It’s too bad that Uncle Sam ever got into the college-financing business. The feds have no constitutional authority to lend money to students (or anyone else) and millions of students have gotten themselves deeply in debt for education of dubious value. Easy federal loans were essential in fueling the “college for everyone” movement that has raised the cost and degraded the educational value of earning a degree.
Tina Carr and Yvette Colon had the same goal. They wanted to build careers in the medical field, make a good living and enjoy a better quality of life. They both knew that the gateway to a brighter future would be to attend a good school that had a track record of placing its students in meaningful jobs after graduation and would give them the opportunity to pursue further education down the road. Sanford-Brown Institute convinced them they had found their dream school, but instead plunged them into a nightmare that isn’t over yet.
Student loan debt in the United States has more than doubled over the past decade to about $1.5 trillion, and the Federal Reserve now estimates that it is cutting into millennials' ability to buy homes.
Homeownership rates for people ages 24 to 32 dropped nearly 9 percentage points between 2005 and 2014 — effectively driving down homeownership rates overall. In January, the Fed estimated 20 percent of that decline is attributable to student loan debt.
WASHINGTON — Virginians struggling with student loan debt have a new place to turn for help.
Scott Kemp is the state’s first student loan advocate.
He works within the Office of the Qualified Education Loan Ombudsman, which was established by The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) at the direction of a law passed last year in the General Assembly.
Fall behind on your student loan payments, lose your job.
Few people realize that the loans they take out to pay for their education could eventually derail their careers. But in 19 states, government agencies can seize state-issued professional licenses from residents who default on their educational debts. Another state, South Dakota, suspends driver’s licenses, making it nearly impossible for people to get to work.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program began in 2007 with the intent of providing a financial cushion for those who chose to work in public service. You make 120 months of income-based payments while working for a qualified organization (such as the government or a 501(c)(3) entity). Upon completion, the remaining balance of your federal loans are forgiven without having to pay income tax on the debt cancellation.
For years, student loan borrower advocates and concerned borrowers themselves have sounded the alarm over the future of a government program offering student loan forgiveness for public servants.
BATH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - The IRS is asking a wounded veteran from Michigan to pay $62,000 in income taxes on the federal government’s cancellation of his student loans.
First Lt. Will Milzarski served two tours in Afghanistan that left him with a traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and hearing loss. The federal government canceled $223,000 in student loan debt after deeming him totally and permanently disabled.
Amanda Lawson-Ross planned her career around a government loan forgiveness program. But after making payments for four years, it turns out she doesn't qualify.
Lawson-Ross was in graduate school at the University of Akron when she first heard about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Launched in 2007 under the George W. Bush administration, it promises loan forgiveness to people who work at non-profits or for the government once they've made 10 years' worth of payments.
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“This would be a much better world if more married couples were as deeply in love as they are in debt.”
– Earl Wilson
"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
– Marie Curie
"There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt."
– P. T. Barnum
The road to success is always under construction
– Lily Tomlin
"If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going."
– Irwin "Professor" Corey
"Bankruptcy laws allow companies to smoothly reorganize, but not college graduates burdened by student loans."
– Robert Reich
“What I would like to do... once I take care of all my kids' student loans, is buy a red 1965 Mustang and fully restore it.”
