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I am sure reviews are about Dr skills and not title/family/finance/academics etc…
The only qualification that a parent needs for a Plus loan, up to the COA for the student, is that the parent hasn’'t defaulted on a prior government loan, hasn’t declared bankruptcy in the last 5 years, and isn’t in default on any ‘major’ debts (like a mortgage is actually in default, not just behind). There is no debt to income qualification like there is with a private loan. I could have qualified with no income at all because I have an excellent credit score.
There was a guy in Connecticut who had hundreds of thousands in Plus loans for his kids, kept borrowing more even though he was unemployed, and then wanted them dismissed in bankruptcy court. He got it.
Oh, and Plus loans are federal loans, just like direct loans are. They have some of the same protections as direct loans have, including forgiveness upon death of student or parent who took the loan.
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Actually they have ALL the educational info including years of graduation( includes undergrad), residency type and years extra training and even if they have had issues. There are several services online. And most have reviews of every doctor. I’ve fpund them to ne accirate. When we moved thats how I found MDS.
I think what you are talking is Dr credentials which are listed all over the place.
I am saying reviewers are not writing a review about those credentials.
Well I take both educational credentials and reviews into consideration. Many people must have an interest otherwise they would not be cited. Thats pretty much the only info there is apart from name and address.
Have you ever seen a commercial on TV or newspaper or radio or whatever media you use that talks about Dr credentials (I am an MD from Harvard vs Howard)? Even Drs themselves never prefer to address them as MD or DO, rather just as Dr.
Haven’t used any doctors from infomercials yet 
Some medical groups have physicians write a short description of themselves, including their medical and outside interests. This may be of particular interest when looking for a primary care physician, since if the physician’s medical interests are something of particular relevance to you (e.g. you play sports and find one with an interest in sports medicine, or you have family history of something that is of particular interest to the physician), that may be a criterion to consider in terms of fit to you.
Any physician in the US has passed through elite selection gates somewhere, so they should be fine as far as the criteria selected for go (and many of their classmates who got weeded out would also have been fine physicians if they got through). Matching fit for you based on other factors may have a greater effect on your medical care than whether the physician was elite versus a hair more elite based on medical school name.
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ok time to get back to student loans…
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I’m sorry. I find it unacceptable for taxpayers to be “on the hook” for loans that parents have taken out (parent plus). I also have an issue with taxpayers being responsible for regular federal student loans. If it’s unaffordable, it’s unaffordable. There are cheaper or free ways to go to college otherwise. Community college first, military, payment by an employer, etc. Graduate school education shouldn’t even be in this discussion in my opinion. Why go there if the end result won’t allow you to pay off the debt to get a degree?
Not everyone gets everything they want in life. Some have to work harder than others. Life is not fair. Excellent grades will provide college for virtually free for many. Scholarships and grants are available for many deserving individuals based on need. Others might have to be more creative. There are a myriad of options for a college education. I personally am doing what my budget will allow and what I feel is fiscally appropriate for my children. Obviously I would prefer to give them the entire world but I don’t think it is everyone else’s responsibility to pay for that option. I think many need to be way more realistic with their options.
I don’t condone straight up forgiveness of student loans.
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I will assume that we will move on from the OT MD vs DO discussion.
I am not in favor of debt forgiveness for all. People that started the same place we did have taken out huge debt for their kids. We scrimped and saved and invested and planned from day one to have enough to send our kids to college. No we weren’t sending them to 70,000 undergrad schools but we are able to pay for undergrad and vet school OOS with undergrad scholarships. No one is going to help us. I don’t know why those that scrimp and save and pay are penalized and those that take out huge debts instead of going to the cheaper schools or made other choices get debt relief. I would have loved to go on vacations and buy fancy cars but we chose to pay our own loans off and save for our children, working our butts off so we could meet our obligations. They chose the loans and should pay them. Are there areas where debt forgiveness is applicable, probably (extremely low income families for one). But not across the board to all.
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I don’t believe in debt forgiveness at all, but not everyone with loans went on fancy vacations and drove new cars. My kids either went yo in state public universities or OOS public with merit. The cost was around $33,000 a year, all majored/will major in employable fields (accounting, finance, DPT, actuarial science, and some type if business - my two graduates haven’t missed a day of work do to covid). However, due to a high COL area, we don’t get FA even though we live very frugally. We saved as much as we could for college, could spend around $200,000 total, but that is divided among 5 kids. They worked very hard in HS, taking rigorous courses, prepping for exams, lots of EC’s. Life isn’t fair, my niece is deferred at schools my kids could get into but couldn’t come close to paying for. They will attend lower ranked schools and have debt, they will work through college (they’ve always worked). I don’t want a handout, I don’t need for them to attend fancy private schools, I just wish public universities were affordable for the middle class, like when i went to college.
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Can someone shed light on current state of student loans in the country? not just summary numbers but also some analysis based on residency state, major, college etc…
The following map shows student loan debt by state. If you click on a state, it shows by colleges within the state. There is also a link to a report with more information if you scroll down.
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And the summer of 2019, my DS was on the payroll of 5 employers. Granted, he “only” worked for about 3 of them max in a single week, but there were several stretches of up to 10 days where he did not have a day off.
Those jobs are not in existence right now.
And, he has no student loans - due to planning on our part, and selecting an in budget school on his.
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From what I can find, entry level welder pay is about $15 to $20 per hour, or about $30k to $40k for a 2,000 hour full time job year. That is probably comparable to the pay level for a new BA/BS graduate in a major with weak major-related job prospects.
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Minimum wage went to $15/hr in a lot of cities this morning, including mine. I think most trades pay more than that now.
