lower monthly payment would then translate into more extra savings for paydown of the next segment, and hopefully it wouldn’t be more than a couple of years before the entire loan would be paid off.

my real problem with the student loan conundrum is the lack of jobs. the reason i took the education loan in the first place was to put myself in a better position to obtain a job in the field i studied. but now, with the unemployment in the double digit percentages and no responses from prospective employers, i feel like buying a ticket far away from here myself. i really don’t need any bailouts or forgivenesses. i just need a job.

A mortgage and a private education in the US are similar in that they both generally involve ridiculously inflated numbers that essentially border on imaginary, fuelled in both instances by credit games played by the banks. Of course, in both cases, glassy-eyed consumers tend to take on these ridiculous debts because they are sure that they will, in the case of a mortgage, make a killing selling the property, and in the case of an education, make 6 figures someday as Grand Poobah of fillinthegap, because, like everyone else in their career program, THEY are above average.

I suppose the responsible thing for these people with mountains of student debt to do would have been to get out and pull themselves up by their bootstraps by flipping real estate and engaging in day-trading on the derivatives market. Then they could sit smugly and blather on about personal resonsibility on internet message boards….well, until we exhaust the world’s supply of rare metals, that is.

I used to regularly pay above the minimum until I realized that this merely delayed my next payment due date and did not affect the principal balance at all. This was the first realization I had about how unfavorable the terms of the loan actually are. The interest rate on the private loan is now down to an acceptable 7%, it has been as high as %14 in the past. On top of that, there are questionable insurance add-ons that have been piled onto the principal balance. Despite everything I’ve paid, I now owe $33k. I’m perfectly happy with the terms of the federal loan but the private one is killing me. They want it paid back over 25 years, which means I’ll have paid back nearly double the original amount by then. I’ve tried to move to a different payment plan but been rejected as the monthly payments would be higher and I therefore don’t fit the income-sensitive ‘relief’ category they use to help people with unmanageable monthly amounts.

I’m doing a PhD in the UK now and seriously considering just letting the loan default. I don’t plan to return to the US any time in at least the next five years and can’t bear the thought of living with this nightmare for the next quarter century.

I’m speaking as someone who has TRIED to pay back a loan in the most honest way possible and been royally screwed by the lender. I’d much rather live with the satisfaction that I dutifully paid back borrowed money than the anxiety that will come when the debt collector notices appear, but I feel like I’m out of options. I’m not defending loan avoidance on principle, but just to balance the ethical argument, I think people should take into account that money lending is a pretty immoral affair, and sometimes you’ve got to act in your own interest rather than that of the banks.

One thing, I will point out, when you run up credit card debt or walk away from a foreclosure, typically people are older than 18-22. Right?

Well people who sign on the dotted line for $100k+ student loans are 18 years old when they do it. OFTEN they are encouraged by their parents, friends, teachers, coaches, to take out loans to go to the “best” school possible. They are told it’s an “investment” in themselves.

It’s not like a car loan, mortgage, or credit card debt. People easily justify the student loan debt of any amount.

Plus when you think about how young and typically financially unsavvy you are at 18? I feel a lot more sympathy for people who are 22 and finishing college with massive loans. Many had no idea about money or paying it back, or how hard it would be.

BUT for mortgages, you know you’d have to pay your mortgage, and typically you were renting before so YOU know about the monthly payment. To declare CC debt BK? It usually takes years to run up enough to make it worthwhile.

So how young and stupid are you? Student loans are typically the first debt you get yourself into at 18.

Is this different from mortgages? No, ultimately a loan is a loan.

Steve – do you want a student loan bailout? I can’t tell. First you rail on lenders for loaning you money, then you rail on the government for bailing out mortgages, but then end it by asking for one for student loans? It’s unclear.

I am in the same situation ($100K+). When I was loaned that money I certainly hoped and expected that I would be able to repay it, but stuff happens and things don’t always turn out the way you had hoped. The lenders know this and make the loans anyway. The risk should be on the lender.

Now everyone is up in arms about mortgage foreclosures and the government is scrambling to find ways to bail people out. Why shouldn’t it be the same for student loans? How is this any different?

I have a monthly income of $900 and a student loan payment of $136 – now that is ridiculous.

I don’t think people realize the increasing cost of college. It’s not like it was 10 years ago. According to a recent New York Times article, the cost of college is growing at double the rate of inflation. Plus, grants and scholarships are increasingly hard to come by and it can become a sort of second job just trying to find ones that you qualify for.

I’m not trying to justify Chris’ debt, I’m just saying that things aren’t like they used to be.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/education/21cnd-tuition.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

I’m with you all the way on this one. He made his choices – no one forced him. He needs to own up to his mistakes and figure out how to fix it. Complaining and whining about how it’s not fair isn’t going to fix anything at all. It just uses up time you could have been using to solve your problem.