The Depth of the Student Loan Debt

aishah · 05-13-2012, 12:06 PM

i wasn't misled, but i made a huge mistake taking out loans for my first year of graduate school out-of-state and then realizing the program wasn't for me. i only had about $25k in loans for undergrad (which was high, considering, but i needed it to help out with medical bills - i also worked full time or more and went to school full time and i was really sick). if i'd really known all of my options and hadn't been fed the idea that i had to go to college no matter what, and if i'd realized the recession was coming (i graduated right at the beginning of the recession), i probably would have saved money a few years and then gone to college. but with my physical situation i was also scared if i didn't get it done right then i would never have gotten a b.a.

i had to take out about $45k for the year i spent at uva, and it was a complete disaster - their financial aid system is terrible, they don't disburse on time, my job situation was a mess, the whole thing was just a disaster. i ended up having to borrow extra because my loans weren't disbursed on time and i had no way to pay for health insurance. the attitude of the financial aid counselors were "why can't you just find a family member to borrow the tuition/rent/food money from until it's disbursed?" my parents are dead and i'm estranged from most of my family and we're all poor. most students at uva have well-off families.

i wasn't shocked - i knew what i was getting into, i just made a horrible mistake because i was not aware of how awful uva's financial aid system was. if i hadn't had to leave school in large part because of it, things would probably be a lot different now. if i'd known what i was getting into with uva, i probably wouldn't have gone. but as far as the loans themselves, i did my research and i knew what i was getting into.

the one big shocker is the amount of interest, though - the principal amount of my loans is around $68k (it's almost entirely federal stafford loans, a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized, with one small plus loan). assuming i manage to pay all of it back, i'll probably end up paying at least that amount or more in interest. it would be one thing to say that yes, i might be able to pay that much back in 10 or 15 years, IF it were just the principal amount. i think the same goes for a lot of borrowers - when we talk about loan forgiveness, it's not because we're trying to get out of our responsibilities. but the interest even on federal loans is ridiculous.

if it weren't for income-based repayment, i'd probably be homeless because of my loans right now. thankfully due to ibr i only have to pay based on my income (this year my payments are $0, next year they'll probably be a few hundred dollars or more). ibr is a godsend. but at the same time, by next year, i'll probably already owe $5-$10k extra in interest.

i would like to go back for an msw because i know that it'd pay for itself (and the financial aid situation would probably be a lot better, and it'd be a great career decision). but i won't do it until i'm able to save up money to cover the tuition, and until i'm able to start making payments on my current loans.

05-13-2012, 12:06 PM	#9
aishah Member How Do You Identify?: queer stone femme shark baby girl Preferred Pronoun?: she, her, little one Relationship Status: dating myself. Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: dallas, tx Posts: 1,495 My Photo Gallery Thanks: 13,823 Thanked 6,442 Times in 1,288 Posts Rep Power: 21474851	i wasn't misled, but i made a huge mistake taking out loans for my first year of graduate school out-of-state and then realizing the program wasn't for me. i only had about $25k in loans for undergrad (which was high, considering, but i needed it to help out with medical bills - i also worked full time or more and went to school full time and i was really sick). if i'd really known all of my options and hadn't been fed the idea that i had to go to college no matter what, and if i'd realized the recession was coming (i graduated right at the beginning of the recession), i probably would have saved money a few years and then gone to college. but with my physical situation i was also scared if i didn't get it done right then i would never have gotten a b.a. i had to take out about $45k for the year i spent at uva, and it was a complete disaster - their financial aid system is terrible, they don't disburse on time, my job situation was a mess, the whole thing was just a disaster. i ended up having to borrow extra because my loans weren't disbursed on time and i had no way to pay for health insurance. the attitude of the financial aid counselors were "why can't you just find a family member to borrow the tuition/rent/food money from until it's disbursed?" my parents are dead and i'm estranged from most of my family and we're all poor. most students at uva have well-off families. i wasn't shocked - i knew what i was getting into, i just made a horrible mistake because i was not aware of how awful uva's financial aid system was. if i hadn't had to leave school in large part because of it, things would probably be a lot different now. if i'd known what i was getting into with uva, i probably wouldn't have gone. but as far as the loans themselves, i did my research and i knew what i was getting into. the one big shocker is the amount of interest, though - the principal amount of my loans is around $68k (it's almost entirely federal stafford loans, a mix of subsidized and unsubsidized, with one small plus loan). assuming i manage to pay all of it back, i'll probably end up paying at least that amount or more in interest. it would be one thing to say that yes, i might be able to pay that much back in 10 or 15 years, IF it were just the principal amount. i think the same goes for a lot of borrowers - when we talk about loan forgiveness, it's not because we're trying to get out of our responsibilities. but the interest even on federal loans is ridiculous. if it weren't for income-based repayment, i'd probably be homeless because of my loans right now. thankfully due to ibr i only have to pay based on my income (this year my payments are $0, next year they'll probably be a few hundred dollars or more). ibr is a godsend. but at the same time, by next year, i'll probably already owe $5-$10k extra in interest. i would like to go back for an msw because i know that it'd pay for itself (and the financial aid situation would probably be a lot better, and it'd be a great career decision). but i won't do it until i'm able to save up money to cover the tuition, and until i'm able to start making payments on my current loans.