University of Phoenix Tops Debt Slave Racket with 35,049 Student Loan Defaults

Global Economic Analysis ^ | 09/11/2012 | Michael Shedlock

[SeekAndFind]

Congratulations to the University of Phoenix, a private for-profit school, which has the dubious distinction of having 4,359 percent more student loan defaults than Columbus State, the top public school.

A student loan is considered in default when it is 360 days delinquent.

Number of Loans in Default



The above chart from the New York Times article Bad Student Debt Stubbornly High as Collection Efforts Surge.

There is now over $1 trillion in student debt and $76 billion of that is in default reports the NY Times in Debt Collectors Cashing In on Student Loans

As the number of people taking out government-backed student loans has exploded, so has the number who have fallen at least 12 months behind in making payments — about 5.9 million people nationwide, up about a third in the last five years.

In all, nearly one in every six borrowers with a loan balance is in default. The amount of defaulted loans — $76 billion — is greater than the yearly tuition bill for all students at public two- and four-year colleges and universities, according to a survey of state education officials.

In an attempt to recover money on the defaulted loans, the Education Department paid more than $1.4 billion last fiscal year to collection agencies and other groups to hunt down defaulters.

Unlike private lenders, the federal government has extraordinary tools for collection that it has extended to the collection firms. Ms. Cordeiro has already had two tax refunds seized, and other debtors have had their paychecks or Social Security payments garnisheed. Over all, the government recoups about 80 cents for every dollar that goes into default — an astounding rate, considering most lenders are lucky to recover 20 cents on the dollar on defaulted credit cards.

There is no statute of limitations on collecting federally guaranteed student loans, unlike credit cards and mortgages, and Congress has made it difficult for borrowers to wipe out the debt through bankruptcy. Only a small fraction of defaulters even tries.

“You are going to pay it, or you are going to die with it,” said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com, a credit monitoring service. 

Debt Slave Collection Business is Booming

Last year the government paid $1.4 billion to collect defaulted loans of which $355 million went to 23 private debt collectors. Student debt collection is now the most sought-after contract within the industry.

No wonder.

Student loan collectors have the ability to garnish wages, seize tax refunds, and seize other government payments.

Those in the debt slave racket are of course willing to do anything to keep the business alive. Obama wants to expand the program. Of course, so do all the universities and anyone associated with the slave trade.

The schools and slave trade collection agencies are big contributors to politicians willing to accept campaign bribes to keep the student "aid" programs intact.

Student "Aid" or Economic Prison Sentence?

You know the answer to the question if you have any common sense. Student "Aid" is not for the kids. Virtually nothing of importance in the education industry is "for the kids".

From public unions, to aid programs, and even grants, the entire system is geared to sending as many kids as possible to school, hoping to make debt slaves out of them for life.

The only rational thing to do is kill every one of these ridiculous programs cold turkey.  Those in the slave trade will fight tooth-and-nail against cutbacks, led no doubt by the University of Phoenix.

For more on Student "Aid" please see

• A Remarkable Comparison: Affordable Student Loans vs. Affordable Housing an email from Eugene Holloway, a Maryland Attorney, on the rising cost of college education.
  
• Debt for Diploma Schemes: Debt for Diploma Schemes and the Cookie Monster Principle
  
• Off-Balance-Sheet Budget Fraud: Budget Deficit Accounting Fraud and the Off-Balance-Sheet Student Loan Scam; Time to Scrap Entire Student Loan Program
  
• Pell Grants Turn Students into Debt Zombies: For Profit Schools Turn Students Into Debt Zombies; It's Time To Kill The Entire Pell Grant Program
  
• Subprime College Loans, Who is to Blame?: Subprime Goes to College; Students Buried in Debt; Who is to Blame?
  
• Expect More Student Riots: University of California Campus Erupts In Riots; Student Loan Scam Drives Up Cost Of Education; Expect More Riots

[oh8eleven]

There is now over $1 trillion in student debt and $76 billion of that is in default.
And thanks to Øbama, who do they owe all that money to ..... the GUBMINT.

[rockinqsranch]

I vaguely recall an article several years ago about the ownership of one of those for profit schools being associated by ownership with the Washington Post newspaper.

Seems IIRC the article stated to the effect that the owners of the school were carrying the newspaper which was a money pit with the tremendous profits from the school, and most of that was from funding by the government backed loans, but I can’t remember which school, nor who the owners were.

[firebrand]

There was a good piece in the Village Voice about the nefarious practices of for-profit online colleges, especially in regard to student loans. I’ll try to find it later.

[GeronL]

U of P is a slave master alright, but I have noticed Kaplan on the list. Kaplan and the leftist Washington Post need each other. heh.

[agere_contra]

Did the students have guns to their heads when they signed those loan agreements?

[GeronL]

The NY Times writers usually think that debt is good for the economy, there was an article just last night.

[DFG]

Kaplan University is owned by the Washington Post.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaplan_University

[varyouga]

I see those “cool” commercials for such diploma mills practically non-stop nowadays.

They entice desperate, broke people into taking out loans for worthless degrees.

Then the people end up exactly where they started but this time with loads of non-dissmissable debt for LIFE that can be garnished from their wages. I have even heard of SWAT teams being used for student loan issues.

It is truly slavery by another name...

[LS]

I was told that the U. of PHX and some of the other main for-profit educational groups are all headed by big libs. Major Obama donors!

[Uncle Chip]

University of Phoenix -- 35,000 student defaults.

I knew someone who registered there and after a month cancelled because they changed the terms of the tuition and loan in a surreptitious way.

Why are they still in business with defaults like that???

[rockinqsranch]

Thanks for the link. Quite informative.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

I have a dream that someday, all people, of every race creed and color, will go to college.

And then, all people will realize that they flushed $100k down the toilet.

And the, maybe, just maybe, we’ll get over this college thing.

[PapaBear3625]

If student loans were privately issued and discharged in bankruptcy, the high-default schools would be shunned by the loan issuers (as they should be).

These places should be made to originate their own loans, and eat the loss if they admit people who cannot get a job with their degree.

[QBFimi]

>> taking out loans for worthless degrees ...

“We guine to collie.” (Heard often by my now-deceased friend who was Dean of Admissions of one of the largest community colleges in the USA.)

Did they learn anything valued in the marketplace? Wanna guess?

[Gaffer]

The single most valuable thing Obama has done to ensure his re-election was to convert student loans from private to government backing and responsibility.

I expect, would be on, that Obama will issue a new proclamation of the ‘first’ thing he’ll do when re-elected is to announce a program to ‘suspend’ and ‘review’ all student loan debt now owned by the Federal Government. IOW, blanket forgiveness.

[gotribe]

Those numbers are worthless. You need to look at percent of total loans in default, not raw numbers.

Last time I checked, University of Phoenix had an enrollment of 400,000, so I wonder how many total loans they have out there. Not surprised they have 32,000 loans in default in raw numbers, given their high enrollment.

[tom paine 2]

I have also read that Nancy “Dementia” Pelosi has a financial interest in this school

[Mach9]

Because they’re not part of the free market!

The CLOSED SHOP is nowhere healthier than in academia. Accreditation is the first hurdle, and precious few nonliberal institutions ever qualify. Then there’s what must be price-agreement if not outright price-fixing, for tuitions. Oddly, the U. S. military has been marginally successful in offering degree programs that pass muster AND offer affordable rates. Even so, they’re never rated in the top tiers and tend to be snidely tolerated by in-the-loop universities. If someone ever figures out how to break the deadlock on accreditation and teaching efficiencies, he’ll make a fortue while charging a tenth of the price..

[informavoracious]

Most on that list are vocational "colleges." They entice the gullible and not so smart by convincing them that a cheesy "degree" is their ticket to the good life. I once hired someone from one of the technical colleges to do software engineering. He had a "B.S." in IT and was on the "Dean's List." He turned out to be functionally illiterate. But he had high self-esteem because of a "4.0 GPA." He gave me a hard time when his performance ratings matched his actual performance. I later found that these places give EVERYONE a 4.0 and a place on the Dean's List because it looks impressive on a resume, even if it doesn't indicate anything in real life.

I am sure there are competent people who graduate from these diploma factories and do well, but it's a ripe environment for taking advantage of the dumb and naive.