Student Loan Hell

[Chaosbean]

I don't know about the rest of you, but my life would be hugely different if I didn't have the weight of my student loans constantly over my head. I went to college so that I would be able to pursue my dreams and yet, I can't continue that journey and pay my student loans.

Here are some links

a well done facebook things, worth checking out.
http://www.causes.com/causes/271251
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46657437878


And an interesting article

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=22711

and some people trying to help

StudentLoanJustice.Org


I don't know, Student Loan BS is just more proof that our government doesn't give a damn about us.

[CamilleDevine]

How exactly do student loans work over there?
I have read that in the US, some attract interest etc. Seems pretty unfair :S

Here in Aus, you can rack up a "HELP" debt to pay your tuition fees and other stuff related to uni (and some TAFE/college courses). This is indexed annually for inflation, but has no interest as it's a loan from the government. You can make voluntary payments on it at any time, and after you earn over a certain amount once you enter the full-time workforce ($40,000 a year, or thereabouts), payments are taken out automatically.
My HELP debt is going to be between $35,000 and $40,000 by the time I finish my 4-year course.

We also (if eligible) get a small amount of money called Youth Allowance or Austudy, to help with the cost of living. This is a welfare payment available to most students, and though it's pretty small compared to minimum wage, it's a big help. Really glad we don't have to take out loans just to live on like they do in some countries. I supplement mine with work, too.

It seems silly to put people in such large debt. I mean, surely the best thing for a country is to have educated professionals, rather than punish people for learning.

[Chaosbean]

Yeah, there is interest, my loans are between 3-11% interest. It sucks ass.

[jessiegrrrl]

11% interest??? What kind of crazy student loan rate is that?!

Have you been having trouble deferring them or anything? I'm not great with advice on this - although I have loans too - unless I know what is going on?

[Chaosbean]

No real troubles except paying between 350 and 550 a month is really hard in this economy.

[jessiegrrrl]

Absolutely. Can you call to get them lowered or re adjust your payment options, deferred, etc? I'm sure you already thought of these options though..

[Chaosbean]

That will just make the hell last longer, I'm over it I want it gone.

[ComradeM]

Yeah the new student loan reform says they're not allowed to make you pay more than 10% of your income...sooo you can get your payments super low, but then you're paying longer. It's kind of a toss up.

[poorandweird]

our student loans (tuition alone) used to be around £3000 a year but thanks to the fucking coalition government they're set to spike to £9000 for some students. ARGH

[CamilleDevine]

our student loans (tuition alone) used to be around £3000 a year but thanks to the fucking coalition government they're set to spike to £9000 for some students. ARGH

It's amazing that your government can control such a thing.
Here, universities are private institutions.

[Fuchsia]

You should all move here, colleges/universities are all very decent and it only costs around 500 euros a year to study. And people who don't have a lot of money don't even have to pay the entire amount of that.
I really don't know how they justify such high costs in some other coutries. Surely young people are the future of your coutry, why in the world would you deny education to some of them?

[voiddj]

It's amazing that your government can control such a thing.
Here, universities are private institutions.

There are a small number of private universities in the UK. More could go private if the tuition fees plus government funding aren't sufficient.

[ComradeM]

Even public institutions can be outrageously expensive, especially if you go somewhere out of state. I go to the least expensive 4 year school in my state and it's still around $3,000 a semester for in-state tuition.

Fortunately I'm graduating this year, as tuition is set to skyrocket next year, because, as usual, America is "solving" long term problems with short term "solutions", which generally tend to involve throwing younger generations under the bus.

[miss.hell]

i dont know but my husband pretty much hates me everytime i send in a student loan payment on a degree i havnt even finished, but i dont pay 500 thats crazy

[sickgirliezele]

It's amazing that your government can control such a thing.
Here, universities are private institutions.

Here private institutions are double to triple the cost of state public schools. I live in California, but I'm pretty sure the cost is just about the same all across the country.

UC - http://students.berkeley.edu/finaid/home/cost.htm
CSU-http://www.calstatela.edu/univ/finaid/cost.php
Private-http://www.stanford.edu/dept/finaid/undergrad/budget/index.html

Just looking at the numbers makes my head hurt!!