Student Loans

[LuvOrlando]

Anyone hearing any new info on how the student loan situation is going to play out?

Seems to be a great deal of messy confusion, the pause was an enormous help but people everywhere not knowing what is going to happen is going to cause a tidal wave of trouble if someone doesn't step up. I hope there is a clean and clear message somewhere forthcoming for all the Covid Era graduates & families and really anyone with education loans so we all don't get swept up in a riptide. The silence is deafening and trouble is looming, not good.

 

[Allison]

Why are covid era graduates different than other graduates? This is an employee driven labor market right now.

 

[mom2rtk]

I strongly hope this doesn’t happen. Blue collar workers should not be paying off white collar workers’ loans.

 

[kymom99]

There’s lots of coverage in the news. They’ll announce something soon. But what trouble are you anticipating?

 

[TwoMisfits]

By the time they announce any theoretical amount and limitations, it will be more than likely you will have to resume paying your loans without much, if any, help.

So, if you have student loans, I would ready to pay them.

If it helps, the max even discussed in the news yesterday is $10K limited to those under $150K income...and I expect both of those things could get limited further, if they even happen.

 

[Southernmiss]

Our son is a graduate this year with student loans.

He will start paying on them when the interest resumes.

It doesn't matter what happens or not happens in the news or government.

Really, it's a non issue. And anyone trying to make it an issue is doing so for optics.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I just wish the payments on student loans would be tied to the graduate's income. A new teacher making $40,000 per year should not have to make the same high payment as a new attorney making $100,000 per year.

 

[HeatherC]

I would rather see them cancel the interest. If you took the loans, you should pay the loans. Simple as that. No reason people who didn’t go to college or those who scraped and saved to help pay their kids college should be responsible for other’s decisions to take loans.

 

[Kennywood]

I would rather see them cancel the interest. If you took the loans, you should pay the loans. Simple as that. No reason people who didn’t go to college or those who scraped and saved to help pay their kids college should be responsible for other’s decisions to take loans.

 

[Disneychick13]

Why should student loans(or the interest)get cancelled? You literally took out a loan and signed the terms. Can my house loan get cancelled? What about my car loan? What about the interest on my credit card? Geez.

 

[mjkacmom]

Students are allowed to borrow $27,000 in loans over 4 years. In state residential college runs $120,000, privates and OOS publics $200,000+++. I think $27,000 is manageable debt. Federal parent plus loans and private loans are what get folks in trouble, because when payments can’t be kept up, that interest is compounding. Even if students manage to pay the monthly amount expected, they end up just paying interest without touching the principle. The cost of college has risen way higher than anything else.

 

[mjkacmom]

Why should student loans(or the interest)get cancelled? You literally took out a loan and signed the terms. Can my house loan get cancelled? What about my car loan? What about the interest on my credit card? Geez.

All of that can be eliminated with bankruptcy, student debt can’t.

 

[kymom99]

My son graduated from a 4 year state university in 2021. I worked my tail off so he wouldn’t have debt when he graduated. I don’t see why we need loan forgiveness or any other aid right now. Maybe tax deductions to help all people right now with escalating inflation.

 

[kymom99]

All of that can be eliminated with bankruptcy, student debt can’t.

That’s always been the case. What’s different now?

 

[Disneychick13]

Look, I think the whole borrowing scheme for higher education is crazy. That doesn’t change the fact that you knew the terms when you borrowed the money. Paying off student loans OR the interest makes no one accountable and forces all those paying taxes to subsidize someone else’s choices. And is also a slap in the face to those who worked their tail off to not take a loan or worked their tail off to pay it off. Just a bad idea all around.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would rather see them cancel the interest. If you took the loans, you should pay the loans. Simple as that. No reason people who didn’t go to college or those who scraped and saved to help pay their kids college should be responsible for other’s decisions to take loans.

That's what they should have done to begin with, something I mentioned many months ago rather than 0% AND a pause. A pause only serves to put people in a bind later on but the interest at 0% can help speed up the repayment period and take off some pressure.

Hindsight 20/20 with the student loan pause and interest reduction but anyone paying student loans (I still have 2 of them but paid off my Fed one) knows it's the interest that is a killer. Ask anyone who is paying forever and ever on these student loans..it's the interest. Mine however the Fed interest was the lowest even though it was my highest payment each month my other loans are the ones that are the interest-heavy ones. The left over ones are private so they were never paused or reduced in interest. And all the Fed interest rate increases over time? Those hit me. My private loans have gone up in interest with the recent hikes (right now it's 0.75 more in percentage), I've never missed one payment, I've also paid excess towards the loans.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Why are covid era graduates different than other graduates? This is an employee driven labor market right now.

Not to state the obvious but they moved off campus, some back home, some to first jobs and may have moved again since so because there have been no payments there is a huge chunk of people who are unfamiliar & may not be aware they need to reconnect. Everyone before and after is in step with the process.

 

[nw6675]

The things that always come to mind for me are (if anything goes forward) -

1. What happens to those who already paid their loans?

2. Is it "fair" for those with private loans not to get a break because they didn't qualify for federal subsidization?

 

[LuvOrlando]

There’s lots of coverage in the news. They’ll announce something soon. But what trouble are you anticipating?

Unfamiliarity and moving around might cause a lot of missed payments, nevermind the massive attempt to connect to pay or sort out overlooked issues that need adjusting that might overload systems.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Look, I think the whole borrowing scheme for higher education is crazy. That doesn’t change the fact that you knew the terms when you borrowed the money. Paying off student loans OR the interest makes no one accountable and forces all those paying taxes to subsidize someone else’s choices. And is also a slap in the face to those who worked their tail off to not take a loan or worked their tail off to pay it off. Just a bad idea all around.

Coming from my era there was a lot of deceptive practices going on in the past. When one of my private loans it was under Wells Fargo (this was the 3rd company to own that loan) I got a letter saying "opps we calculated your payment incorrectly, you actually have 5 years more that you can pay than what we calculated your loan off of so...our bad"

And if you've been paying attention in the news you'd see that a lot of colleges (big time for the for profit ones) have had the loans discharged/refunded due to bad practices. My Fed loan was serviced by Navient...heard of that in the news? You should have given how much was uncovered about their bad practices towards the borrowers especially ones trying for income-based repayment plans.

As far as worked their tail off. That is true but it also is relative to the time period (as college costs are not the same as they were) and relative to one's situation. If a parent goes into debt themselves so their kid doesn't have a debt how is that any different? Even from when I graduated in 2010 costs are so much more now.

I'm a firm believer in paying back my loans on the other hand people should be sure when they make statements such as yours that they are actually aware of the details and know enough of a variety of people's stories. It's hardly a "you should have known the terms" when it comes to the student loan industries and the college education norms we have.