Current Events > Jesus, the Last Week Tonight about student loan debt was infuriating.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Really need to raze that system and start it over. Forgive all student loan debt, remove all current student loan debt companies, and start fresh with better oversight and better management.

Companies intentionally sabotaging people who are doing the right thing and fucking everyone over. The woman who was denied wiping out her loans because for 9 years she paid 1 penny less than her bill due to a 'clerical error'.

It shouldn't be up to the debt companies to decide who gets their loans forgiven, it should be a flat across the board standard. Don't say that you need to work in a field and pay back 20 years of loans to get the rest forgiven, then only forgive 32 of 2 million burrowers. It's absolute bullshit.

I finally got my ITT class action settlement a few weeks ago

$173

I have 73k of undergratudate debt (two more UG semesters left). Grad school will push that to around 160 and that is a state school. How are you supposed to get ahead when you start out 200k in the hole?

DDP886 posted...

I have 73k of undergratudate debt (two more UG semesters left). Grad school will push that to around 160 and that is a state school. How are you supposed to get ahead when you start out 200k in the hole?

Can i ask how you got that far into debt? I assume this is a medical degree of some kind?

I wish you luck tho, its a fucked up system

and biden played a key role in making it the way it is by making it so you cannot escape student loans through bankruptcy.

1337toothbrush posted...

and biden played a key role in making it the way it is by making it so you cannot escape student loans through bankruptcy.

How'd that pass 1-99 in the Senate and 0-435 in the House?

The issue didn't really spark until states started defunding education and putting the burden on students rather than the state. When it starts with 70-30 state funding to student funding and flips to 80-20 with student funding and state funding, that sparks the massive rate hike for higher education. Not sure Biden had anything to do with that. Though I bet you'll try your hardest to somehow drag him into this.

DDP886 posted...

I have 73k of undergratudate debt (two more UG semesters left). Grad school will push that to around 160 and that is a state school. How are you supposed to get ahead when you start out 200k in the hole?

Bro... What degree?

emblem-man posted...

Bro... What degree?

Electrical engineering. What killed me was living in the non traditional student apartments but I need somewhere to live. The apartments were nice but just as expensive as living in my own personal residence
Edit: The first 14k was a trade school

ssb_yunglink2 posted...

Can i ask how you got that far into debt? I assume this is a medical degree of some kind?

I wish you luck tho, its a fucked up system

Living in student apartments while attending school. Be blessed if you can live home and not have that expense

I hate the student loan situation we have in this country. It took me over 5 years to pay off mine, and it was a good thing I didn't go to college for too long and racked up an even bigger to have to pay off. Some people are paying for it for the rest of their lives and paying for interest accumulated is ridiculous.

DDP886 posted...

Electrical engineering.

Going to grad school for we as well? Masters
Phd or just masters? I hope you're dabbling in coding as well?

emblem-man posted...

Going to grad school for we as well? Masters
Phd or just masters? I hope you're dabbling in coding as well?

Masters and I'm done I can't do it anymore lol
I yep I honestly and working on Python/Basic. But I also know a lot of Java, C++, PhP, MySql from being self taught in my later teens (things have changed)

DDP886 posted...

Masters and I'm done I can't do it anymore lol
I yep I honestly and working on Python/Basic. But I also know a lot of Java, C++, PhP, MySql from being self taught in my later teens (things have changed)

As a fellow EE, software is honestly the way to go job wise for salary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN2_0WC7UfU&t=2s&ab_channel=LastWeekTonight

I'm sitting at around 140k debt and growing with every year due to interest. Haven't nabbed a job yet but hoping that changes soon. Aero degree. Tuition, housing, and flight training. The latter can really fuck over your wallet. And I've only got a PPL.

ClayGuida posted...

How'd that pass 1-99 in the Senate and 0-435 in the House?

It also makes sense. If you want places to actually offer student loans, you need to give them reassurance that students wouldn't just graduate and immediately declare bankruptcy. It's not like they have assets to seize and they'd be able to ride out the negative credit score impacts.

The fact that you can make minimum payments and wind up deeper in the hole is something that should be a crime against humanity.

literally just don't take out $200k in loans you don't intend to pay back lol

AlephZero posted...

literally just don't take out $200k in loans you don't intend to pay back lol

What about 1.2 million dollar loans?

AlephZero posted...

literally just don't take out $200k in loans you don't intend to pay back lol

Well you need it for college. Nobody is wanting to just take out a big loan for fun.

if you think you need $200k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

AlephZero posted...

literally just don't take out $200k in loans you don't intend to pay back lol

Tell that to Trump, LOL.

Yeah I'm a sufferer of atrocious business practices around student loans. Still have around 80k left after IBR fucked me hard for years without me realizing it. Private loan vendors are pure scum and this system that has been set up is quite literally hampering almost an entire generation of people. Like, does the government think making college so extremely expensive and then using 13%+ interest rates for STUDENTS going to allow them to buy a house and start a family and pay taxes?

Student loans should be capped at 2% MAXIMUM, across the board. It is an INVESTMENT on the future of the country, it makes no sense we would need to bleed an 18 year old's future dry. I fucking hate it and student loans are my #2 issue (I can deal with it, #1 is abortion and medical care being governed by feckless politicians that don't understand reality).

AlephZero posted...

if you think you need $200k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

You clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

People aren't taking out 200k loans, they're taking out 70k loans and being forced to pay 200k or even more due to high and ridiculous interest rates.

Not to mention many are taking out those loans with the promise from employers or the government to forgive the loan if they serve in the military or work in the public service field, like teaching or policing, only to have the government or business in charge of handling your loan for the government to fudge numbers and prevent you from being able to have it forgiven when they promised it would, if you followed their rules.

Don't tell people that if they work for the government for 20 years you'll pay their loans off, then do 30 of 2 million people who do so. Don't promise things you can't do, this isn't Scott's Tots here.

if you think you need $70k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

College should be free.

I wouldn't have gone to my school if I didn't get scholarships. Go to a school you can afford! I'll agree it's ridiculous the cost they want to charge though.

AlephZero posted...

literally just don't take out $200k in loans you don't intend to pay back lol

AlephZero posted...

if you think you need $70k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

Shut the fuck up

AlephZero posted...

if you think you need $70k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

Clearly never even been to a college campus in your life, yet commenting on tuition costs.

DDP886 posted...

I have 73k of undergratudate debt (two more UG semesters left). Grad school will push that to around 160 and that is a state school.

GuerillaGorilla posted...

I'm sitting at around 140k debt

How in the fuck? I did community college and a state school and walked away with a masters and 40k debt (I paid for CC as I went). Did you go to out of state schools?

I'm excited to listen to this one since I don't have a good overall grasp on the thing. Like I know people want it done, I know that some places were predatory but that's all I know. Time for some learnin.

Kaldrenthebold posted...

Student loans should be capped at 2% MAXIMUM, across the board. It is an INVESTMENT on the future of the country, it makes no sense we would need to bleed an 18 year old's future dry. I f***ing hate it and student loans are my #2 issue (I can deal with it, #1 is abortion and medical care being governed by feckless politicians that don't understand reality).

Federally backed loans should be interest free and if you don't make your minimum payments, whatever federal tax return you were supposed to get goes towards your loan amount that way if you're ducking paying, you're still forced to be/incentivized to be putting something towards them.

Private loans should be capped at 2%.

I also would like to point out I went to college from 2006 - 2010. What happened in 2008? Ah yes, a market crash. Bye bye scholarships and grants, hello hugely high interest rates. It was either stop school with a lot of debt, or take super high interest rate private loans out to end up with a degree. My ONLY issue is that I decided to pick a prestigious university for a "brand new field!" of software engineering which meant they cost a pretty penny. But when you're inundated with "go to a really good school" and "you're going to make SO much out of college!" all your life and reality says "hahah syke", that sucks ass.

I got a good job now, I'm a manager of software engineering, but the entire loan system is purely fucked. I've consolidated and lowered my interest rates to the lowest they can go and paid off all variable 10+% interest rate loans so I am making serious progress. Doesn't also help that, by signing up for Income Based Repayment, you can pay your minimum but the interest rate adds up. I wasn't aware out of college, and thought paying my minimum would, well, pay the minimum required and keep my loans going down albeit slowly. Nope. Like 6 years of paying and my loans went UP. Fucking stupid bullshit.

Argh I get testy with student loans.

wackyteen posted...

Federally backed loans should be interest free and if you don't make your minimum payments, whatever federal tax return you were supposed to get goes towards your loan amount that way if you're ducking paying, you're still forced to be/incentivized to be putting something towards them.

Private loans should be capped at 2%.

Yeah agreed but you know the government would still want a little something something. Them being capped now at what, 6.5%? Is still particularly egregious. But yes I agree, college should have an extremely low barrier to entry so the literal future of the country can hit the ground running.

Shadow_Don posted...

How in the fuck? I did community college and a state school and walked away with a masters and 40k debt (I paid for CC as I went). Did you go to out of state schools?

In-state estimated cost of attendance for my Alma mater (university of wisconsin) is well over $100,000 at this point

tuitions and housing fees have ballooned insanely in the past decade

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0a2d6bc8.jpg

TheGoldenEel posted...

In-state estimated cost of attendance for my Alma mater (university of wisconsin) is well over $100,000 at this point

tuitions and housing fees have ballooned insanely in the past decade

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/0a2d6bc8.jpg

https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-enrollment-tops-50000-freshman-class-includes-second-highest-number-ever-of-wisconsin-residents/

50,000 students.

They're making at least $560M off of tuition alone

wackyteen posted...

https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-enrollment-tops-50000-freshman-class-includes-second-highest-number-ever-of-wisconsin-residents/

50,000 students.

They're making at least $560M off of tuition alone

Gotta afford to pay your coach 7.625 million a year.

AlephZero posted...

if you think you need $70k to go to college send me a DM i have some bridges id like to sell you

You live under a rock? Or maybe you're an old boomer that went to college in the 1960's

Damn the housing and meal costs are so insane. Avoid that shit at all costs if possible.

DDP886 posted...

I have 73k of undergratudate debt (two more UG semesters left). Grad school will push that to around 160 and that is a state school. How are you supposed to get ahead when you start out 200k in the hole?

You don't. That's the point. The poorer people are, the harder it is for them to do shit like buy a house (which means giant companies buy up housing stock instead, forcing people to rent forever). The less likely you are to try and fight for better wages or benefits or unionize because you live paycheck to paycheck because of your absurd loan debt.

At least in the US student debt reduction/forgiveness has actually become a discussion on the table. In the UK, even if you suggested 1 of student loan forgiveness you'd be immediately shouted at and laughed out of the room.

The root cause of the problem has been staring us in the face for decades: too easy access to nearly unlimited money. There's nowhere near enough limits and restrictions. Greedy colleges know they have an infinite money glitch and are mining it for all they can. The Simpsons was joking about Homer screaming about how much it'd cost to send Maggie to college like 25 years ago.
But the left has no interest in addressing the problem, because the college-industrial complex is one of their biggest benefactors. Elizabeth Warren in 2005, when she had no political power, had no problem urging an end to the easy money supply, but Elizabeth Warren in 2024 is silent on the issue.

Pass a bill. Starting next year, all future student loans CAN be discharged in bankruptcy. let the market do its thing.
Banks won't want to loan out $100K to an 18 year old with no collateral anymore.
99% of students will no longer be able to afford the luxury spas masquerading as universities anymore.
Those universities will have to adapt and make themselves fucking affordable again, or they die.

That's it. That's the solution. But then the money train would end. So we can't have that...

I've already paid back a little over $300k from student loans and still have a principal of $70k+. Fuck the education system in this country.

As a HS Math teacher working in a public school, I'm about 77 in of the 120 payments needed for PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness)

I'm also on a revised Pay as you Earn plan, so my payments are only $11/mo technically. I'll be forgiving about $25k of debt in 2027ish at this rate.

I consider my situation fortunate, others are getting way more screwed over.

streamofthesky posted...

The root cause of the problem has been staring us in the face for decades: too easy access to nearly unlimited money. There's nowhere near enough limits and restrictions. Greedy colleges know they have an infinite money glitch and are mining it for all they can. The Simpsons was joking about Homer screaming about how much it'd cost to send Maggie to college like 25 years ago.
But the left has no interest in addressing the problem, because the college-industrial complex is one of their biggest benefactors. Elizabeth Warren in 2005, when she had no political power, had no problem urging an end to the easy money supply, but Elizabeth Warren in 2024 is silent on the issue.

Pass a bill. Starting next year, all future student loans CAN be discharged in bankruptcy. let the market do its thing.
Banks won't want to loan out $100K to an 18 year old with no collateral anymore.
99% of students will no longer be able to afford the luxury spas masquerading as universities anymore.
Those universities will have to adapt and make themselves fucking affordable again, or they die.

That's it. That's the solution. But then the money train would end. So we can't have that...

Tbh, people would probably get a bit mad at that as well as it ultimately means less people going to college. Which is not necessarily bad if jobs reduce requirements for entry level jobs.

Many of the Europeans have free college but it's also difficult to get in and you just have less people going.

Lobinde posted...

At least in the US student debt reduction/forgiveness has actually become a discussion on the table. In the UK, even if you suggested 1 of student loan forgiveness you'd be immediately shouted at and laughed out of the room.

I don't know if you would get laughed out of the room, but student loans are handled differently here in the UK.

It looks like new students aren't required to pay anything back until they're earning 25k (for reference, I think the median full-time salary in the UK was around 30k last time I looked into it). You pay 9% of your income about this threshold towards your loans, and anything unpaid is written off after 40 years. I'm not saying that this will have no impact on a student going to university now, but if they earned 30k/year they could pay 450 a year (38/month) for 40 years (18k in total, which is less than you'd borrow for tuition fees alone), and the remainder would be written off.

It's nowhere near the sort of hardship that people can fall into by taking out student loans in the US.

And just a note that we have loan forgiveness in place. It ranges from 25 - 40 years, depending on when you took out your loans, but I believe that the majority of people don't pay back their loans before they are written off. We do have it pretty good here, compared to the US.

GBH713 posted...

It's nowhere near the sort of hardship that people can fall into by taking out student loans in the US.

Is it part of taxes there as well? So basically a minor addition to taxes they're already paying.

theAteam posted...

Is it part of taxes there as well? So basically a minor addition to taxes they're already paying.

Yes if I'm understanding you. For anyone in employment, it will get deducted from your salary, alongside your taxes, by your employer. I'm not sure how it would work for anyone who is self-employed. But yeah, people that I know think of these deductions a lot more like a tax than a loan.

theAteam posted...

Is it part of taxes there as well? So basically a minor addition to taxes they're already paying.

no. It's just a monthly bill, like a car payment. Except it continues to grow annually.

ClayGuida posted...

The woman who was denied wiping out her loans because for 9 years she paid 1 penny less than her bill due to a 'clerical error'.

that part pissed me off too damn