Curious about something. How are kids getting total loan amounts in the 91K arena?
Our next door neighbor in NJ, went to local community college and then spent 2.5 years at UTenn. She racked up 91K in debt. I keep asking her how she got that amount, when the federal loan limit is much less, and she keeps saying private loans:
“I didn’t qualify for much federal aid so I went through sallie mae and Nj class and places like that”
How did she do this as a young person, dependent status with the standard job at a restaurant?
I’ve been reading this forum for several years, I used advice here to make sure both my daughter and foster son will graduate with no debt. Now I have lots of friends with kids a few years below mine wanting me to tell them the magic. I keep sending them here. When I see statements like this young lady’s though, I am left to wonder if she is actually getting the money on her own name. I’ve asked her specifically and she isn’t answering for some reason.
You all have much more knowledge. I don’t want to say things that aren’t true. Is it possible for individuals like her (20-22 years old, standard minimum wage job) to take out loans like this on their own with no co-signer?
Someone cosigned those loans for her. She’s not giving you the details because she thinks that isn’t your business.
She gave you the names of the companies that gave her the loans. You can check their websites to see what their requirements are to qualify for one. I don’t understand why you would pester your neighbor’s daughter for that information. Are you in the habit of answering whatever personal questions people ask? How much money people earn, what they spend it on, how much debt they carry, and the particulars of how they acquired that debt are nobody’s business but their own.
How is it that you’ve been reading this forum for several years and not seen the posts that point out that any loans over the federal student loan amounts require a cosigner? People mention that all of the time.
OP I have been wondering the same thing. We keep hearing how young adults are saddled with overwhelming debt and I too am wondering how that occurs. From what I see it is the parents taking out those Plus loans who must be saddled with the debt. I don’t understand how the kids are getting the loans to reach the numbers I keep reading about.
Posts # 1 and 2 in this thread provide information that will help you understand.
Some people consider all the loans, parents and students, ‘my loans’ so when they are saying they have $91k in loans it may include all the loans taken by the family. I know people who have over $40k in Direct loans, as the parents didn’t qualify for Plus loans so the student takes out ~$10-12k in loans per year, and may get Perkins loans, and loans from the college or state. They can add up.
Some students take more than 4 years to graduated, and then go to grad school. More loans.
$91k does seem high, and probably does involve some parent loans, but $50k in loans just by the student isn’t hard to get to
Here is her response to my question of Did you have Co-signers?
“only for 1… if they feel the student has good credit then they will keep loaning out to that student. My debt to income ratio became too high my last semester… no surprise there… and I needed a co signer on one loan. The private loan companies will loan to anyone for whatever they need it’s a business to them and they don’t care.”
Probably didn’t give enough context of the depth of my relationship to this neighbor - she practically lived at my house, went everywhere with us for many years, this isn’t just some kid I wave at.
Believe me, if the risk of default becomes too high and there is not sufficient collateral, they care. There will come a point, even if the borrower is willing to accept an outrageous interest rate and pay crazy fees, that the loan maker will refuse to make a loan.
Thus much debt for undergrad is usually a bad idea, and to me is actually rather scary. 18 year old students in most cases don’t understand the impact that this will have going forward. However, there are some cases where it is necessary, and if the student gets a degree that is pretty much guaranteed to come with a good job then this much debt might be tolerable.
@NJRoadie
I think this is one of those…smile and nod moments. I don’t think this topic is worthy of discussion with neighbors…or relatives…or close friends.
Honestly…I seriously doubt you are getting the full story on the loans and who actually has taken them out or cosigned them. And frankly…your neighbor doesn’t have to tell you.
Start talking about…well…toothpaste or something…not college costs and loans.
@NJRoadie I sympathize with your concern for that girl.
I was at an evening event at my kids’ high school. The GC brought up Parent Plus Loans like they were a wonderful option. I wanted to stand up and start waving a red flag and warn everyone.
Later I heard parents talking and I got the impression they were going to encourage their kids to finance their entire education with loans. I wanted to go up to them and tell them not to do it.
Some of the families there are very well off and could manage to pay back the loans, but I know we couldn’t. Maybe that’s why I have such strong reactions when I hear people talk that way.
NJ has “state loans”, which aren’t actually state-backed loans at all, have horrible conditions, and if you picked the variable rate you can end up in a fix really quickly. They’re so bad there’s a lawsuit for fraud or something.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized#how-much
If a student qualifies as independent for FAFSA, or if their parents cannot qualify for Plus loans, they can borrow up to $45,000 over 4 years of college. Perhaps if they don’t finish in 4 years, they can continue to borrow at the maximum rate of $12,500 a year.
I have little knowledge of state loans or private loans but apparently a student could borrow even more that way. One reference on salliemae.com said that with a private loan you could possibly borrow as much as the total cost of attendance. I think some colleges have their own loan programs too.
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“only for 1… if they feel the student has good credit then they will keep loaning out to that student. My debt to income ratio became too high my last semester… no surprise there… and I needed a co signer on one loan. The private loan companies will loan to anyone for whatever they need it’s a business to them and they don’t care.”
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What year did these loans happen?
And her last sentence isn’t true at all.
Unless she had some highish income for a college kid, I doubt that she was able to secure a $40kish loan when she first transferred to UTenn unless this was 10+ years ago when Sallie Mae was still lending large amounts w/o cosigners (and then had a gazillion loans default and changed their policies).
I doubt she knows what she’s talking about. Think about it…she’s not too bright as she thought it was ok to borrow that much money to go to OOS UTenn. :D/
There is an aggregate undergrad loan limit for federally funded loans…and its LOWER than $91,000.
Really…do what you want to do. But if this were me…I would put THEIR Loan issues right out of my head.
It can be shocking to learn how many people really don’t know the terms of their aid or loans.
I recently spoke to a mom who insisted that her two DD’s received $4k extra in GRANTS each year after mom was denied Plus. She insisted that the extra $4k per year was in grants. I told her to ask her DDs. They said the same. I told them to go to their college portals and look at what the aid said. Uh…it said loans.
They were upset to learn that the kids would each now have $16k more in unsub loans than they had first thought. How does this happen? I suspect that they didn’t listen carefully when they were told that they would get $4k more in aid (loans) since mom was denied Plus. They likely just heard the “$4k more in aid” part, and assumed grants.
No one seemed to question why the Feds would give out $4k more for grants just because parents have poor credit.
@mom2collegekids I agree that that person just did not listen properly and/or did not ask proper follow up questions. It is sad that this happens so often. Starting off in debt can cause some many problems.
For the record, this girl graduated last year. She is 23.
I am a touch-point for good friends who have rising high school seniors. When they ask me a direct question about money/college costs, I am 100% honest and tell them what I’ve learned, from CC and my own two kids, who will both graduate with zero loans/no debt.
Clearly I don’t know “everything”, so when this young friend said she owed this much money (and, said to me, “My brother owes even more!”), I wanted to know how.
Everything I’ve read on CC has led me to believe a kid can only get a limited amount on their own signature. I see what @mom2collegekids is saying and that my young friend may not be 100% on point, but it was worth hearing her experience, and explains to me a bit more how kids and their families are getting into these messes.