Anybody else like me get stuck with monster student loans?

I was on my own and went through public school accumulating about 42k in debt. I have about 21k in federal loans and about 21k in private loans.

I have 4 different private loans and 5 different federal loans. I'm going to consolidate the federal as that is easy and my interest rate is weighted by the loans, so it will work out pretty well. It's much harder to find someone to consolidate the private loans, though, even though they are all with Citi.

Anybody have any advice or experience?

No real advice, but at $42k you got off light. You're in a better position than pretty much anyone who went to a private school.

_________________
Hold my beer and watch this...

only idiots choose a private school if they don't have a scholarship.

I'm going to walk away with about 21k in loans after I finish my master's program...Thanks to everyone for my GI Bill.

_________________

I'm walking away with about $60k for 4 years of undergrad and a one year masters program. Shit sucks beyond belief.

Have you tried contacting Citi and asking if they'd be able to do anything for you?

Students in Chile are fed up with their mountains of debt, as well, and they have taken to the streets by the tens of thousands to express their dissatisfaction.

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/8/ ... le_prompts

_________________
th' only knower of th' cosmic mysteries alive at this time

I have approx. $75,000, $13k Federal, 62k through citibank. I had another 7k through somewhere else but I paid $500-$1000 a month (on a $50 minimum payment) to knock that one out since I had the money and it had the highest interest rate.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Student loan debt is the next huge economic bubble that will burst. I didn't do everything exactly how I should have, but one great decision was to go to Buff State instead of a pricey university (I really wanted to go to Syracuse or Rutgers). Instead of having student loans like what's described above, I paid off my tuition before I graduated. Moving south increased my salary relative to tax, if not outright, with more affordable housing. It's been nothing but profit since I was 22.

I'm astounded by the numbers some people have put themselves under. It will take at least a decade or more for most people to pay off debt over 60-70K, and it's actually less profitable in the long run unless that education pays off with a (dependable) career starting out in the 40k+ level...at least.

i went to a state school. college isn't cheap.

I went to a private university, I regret that a little bit now, but at the time Clarkson University had had 100% job placement for engineering graduates for years and years which (along with some scholarship help) made the cost easier to swallow.

Though it's kind of shitty now being unemployed and paying $700 to loans every month.

_________________
Proud LGBTQQ Individual

The average cost of college has increased 130% in the past 20 years, while the wages of the middle class have remained stagnant (actually, if you adjust for inflation the average middle class American is making less than what he/she did in the late '80s). Yet, so many in the middle class feel it is their sacred duty to ensure that the wealthy in this country pay the lowest taxes possible.

Go figure.

Rising tuition doesn't just hurt students. It hurts the entire country. Students graduating with such high debt can't afford to buy a home, save for retirement, or pay for the next generation's education. Not to mention all the kids priced out of an opportunity for higher education, thereby reducing the overall tax base.

High college prices are bad policy for the whole country.

_________________
th' only knower of th' cosmic mysteries alive at this time

think about what that guy just said. we're making as much/less as we did in the 80's and early 90's...and college costs almost 2.5 times what it did then. not to mention back then you didn't need a degree to make 40k a year.

One of the problems with the system is how the schools actively encourage students to use as much of their loan allocation as possible, and not consider other options.

When I first started college after high school, your loans could pay for tuition and required books/software only. They'd also let you use a limited amount for on campus food coupons, maybe like $200 if that. If you needed extra supplies or wanted school merch, you had to pay for those separately.

When I went back to finish my AS, all that had changed. I saw kids line the finaid line with books, clothes, stacks of software, tons of stuff. There was a girl who had like 10 hoodies; looked like she was shopping at Old Navy or something. I'm pretty sure the food program limits were upped too.

They also used to allow you to select the amount of a loan you wanted to take instead of just giving you the max like they do now. Since I've been back, I instantly turn the extra back around to make a loan payment, but I'm willing to bet most people go on the standard October shopping spree with that 'free money'.

you can reject the max loan and take what you need. students do abuse it though...because a lot of them don't know (also, a huge percentage of parents pay for their kid's education). it's really hard to not have your loan cover room and board, too, because a lot of times that's more than the cost of education. not to mention most schools only offer 1-2 prices for food packages...unlimited and like 15-20 meals. and the cost works out to be over 20 dollars per day. they turned education into a business and that kills those of us who are responsible for ourselves.

What I really want to know is why college costs so much now? Why has the cost risen for no apparent reason? Is college somehow more educational than it was 20 years ago?

I'm not trying to start anything (really), but I think it's a semi-astute observation to compare the greed in university heirarchy with that of corporations. These university heads are the same as corporate CEOs and live the high life off the hopes and foolishness of some students that bury themselves in debt. I don't hear much complaining for these establishments to pay more taxes (if they pay any at all). Just a thought...

The price of college is ridiculously out of line with people's incomes. Here comes the Marxist in me. It's just a way to keep the rich rich and the poor poor. You make education the most expensive commodity and how are people supposed to "pull themselves up by their shoestrings" when the major tool for economic advancement is training and information, and education costs cripple the average student? It's yet another transfer of resources to the corporations and banking institutions (Citi, etc.) under the guise of a governmental service. How many of us who did take federal loans then consolidated them with a private bank?

Nice to see you back Zilla, and welcome Mr. Natural if I'm wrong.

Tough to say.

A large problem, though far from the only one, is the existence of the for-profit college. (AKA University of Phoenix and the like.)

politics play a nice roll in college tuition. its a big issue in michigan right now.

_________________

Been away so long that I forgot the password...had to create a new name. Can't fool you, though.

_________________
th' only knower of th' cosmic mysteries alive at this time

Oh, I can be fooled, but it's usually on the bigger stuff like who to take advice from and who to trust. On smaller deceptions I'm tougher to fool.