The feds had better get it quick. More and more senior citizens still owe outstanding loans. In fact, $36 Billion is owed by seniors in outstanding loans. Some of those loans are from original college days. Others are from going back to school, in hopes up upgrading job skills. Still other debt comes from co-signing for kids and grand kids. Filing bankruptcy doesn’t help. You can’t throw college debt into the dissolve pile.
New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that Americans 60 and older still owe about $36 billion in student loans, providing a rare window into the dynamics of student debt. More than 10 percent of those loans are delinquent. As a result, consumer advocates say, it is not uncommon for Social Security checks to be garnished or for debt collectors to harass borrowers in their 80s over student loans that are decades old.
That even seniors remain saddled with student loans highlights what a growing chorus of lawmakers, economists and financial experts say has become a central conflict in the nation’s higher education system: The long-touted benefits of a college degree are being diluted by rising tuition rates and the longevity of debt.
Some of these older Americans are still grappling with their first wave of student loans, while others took on new debt when they returned to school later in life in hopes of becoming more competitive in the labor force. Many have co-signed for loans with their children or grandchildren to help them afford ballooning tuition.
The recent recession exacerbated this problem, making it harder for older Americans — or the youths they are supporting in school — to get good-paying jobs. And unlike other debts, student loans cannot be shed in bankruptcy. As a result, some older Americans have found that a college degree led not to a prosperous career but instead to a lifetime under the shadow of debt.
“A student loan can be a debt that’s kind of like a ball and chain that you can drag to the grave,” said William E. Brewer, president of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. “You can unhook it when they lay you in the coffin.”
Does this kind of loan go against your estate? Do they hunt your heirs down to extract it? I think we need to start rethinking a college education if this is what it does to you. There are all sorts of horror stories out there about student loans.
Back when I was in school, I think my tuition was between 10-12% of my father’s annual pay. Now it is closer to 1/3 of the average salary, maybe even more. The best bet in town is the community college. It is less expensive and if you do well, you are pretty much guaranteed a transfer to instate schools. Plus you get to grow up a little and drink beer on your own time rather than on that of your parents.
People who rely on Social Security are screwed if they have to pay for medicine and college loans when they are on social security. No wonder we hear people talking about just working until they drop dead. How sad.
You should just be able to file for forgiveness the day you turn 60.
Did I make a promise I’d pay that back? Well, then, the joke’s on you, the lender, isn’t it? You’ve been burned enough? and don’t want to lend money for student loans anymore? Well, then, we’ll just confiscate your money and loan it out ourselves! Personal responsibility is a real booger, isn’t it? I know it’s a big pain in my tuckus when I write out my checks each month!
I don’t know, Pokie. I don’t have student loans. That was one of my points. Back in the day, college costs were more affordable. Fewer people went to college and costs were less.
Its just a topic. I don’t know how else kids can go to college without loans.
If I could find a way to express myself in writing without coming off so snarky, I would in a heartbeat. I paid of mine (about 30k). It took forever, but I did it. Now I’m paying off my wife’s student loans (20k left). I think you’d really have to try to make it last until you’re 60. But then again, people stay in college LONG after it’s clear they don’t belong there. So they rack up a load of student loan debt and either don’t get a degree, or don’t translate the degree into a profitable career. Someone who takes 6 years to get a teaching degree, for example. Not every person is destined for success.
The woman who borrowed $21K so she could just focus on going to grad school was a poor example of the problem. I paid my student loans within 10 years. Oh, and I worked my way through school. I’m supposed to feel sorry for someone who felt entitled to not have to work during grad school, and now doesn’t want to pay the bill?
No, you shouldn’t get to file for forgiveness when you turn 60. Unless you believe that the answer to irresponsible spending and borrowing is to saddle working people with your personal debt.
She probably finished faster also. I have known people to do it both ways. I think it really depends on how much support a student has. I had a great deal of support from my family when I did post graduate work. That made it possible but it sure took a long time to accomplish my goals.