<p>You bet Toledo. This stuff is full of horse feathers, from the for-profit colleges to people who don’t touch their loans. There had been lots of talk about disallowing for-profits from taking in government money because they’re so misleading, but I’m not sure where that went. This problem is further exacerbated by the pool of people who (say they) go to these “schools”.</p>
<p>I know goodthinkingman said we folks should stay out of your brother’s biz, but this is a toxic mix, and your brother is better off staying away.</p>
<p>What about her does he want to believe? Has he always been gullible? How is he with HIS finances? Has he ever owed $200K? Does he have debt? Does he have any idea how much & how long repaying $200K is? Does he have any assets? Can you send him a repayment calculator so he can see how much would need to be repaid for the $200K loans (what interest rate are they, by the way?) Here’s a calculator. If she plans to pay it off in 10 years @ 8% interest, she’d have to pay nearly $2500/month, just for THIS loan, if she were to start paying this month.</p>
<p>I have two nephews like this. One finally finished college in culinary arts. Not sure whether he got an AA or BA. His undergrad instate college put him on academic probation three times, but gladly readmitted him as he took out more loans to reenroll. I thought it was very unscrupulous for this school to do this. They should have just cut the apron strings and suggested he come back to school when he was ready to be as serious about his studies as his fraternity life. Now that he’s graduated and working as a line cook, I wonder when he’ll have to start repaying these loans. The other nephew is still in undergrad, but I know he’s taken on substantial loans to pay not only tuition, but living expenses. </p>
<p>I recently gave a ride home to a yard worker, and he told me he had a GED , as he had dropped out of school in the ninth grade, and is now saving up to attend a beauty school, which will cost him 18K for the program. He said he could get a grant, but I highly doubt he’ll get a grant for the full 18K when the program is less than two years long. </p>
<p>I encouraged him to please go to the local community college, which is basically a trade school in our city, and take some drafting or data entry courses or something else practical and put his name in with a temp agency. Just made me sick that this kid was going to go into debt for 18K so he could cut people’s hair for a living.</p>
<p>Cosmetologists can make a pretty good living, and their skills can’t be outsourced. It’s actually not a bad career path. The community college where I teach has a very popular cosmetology program which wouldn’t cost anywhere near $18000. I would advise him to look into what’s available at the local CC.</p>
<p>^^^I didn’t mean to discount a cosmetology career. It takes a special talent to do that, one that I certainly don’t possess. The young man’s previous experience was hanging sheetrock and grass cutting. I hated to think of this young man taking on a lot of debt, as he was already down on his luck. I was really proud of him, and told him so, that he wanted to go back to school and learn a trade.</p>
<p>My sister paid for a semester of college with student loans and didn’t attend (or withdraw) in 1999 or 2000. We’ve been getting calls from collections at my parents house for years. My sister tells the family, and seems to honest to god believe it, that if she just doesn’t pay after 10 years the balance will be forgiven. She just doesn’t pay them. She also had her first child without health insurance and isn’t making payments on that, either, and has god only knows what other kind of debt-- and is completely bewildered that she can’t get approved for a car loan. She lives in complete squalor despite the fact that her husband has a /very/ good job for someone who isn’t college educated and they live in an area with extremely low cost of living. But it’s everyone’s fault but her own. She sits on facebook and updates her status every 5 minutes about how much god hates her. She’ll never get out of debt.</p>
<p>I’ve certainly made my mistakes with loans as anyone who’s read my posts knows, I didn’t seem to have any realistic options and took out more debt than was wise. But I researched the loans I took inside and out, read all the documentation, did all the pre and post counseling that was required, know what my payments are and when, what my options are, what to do if I have trouble paying, and under what terms I can and cannot get out from under the debt. My mistake was that I was naive about how much the cost of living is, not about the terms of my loans. And honestly, I know a LOT of people with student loans, and everybody acts like I’m some kind of guru. I have friends that have taken out sub and unsub loans and don’t even know the difference between the two, don’t know what a grace period is, don’t know student loans dont go away if you declare bankruptcy. It’s a really, really big problem. People just take out the loans and assume someone will contact them and spoon feed them instructions and tell them if what they’re doing is stupid.</p>
<p>I just did exit counseling for a small perkins loan I have and the biggest thing that was emphasized was the fact that nobody was going to contact ME if there was a problem-- and it seems people seem to get that impression all the time, “what do you mean I’m on the hook, nobody called me!” It’s madness. It’s a shame that wasn’t as emphasized in the stafford loan paperwork, or that there isn’t a more rigorous counseling requirement that makes sure people actually /understand/ and actually read what they were supposed to. They should really do away with the online counesling and make people do it in person.</p>
<p>Of course, that doesn’t stop crazies who know damn well what they’re doing and just choose not to pay. I’d like to think if the counseling requirements were more rigorous, these people would be identified before they’re given the loans.</p>
<p>^^^Yes, but dying is a rather dramatic way to end student debt & can only be used once. It also doesn’t discharge any of the co-signors, who are still on the hook & can be hounded until they die as well (or finish paying off). :(</p>
<p>That’s true, which is why I personally don’t believe in cosigning loans like that for family members/friends. If it’s within my power, I will give you the money, as a gift, or no deal. To have the financial sword of Damocles over your head for the rest of your life is appalling to me. I don’t have to worry that someone is going to garnish my pay ten years down the line or sell my information to some thuggish debt collection group.</p>