  That will save you a bundle right there.  Without my student loans I wouldn't be able to afford school at all.  I'm thankful that the government has programs in place to help me get an education.

fallingstars--

First of all, I did get Financial Aid from the government, which didn't amount to much, and I need to repay.  Those programs aren't as wonderful as you're making them sound.

I'm sure I signed a promissory note for the UW-Madison loan, but that was 4 years ago, and I hadn't heard anything about it until now..

I DID go to community college after realizing I didn't want to pay for four years at UW.. That's where I got my degree from.

Do not call me ignorant by saying that education is available for only the rich.  Apparently your under the illusion that the government is doing all it can to help out students in need.  Take a look at other countries whose government encourages there youth to obtain a higher education by footing a lot, if not all, of the bill.  The programs in the U.S. are not a top priority, which is why people get stuck with so much debt. 

Your delusional if you think our education is our government's priority at the present.. Regardless of what shoddy programs they have in place.

I'm up to my eyeballs in debt. I got a BA, an MA, and a PhD, and I love my job as a college professor and wouldn't trade my education or the experiences I had at the two different colleges.  BUT . . .

I will be paying off loans for a decade (I went to college for a decade, so that makes sense), and that stinks!!  Most people don't realize that, as a professor at a small, Catholic college, I make less than a public school teacher with a BA (which is not enough, given how hard they work, too!). 

I am the queen of college loan debt.  Sigh.  Sorry to rant. :)

Writestuff- Congrats on obtaining your many degrees!! I wish I would have made it that far. 

That's another thing that bugs me-- Teachers don't get paid squat...  We should be paying them more to attract more qualified people (not referring to you, rather to some of the shitty teachers i've had who sexually harrass their students or don't know what they're talking about in general).

It's a sad situation and people just ignore it....

I feel bad for you guys... I'll have my Associates in December and so far the Gov't has given me 6K... I'll get another 2K in August...

hybrids-- Do you have to pay that back?

I got a pell grant my last semester of school. Cuase my parents made too much money for me to qualify the other 5 years. Except I didn't live with them and they provided NO support for me or my schooling.

So I am 10K in debt. well 8K now.

The system is messed up, but there are tons of scholarships out there that can help too.

Nope... It's mine :)

yea it sucks when your divorced parents make to much money for you to get any financial aid and you're the fourth one to go through college. no help at all. i work three jobs just to pay for my books but that is another issue. community college is such a good thing, academically and financially. but that is only for two years. hopefully things will get better, because this is rediculous. it honestly does need to change. 

Ive been lucky I guess. I have gone to school two different times now (this is my 2nd) and both times I dont have to pay.  I apply for scholarship after scholarship...(online)  www.fastweb.com  and www.scholarships.com  and you'd be surprised how many of them you can get from writing an essay, plus these sites ask questions and filter out the ones you are not eligible for so you dont waste your time applying.. then they send me emails everytime theres a new scholarship that i meet the criteria for and the deadline to apply....  My tuition and college expenses are estimated at 25k a year right now and not one penny comes out of my pocket... the trick to scholarships is to research, research, research and apply as early as possible... I also maintain a 3.5 gpa (im pursueing BSBA- Accounting and double major in Economics/Finance) and applied for Accounting Club scholarship and Business Dept scholarship at my college and actually got them.. so theres another 5k a semester...... Oh and yes I also get the federal pell grant of 4000 a year because I am a single parent....and a single parent scholarship, a non-traditional student scholarship, as well as book scholarships...

I actually end up with a little bit of a refund check each semester..

Everybody (in the US at least) is entitled to a free education for the first 12-13 years of school - and you can make a living with a high school education.  The really serious students usually have an opportunity to go to 4-year colleges on scholarships, partially or totally funding their education.  However, I think that most college students should start at the community college level - much less expensive and an opportunity to develop study skills and GPA's that might earn scholarships. 

When you need student loans, there are many opportunities for all income levels and the government helps level the playing field - but they don't just give it away.  Of course you'll have debt and should be responsible enough to keep track of it and pay it back - and that's hard to do, but possible.  You'll also earn more money, on average, than a person without a college degree.  I have a few degrees and all were funded with either student loans, scholarships, work-study, or my own pocket.  Now I am paying as I go - my kids didn't use their college funds! Sorry kids.

I waited years to pursue college, basically because I wasn't disciplined enough to do it.  Then I had two bad marriages and life took over.  At 34 I suddenly decided to make it happen.

That said, I'll probably die before I get my loans paid off!!  I've decided to just keep going to school until I have enough education to get a job with which I can afford to pay my loans...LOL

So... I feel your pain!

my daughter has one class left for her degree. She will graduate the end of this year and has worked her butt off the whole time to pay for it.  She will come out without any debt but it took her 6 years to get there and the really madening thing is some of the kids she went through school with are illegal in the U.S. and got free tuition.  Go figure.

I'm 50, and still going to school. I've just finished paying one loan and started paying on another. I 'll also have to take a leave of absence to finish my ed. degree. My sons and daughter in law pay 200 to 600 a month is loan repayments. They lived on their loans to finish school and now it's pay back time. They all have great jobs . One son had most of his paid by the military but still owes 20,000.  At one point the military stopped paying saying they didn't have the money to pay school loans to their vets. I couldn't belive it. But taken care of now.  You really have to look to see what's out there.  I found that  if you work for a title one school for 3 yrs they will pay most of your school loans, which reminds me I have to give that info to daughter in law.  Yea, they are a pain but we request them so got'a pay them back.  I've seen kids go buy cars with  their money they didn't need it for school and complain about having a loan afterwards.  And my kids didn't get pell grants either because of their parents income. But they got through school.