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...so when does the student loan crisis hit?

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
related: In Law Schools, Grades Go Up, Just Like That
One day next month every student at Loyola Law School Los Angeles will awake to a higher grade point average.

But it’s not because they are all working harder.

The school is retroactively inflating its grades, tacking on 0.333 to every grade recorded in the last few years. The goal is to make its students look more attractive in a competitive job market.

Law schools seem to view higher grades as one way to rescue their students from the tough economic climate — and perhaps more to the point, to protect their own reputations and rankings. Once able to practically guarantee gainful employment to thousands of students every year, the schools are now fielding complaints from more and more unemployed graduates, frequently drowning in student debt.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
One of the biggest reasons I have not gone back to school is because I don't want to end up in this situation, ie, drowning in debt with no real plan.
I know school is important and I would like to get a degree, just no idea in what. I don't think its wise to pursue until I know. I have friends who got good jobs in their chosen field out of school, they are still swamped with their loans.
 

BurlyShirley

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again
Jul 4, 2002
19,180
17
TN
If you can stand the smell of old people, a pharmacy or nursing degree would be worth your time, no doubt. You might even get most of the school paid for.
 

ire

Turbo Monkey
Aug 6, 2007
6,196
4
One of the biggest reasons I have not gone back to school is because I don't want to end up in this situation, ie, drowning in debt with no real plan.
I know school is important and I would like to get a degree, just no idea in what. I don't think its wise to pursue until I know. I have friends who got good jobs in their chosen field out of school, they are still swamped with their loans.
Look for a profession that pays well and that you think you'll like. When I was choosing my field it was between Mechanical and Software Engineering, so I went and hunted down who made more...easy decision.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Look for a profession that pays well and that you think you'll like. When I was choosing my field it was between Mechanical and Software Engineering, so I went and hunted down who made more...easy decision.
Yeah. Still in the process of doing that! I have worked in offices for the last 10 years (I'm 26), mostly insurance.
I just can't seem to find anything I want to do yet.
 

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
23
SF, CA
Look for a profession that pays well and that you think you'll like. When I was choosing my field it was between Mechanical and Software Engineering, so I went and hunted down who made more...easy decision.
Let me add to that, that if you're looking at "professions" I'd pick one that isn't easily exported. Engineering is easy to outsource. Nursing is not.

I still recommend liberal arts... being flexible, inventive and trainable is more important than being trained.
 

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
Let me add to that, that if you're looking at "professions" I'd pick one that isn't easily exported. Engineering is easy to outsource. Nursing is not.

I still recommend liberal arts... being flexible, inventive and trainable is more important than being trained.
Yeah, but nursing you get to deal with all the old fvcks on socialized medicine complaining about how entitlements to the darkies are ruining the country.
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Yeah, but nursing you get to deal with all the old fvcks on socialized medicine complaining about how entitlements to the darkies are ruining the country.
I get that when I go to my parent's for dinner, I don't see the difference...haha.

Nursing isn't for me though.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
Let me add to that, that if you're looking at "professions" I'd pick one that isn't easily exported. Engineering is easy to outsource.
and to add to that: if you have a clearance, you won't be outsourced.

you will, however, compete w/ 5X as many people/position who also have a clearance & now will work for 60% of market rate just to stay in their house, so there's that.
I still recommend liberal arts... being flexible, inventive and trainable is more important than being trained.
it also softens the blow for stay-at-home moms that their "degree" will be wasted
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,145
16,539
Riding the baggage carousel.
Bump. I read the following article and it made me think of this thread.
I think I've changed my mind. If your upside down,****it, just walk away. Pocket the money you'd otherwise be paying on the mortgage. Its gonna take at least 6 months now for the foreclosure process to even begin to kick in. You would get an easy 12-18 months rent free. Dante was right, fvck em.
Just like the poker player who’s been fleeced by all the other players, and gets one mean attitude once he finally wakes up to the con? I’m betting that more and more of the solid American middle-class will begin saying what Brian and Ilsa said: ****it.

**** the rules. **** playing the game the banksters want you to play. **** being the good citizen. **** filling out every form, **** paying every tax. **** the government, **** the banks who own them. **** the free-loaders, living rent-free while we pay. **** the legal process, a game which only works if you’ve got the money to pay for the parasite lawyers. **** being a chump. **** being a stooge. **** trying to do the right thing—what good does that get you? What good is coming your way?

****it.

When the backbone of a country starts thinking that laws and rules are not worth following, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump to anarchy.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-coming-middle-class-anarchy
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Bump. I read the following article and it made me think of this thread.
I think I've changed my mind. If your upside down,****it, just walk away. Pocket the money you'd otherwise be paying on the mortgage. Its gonna take at least 6 months now for the foreclosure process to even begin to kick in. You would get an easy 12-18 months rent free. Dante was right, fvck em.
Interesting article.

I got the Home Loan Mod. I'm a bit ashamed of it, although I'm not sure why. I went through what they did with Wells Fargo, although mine was successful. I will tell you, it was one of the most stressful ordeals I've ever gone through. They do not make it easy for you, in fact, they TRY to make you fail, miss a document, something, anything they can do to get you to default so they can cancel the program. And the whole time they threaten you with the fact that if you miss ANYTHING, game over and you owe 3 months of mortgage payments PLUS late fees, etc.

There were quite a few times I thought "fyck it". But I've never missed a loan payment, ever in 6 years.
 

jasride

Turbo Monkey
Sep 23, 2006
1,069
5
PA
coming to the end of our divorce, I'm this close to not being able to make the mortgage payment this month. I and we haven't missed or been late on one since we bought in 2006. It's only been a little over four years but never missed yet. We have the smallest most modest house but still cant make it work on one income. All homes are over priced. Every single one of them. From the ratty half double to the big developments. They should all be worth only half what they are. I know, easier said than done. When do you say ***k it?!?!
 

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
40,145
16,539
Riding the baggage carousel.
Interesting article.

I got the Home Loan Mod. I'm a bit ashamed of it, although I'm not sure why. I went through what they did with Wells Fargo, although mine was successful. I will tell you, it was one of the most stressful ordeals I've ever gone through. They do not make it easy for you, in fact, they TRY to make you fail, miss a document, something, anything they can do to get you to default so they can cancel the program. And the whole time they threaten you with the fact that if you miss ANYTHING, game over and you owe 3 months of mortgage payments PLUS late fees, etc.

There were quite a few times I thought "fyck it". But I've never missed a loan payment, ever in 6 years.
coming to the end of our divorce, I'm this close to not being able to make the mortgage payment this month. I and we haven't missed or been late on one since we bought in 2006. It's only been a little over four years but never missed yet. We have the smallest most modest house but still cant make it work on one income. All homes are over priced. Every single one of them. From the ratty half double to the big developments. They should all be worth only half what they are. I know, easier said than done. When do you say ***k it?!?!
Well, I certainly applaud you both for doing the right thing. Good on ya for taking the high road, because that’s what it is. The point I’ve been making all this time is that I found it reprehensible that others were not doing what you guys have done. I found it morally revolting that people who could make payments were not simply because they were “upside down”. And the whole time the stupid system has been rigged , either through malice or ignorance, against people who are trying to do what you guys are doing. All of it to the end of the banks sucking off the government tit and squeezing already stretched homeowners even more. It absolutely infuriates me that we bailed these fvcks out with taxpayer money only to have them turn around and screw with the honest homeowners who didn’t go out and get interest-only-lairs-loans to purchase homes they couldn’t afford. I guess the point of my last post was that I find that I can no longer cast stones of moral indignation at those who just pull chocks and leave. Honestly, if I didn’t have equity in my house I’m enraged enough by all this that I’d probably quit paying on mine too. Two years of putting mortgage payments in the bank is a lot of cash. ****it.:rant:
 

KavuRider

Turbo Monkey
Jan 30, 2006
2,565
4
CT
Well, I certainly applaud you both for doing the right thing. Good on ya for taking the high road, because that’s what it is. The point I’ve been making all this time is that I found it reprehensible that others were not doing what you guys have done. I found it morally revolting that people who could make payments were not simply because they were “upside down”. And the whole time the stupid system has been rigged , either through malice or ignorance, against people who are trying to do what you guys are doing. All of it to the end of the banks sucking off the government tit and squeezing already stretched homeowners even more. It absolutely infuriates me that we bailed these fvcks out with taxpayer money only to have them turn around and screw with the honest homeowners who didn’t go out and get interest-only-lairs-loans to purchase homes they couldn’t afford. I guess the point of my last post was that I find that I can no longer cast stones of moral indignation at those who just pull chocks and leave. Honestly, if I didn’t have equity in my house I’m enraged enough by all this that I’d probably quit paying on mine too. Two years of putting mortgage payments in the bank is a lot of cash. ****it.:rant:
Thanks, I appreciate that.

I've read some of the articles you are posting...and I hear people around me saying the same thing - they drive a $50K SUV, bought a $500K house and make decent money...but they are "upside down" so they just stop paying. And they feel they are owed something.

In my case, it came down to either eating or making my mortgage payment. And I like to eat. I bought small and sub $100K before the boom. But my payments were still high, mostly because I'm young and didn't have much credit when I got the loan. Then my hours at work got cut. The bank had a very "not our problem" attitude about it, which really frustrated me because after 6 years of on-time payments, I would hope they would be a little more understanding. If the gov't wasn't forcing them to do the HAMP program, it wouldn't happen.

If they hadn't granted me the modification, I would have stopped paying. I honestly did not have much choice at the time, the money wasn't there.
 

$tinkle

Expert on blowing
Feb 12, 2003
14,591
6
Who will benefit from Obama's student loan plan? - Political Hotsheet - CBS News
A week after USA Today reported that outstanding student loans would reach $1 trillion before the end of the year, President Obama on Wednesday announced a series of new measures aimed at easing the burden of debt on students struggling to repay their federal college loans.

Speaking to a crowd of college students in Denver, Colorado, the president outlined a new "Pay As You Earn" plan. The proposal would expedite the timeline for an already-approved loan repayment plan that would lower monthly federal student loan payments for Americans whose burden of debt is disproportionate to their earning abilities.
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
I'll benefit from this plan, that's who. Well, at least I'll benefit from it if I start repaying my loans before I finish fellowship in 2014. After that point then income based repayment won't save me any money because I'll have non-negligible income.
That's what you get for choosing a degree that has earning potential. Should have majored in Women's Studies.
 

ridiculous

Turbo Monkey
Jan 18, 2005
2,907
1
MD / NoVA
That bill leaves me confused, that leads me to believe that it's working. So I'm probably not benefiting.

The discretionary income part throws me. Also, 20 years and then debt forgiveness? Is that debt forgiveness (increased credit) after 20 years should you default/declare bankruptcy or does that read after 20 years your loan balance is no longer your issue? Please tell me its not the latter.

Also, I see nothing in there that stops the freight train that is the bubble itself, the one that seems to be increasing its debt load by $100B/ year.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,037
7,554
20 years and then debt forgiveness? Is that debt forgiveness (increased credit) after 20 years should you default/declare bankruptcy or does that read after 20 years your loan balance is no longer your issue? Please tell me its not the latter.
It's the latter. Pay 20 years worth of payments at whatever rate works out to be lowest for you (the 30 year fixed payment plan or the capped-at-10%-of-income income-based repayment plan) and then after said 20 years the loan is forgiven and is no longer your debt.
 

SuspectDevice

Turbo Monkey
Aug 23, 2002
4,157
359
Roanoke, VA
When I told my friends back in 2000 that "I Don't really worry much about my loan debt since the global financial system will collapse before I pay them off" I was pretty serious.

I'm definitely going to hit the forgiveness mark. I've already been in economic hardship forbearance for 7 years(thank god that's possible). My parents will likely die with negative equity in their home.
I know more than a handful of students who planned to rely on the death of their parents to make the leap into financial solvency. I've got to admit that I am one of them.

Macabre double whammy!

Luckily there is a life insurance policy on me that will cover the original loan balance, so my parents may yet to not die in the street as they see their medicare payments disappear just as they need them most. If I can't manage to keep my totally awesome Massachusetts universal healthcare to avert suicide or a staph infection.


Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to stave off payments another 13 years.
I do have a hard time believing that the global economy will not get significantly worse before then though.

I'm pretty much a huge dirtbag.

Learning how to farm and hand sharpen knives is one of my top priorities these days.
 
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Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,037
7,554
I'm definitely going to hit the forgiveness mark. I've already been in economic hardship forbearance for 7 years(thank god that's possible).

Unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to stave off payments another 13 years.
Uh, I think that it's 20 years of making payments. Forbearance doesn't count. You still have 20 years ahead of you. Congratulations.
 

Hello Kitty

Monkey
Nov 25, 2004
432
0
Houston
When I told my friends back in 2000 that "I Don't really worry much about my loan debt since the global financial system will collapse before I pay them off" I was pretty serious.
It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. - Ronald Reagan
 

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
all that personal accountability and reagan still wound up a corpse. oops.
I think that the right-wing's obsession with Reagan is getting just a *little* unhealthy. I mean, if they could re-animate his corpse (Umbrella virus?) they would almost certainly run him as a candidate and he'd probably win the nomination as well.

Cooper: President Reagan, with the high unemployment numbers hindering the economic growth in this country, what do you propose to do to create jobs in this country?
Reagan: Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiins......
(crowd goes wild)