<p>Mini, maybe we should but, then again, we don’t make people who take out student loans go to work in Americorps. They are merely required to repay their loans. Americorps is an option that might give a young graduate with no job some skills to put on a resume, decent benefits and some help with repaying loans.</p>
<p>And I don’t see any major changes coming around any time soon in terms of future borrowers. So we aren’t even stemming that tide. Kids and parents still looking for easy borrowing of a lot of money. Nothing substantial in that area </p>
<p>There are programs that will forgive debt, but not enough and getting into them is not easy. They are also not just open to those who have student debt. I know many, many TeachforAmerica kids, and they tend to be those who had no loans. They couldn’t find jobs other than that. In this area, there are sizeable number of kids who are living off of their parents even with degrees from Ivy leage and other high profile schools. Many of them have no debt, and are struggling to be self sufficient. Those kids whose parents can’t help them out, or worse, went intomotr debt along with them for college, are at a distinct disadvantage.</p>
<p>My kids are post college royalty in that they have zero debt, parents who can provide basic housing and needs, access to an area with a lot of jobs, and they still are not 100% self sufficient, let me not fool myself. I can do the braggin’ cocktail party banter as well as any, but the cold truth is that I am subsidizing them because they are not making enough money to find a place to live outside of my home, have their own house hold, meet basic expenses. Now, I 'm saying this in aggregate as each of mine have succeeded in some area. But I have one coming off our health insurance next month and he is living hand to mouth as it is. Ain’t no way he can afford even $100 a month towards it. So, I’m forcing him to do the research for what is out there, as I am doing myself, and I’ll be paying it. Because I can, and don’t want to be in the position of having to decide whether I want to pay for some medical procedure that would be a very good idea to have, that he would not be able to afford. Insurance mitagates the chances that this might happen. There are many kids and families that cannot do this, and they are also strapped in student loans and non employment and everything else. I am living the reality of having post college kids trying to make that final step into a mature responsible adulthood, and it ain’t coming easy, even with zero student loans and family support.</p>
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<p>Did not they do it the other way around, when they enacted a law said that student loans cannot be dis-chargeable? I believe it applied retroactively?</p>
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<p>What if they created entirely new Chapter, with a hybrid of IBR and Chapter 13, where a person agrees to higher than IBR percent of income to go towards loan for about 10-15 years, allow for years to be nonconsecutive (to account for periods of unemployment and underemployment) and allow for loan forgiveness without tax consequences?</p>
<p>2collegewego, getting into these programs is not a slam dunk. As of last year, Americorp was more than full. Lots of gap year kids BEFORE college taking that route. There are not enough such programs and many of them are filled with those kids who have no loans as they too are looking for gainful employment and something to put on the resume. Perhaps we can make these programs exclusive to those who owe student loans? I don’t know. Also there are limits as to how much is forgiven and once the snowball has grown to over $100k-300K, (yes, with those interest rates they grow by bounds), ain’t no way one is gonna get them forgiven in the time one can even serve in these programs.</p>
<p>Cpt, I think the general problem that you are addressing is the lack of jobs in our economy and the lack of labor rights. There is work to be had-- but much is self-employment, part-time or designed so that employers can exclude the workers from getting benefits.</p>
<p>Adding: I still think Americorps might be a good option for the young graduate you know. It sounds like she graduated from a prestigious program; that should help. But it doesn’t have to be through Americorps. Empoyment in places that are tax-exempt qualifies too as does teaching in a low-income area (although I do realize teaching jobs are hard to get). But when we’re talking about federal loans, it is possible to do income based repayment and then, after enough years of paying, the loans are forgiven. I believe a borrower has to make 120 payments while working at one of these qualified public service jobs. The real problem with your friend’s situation is the parent loans and any non-federal loans.</p>
<p>[Public</a> Service Loan Forgiveness | Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service]Public”>http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service)</p>
<p>Mini, I doubt there will be support for blanket amnesty simply because the problems have not hit most people directly enough. As I said in an earlier post, the fallout has to hit YOU (not you personally, but those who are saying, “tough luck, too bad, so sad”) before any quarter is given.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the machine creating more of these situations is still merrily going. At very least, something should be done there, but I haven’t heard a thing. Read those Fin Aid Board posts if you don’t believe that the movement is for more want to borrow more. They want to know how to get loans after they default, they want to borrow to go to grad/prof school so they can postpone the loans even more, they want loans to live on while they go to school rather than commute from parent’s home. They want to know where they can get the loans. </p>
<p>Lerkin, you’ve been on those boards. Really, what does one read there about the loans? Mainly how to get more.</p>
<p>Here’s the information: </p>
<p>"What kinds of employment qualify?
Qualifying employment is any employment with a federal, state, or local government agency, entity, or organization or a non-profit organization that has been designated as tax-exempt by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter for PSLF purposes. Additionally, the type of services that these public service organizations provide does not matter for PSLF purposes. </p>
<p>A private non-profit employer that is not a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the IRC may be a qualifying public service organization if it provides certain specified public services. These services include emergency management, military service, public safety, or law enforcement services; public health services; public education or public library services; school library and other school-based services; public interest law services; early childhood education; public service for individuals with disabilities and the elderly. The organization must not be a labor union or a partisan political organization. </p>
<p>Generally, the type or nature of employment with the organization does not matter for PSLF purposes. However, when determining full-time public service employment at a not-for-profit organization you may not include time spent participating in religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing."</p>
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<p>Mini - the difference is that most of the “Wall Street Banks” have already paid back the money (with interest). Some were required by the government to take loans that they didn’t even want. I would be all for “bailing out” student loan defaultees with new loans, if you can guaranty that they will pay them back, with interest, within four years.</p>
<p>Yes, 2collegewego, that’s about what it comes down to. Look at who is doing Americorp and TeachforAmerican. You can see who is getting those jobs because there isn’t a need component when one applies for them. Also, even getting good volunteer jobs is not easy, you know, the ones that can help build your resume. And those are for free. As for internships, a lot of programs that incorporate them CHARGE tuition to partake.</p>
<p>My sons were up in a depressed area working for about a year. They could not wait to leave. The hours of work at one retail establishment are doled out like ladles of soup at a concentration camp, they tell me. No one other than management works full time. Now on their salaries there, my guys could live on their own, have cars, etc,etc. They were back here in no time, however. where the pay is not that much more and the COL is much higher, but there are more opportunities. But you know, just sending them up there for that job opportunity cost ME money. I have a kid job hunting right now, and my brother who is hosting him just told me he looks like a bum with the cheap ill fitting clothes he has and needs decent interview stuff. Any idea how much that is going to be?</p>
<p>I don’t think they should waive this. The student and his parents, if they consigned, deserve to have to pay it back. That’s their own fault. Same as the people who bought houses they couldn’t afford.</p>
<p>If anything they could mend the terms of it but they dug this. Who expects to get a job fresh out of undergrad that will pay well enough to live in the DC area and afford these loans?</p>
<p>Personal accountability.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
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<p>I agree cpt. The solution has to be to stop the machine, i.e. the easy money. That doesn’t help those already swallowed, but it should stem the tide.</p>
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<p>Try eBay and a tailor. That’s what I do for my own clothes.</p>
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<p>Yes, I know exactly which posts you are referring to. I actually stopped going on that board, because I noticed that I lost all my patience (which is not my virtue to begin with) and started writing rude responses to the clueless people on that board. </p>
<p>By the way, I would support partial forgiveness if we can figure out how to do this without creating anymore budget deficit and increasing taxes.</p>
<p>More along the lines of finding a cheap tailor and altering what he has, or going to Salvation Army for a better fit, but still the cheap tailor. Sigh…it never ends.</p>
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<p>I don’t have a link, but I believe I’ve read somewhere that “Making homes affordable” program is a failure, because many people who could not pay their original mortgages are now also defaulting on the new ones with better terms. What is the guarantee that this will not happen with student loans?</p>
<p>Lerkin, I’m not even advocating forgiveness. I’m looking for ways to somehow get these talented but green kids working and contributing. I have a bunch of them, and they are clueless as to how to do these things. And mine have ME. Not the best, I can’t GIVE them a job, I don’t have ins or connections like many, but I can show them the way to find something, and I can help them with expenses and THEY HAVE NO LOANS. </p>
<p>Some of these schools accept kids who have no clue, no connections, no idea, no family help and give them an education financed with loans, and then dump them right back to where they are with no idea as to how to get someone to pay them. The fact of the matter is that you are paying for school. It’s like buying something. A whole other thing to get someone to pay you. Getting that through a young adult’s head and on the right track is no easy thing. You’ll see when yours gets to that age. Now families with a business or connections,that’s a whole other thing. Or if your kid majors in a field where they are looking for employees, great. </p>
<p>I gotta read that Goucher article. It just occurred to me that I might even know the kid. My son’s class mate and friend went there.</p>
<p>Lerkin, I wouldn’t be surprised that people are defaulting on loans even after getting them changed.</p>
<p>I remember when I got preapproved for my mortgage loan. The amount they said I could afford would have been fine if I didn’t plan on weird things such as eating. I instantly redid the math, subtracted 50k from their amount and made that my max price that I would be willing to borrow. </p>
<p>That left me wriggle room and when I bought a new car last year I had room for the payments in my budget.</p>
<p>So many people just don’t have money smarts. I don’t know what, if anything, can be done about it.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
<p>Heh, heh, Lerkin. I miss your remarks on the Financial Aid Board.</p>
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<p>What I meant by forgiveness is working out some kind of IBR deal which would allow these kids to pay based on their ability (which might change over time) with a definite end date when the rest of the loan is forgiven with no or minimal tax consequences.
I did not mean total forgiveness.</p>
<p>If we can put together some kind of deal that both offers partial forgiveness and also limits irresponsible behavior (no more easy loans), then it would be easier for me to support it.</p>
<p>I am not going to go into discussion about why there are so few opportunities for young (and not so young) people, because I don’t want this thread to be locked.</p>
<p><<partial forgiveness="" and="" also="" limits="" irresponsible="" behavior="">></partial></p>
<p>good luck with defining and enforcing the ‘irresponsible behavior’</p>
<p>Legislating morality has never worked. I have many extreme ideas on this subject (far outside the realm of college aid or Roe vs Wade)</p>