Posted on 06/25/2013 11:46:02 AM PDT by SMGFan
With interest rates on government-subsidized student loans set to double on Monday, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr., D-Newark, called on Congress to act, saying the imminent rate increase would “devastate students and their families.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
There must be a cheaper school that has crooks teaching students to be crooks. ;-)
Same here. During summers, to pay for college, I was a laborer. I friggin’ DUG DITCHES! And deep in those ditches, tarred and wrapped the welds on a pipeline. In a swampy marsh, full of mosquitoes, in humid 110-F heat-indexes. And in college, I studied. I think I attended no more than two parties the whole time.
Students with debt? The ones voted for Obama? And whose primary political interest is in dope and fag-marriage?
There are always other options. The military paid my way through college AND gave me a job when I graduated. I know doctors and lawyers who took that route, also.
. . . except for the fact that student loans are not unsecured debt. They cannot be discharged in bankruptcy or by almost any other means.
Part of the reason that they are high because people getting worthless and marginally marketable degrees are paying exactly the same rate as people getting worthwhile and fully marketable degrees.
The other part is substantial money has to flow into government coffers to support the highly paid mostly political appointees who perpetuate this scam.
Don't bring capitalism into this. The underlying mission of student loans is to funnel subsidized low cost money from students into the campaign pockets of liberal politicians via money laundering colleges and universities paying big salaries to profs and admins who contribute the money.
This is why the “student loan program” is one of the most sacred of scared cows.....
I used to wait tables in college, there were days I went to class, worked a lunch shift, went back to class, worked the dinner shift.
Neither, technically, is the post office.
But both are government protected monopolies and classic examples of crony capitalism.
One of them makes money because it is so protected. The other loses money hand over fist because its mandates make it impossible to make money.
One of them has no constitutional justification. The other is specifically authorized by the constitution.
Finally, if your own unsubsidized student loan with Sallie Mae currently has an interest rate of sub-1%, then good for you. Do you really think a bonafide private entity could afford to give you such a rate? My PLUS loan through SallieMae to help my kids through college carries a rate just under 7%.
I do feel somewhat sorry for those who are not savvy to the college game, like first generation college students. Their “Guidance Counselors” encourage them to study their “dream” major at their “dream” school and not to count the cost because, after all, they are preparing for their future “dream” job. With no one else to set them straight, they fall for the sell and wake up cold and deeply in debt.
Sallie Mae is now 10-12%. I almost puked when I got approved. But my kid has no choice. He is in a specialized program where he will have his Bachelors in three years and his Masters in four.
It will cost a fortune but he gets out in four years instead of six and half of his school is paid for with scholarships.
“. . . except for the fact that student loans are not unsecured debt. They cannot be discharged in bankruptcy or by almost any other means.”
There are a number of non-bankruptcy means to discharge part or all of student loan debt, mostly revolving around government-approved "service" options.
But dealing primarily with bankruptcy, although it's difficult to discharge student loans in bankruptcy, it's not impossible. The legal standards for discharge vary from place to place, as it seems the law is still settling out. There are actually lawyers who specialize in helping folks show "undue hardship" to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy.
But, bottom line, even if you can't discharge the debt, if you stop paying your student loans, there is no collateral they can seize and sell to compensate them for the loss. Student loans are unsecured loans. The creditor may garnish your wages, subject to the same rules as garnishment for other debts, to the degree that you have them, but that's not the same as secured by collateral.
“Part of the reason that they are high because people getting worthless and marginally marketable degrees are paying exactly the same rate as people getting worthwhile and fully marketable degrees.”
Not with private student loans from private companies like Sallie Mae (the original topic about which I posted). For private lenders, since they no longer receive subsidies or guarantees from the government, they do, indeed, take creditworthiness into account, and factor that into loan interest rates they provide to student borrowers and their parents.
As to the on-going federal direct loan program, I haven't really made any substantial comment.
sitetest
I know the feeling. I worked as a night auditor at a local hotel 11PM - 7AM, and slept when I could, sometimes when I shouldn’t.
He didn’t tell you the rest of the story. Yep, interst rates will go up for every student, EXCEPT, those people in the government that has children going to college. Those children of government employees will be granted a pass, and their interest rates will remain the same or get lowered, by a law that is going through our Washington politicians. If you doubt me, check it out
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