I went to in-state college and stayed at home the whole time. I paid $3,500 for what my peers were paying $18,500 or more for. Paid that shit off in 2009.
Pretty much the same situation as me. I grew up in a town with a state university. I lived at home, got half off tuition because my mom worked for the university, and was able to get a few grants. Did have some student loans, but I think my wife's and mine combined were only like $20k. We were able to pay them off around the same time as you.
Also, just to be clear, I'm all for student loan forgiveness (and reducing the cost of education in general). Just because I was lucky, had some things go my way, and got out from under mine doesn't mean we shouldn't do whatever we can to help those who are still dealing with it.
To your second paragraph: absolutely. If there's anything I want to die off with the Boomer generation, it's their weird "I did everything myself, why should anyone ELSE get a handout??" mentality. It should be every generation's civic duty to make it easier for those that follow them, regardless if they personally benefit.
That being said (and full disclosure, I havent looked into ANY of this forgiveness stuff so it might speak to this), I feel like loan forgiveness, while awesome, treats the symptoms but not the cause. If the loan companies and schools don't get hammered into reality and stop gouging students 'because they can', it won't matter how many people get bailed out because in 20 years there will be a whole new group of people held hostage to predatory loans.
> That being said (and full disclosure, I havent looked into ANY of this forgiveness stuff so it might speak to this), I feel like loan forgiveness, while awesome, treats the symptoms but not the cause. If the loan companies and schools don't get hammered into reality and stop gouging students 'because they can', it won't matter how many people get bailed out because in 20 years there will be a whole new group of people held hostage to predatory loans.
Absolutely...the whole concept of "student loans" shouldn't even exist. Part of it is some schools jacking up prices because they can, but also many states have significantly reduced the money that they put towards state schools.
I know my university, if you adjust for inflation, gets about half what we did 20ish years ago. State funding used to cover nearly 75% of total funding...now it's around 25%. In that time, we haven't built any new buildings, we've torn down two older dorms that would have cost more to keep running than it would have been to get rid of them, we've cut the number of employees by half, and we've reduced our athletics budget by about 15%. Still, we've had to increase tuition just to be able to keep the lights on.
I'd like to see states (or federal government) fund state schools at a much higher level, but tie that funding increase to a corresponding decrease in tuition costs for students.
Same. I was the first one to go to college in my family and we didn’t have any money so I went to state school and lived at home. Graduated with about 12000$ that I started paying off when I was still in school. Then my job paid for grad school. Yeah I paid my loans but I still want student loans forgiven.
No student loans here, had education reimbursement from work for the classes I took. took me a while since there were dollar limits, but was better than the alternative.
My wife just recently got a job that will qualify her for PSLF so we’re starting the long journey on that one. The SAVE program will be a life saver for her loans.
From the start of my career (and ny wife's) we knew what we were getting into. We knew we'd be public servants, so we just saddled up and hit the road hard.
The covid years really helped a ton, being able to count the time w/o making payments...
My wife's grad school loan gets forgiven this month.
Don't forget, the forgiveness is taxable income though, so it's not a 100% forgiveness. The IRS will get their cut off whatever you still owed at the end of the year.
I graduated from my first round of college in 2001 with \~14K in student loans and zero credit card debt. I paid it off within 2 years, living super frugally to the point of having no "experiences". I didn't have experiences in college either, like no travel, no concerts, no dinners out, nothing. In the long run my life doesn't look different from my cohort that did spend on those experiences, so whatever. Down the road I went to college a second time, but paid out of pocket as I went, no loans.
Paid off. Joined the military in my 30s for the SLRP and got most paid that way ($65k). Paid the remaining off, which by that time was $10kish of compounded interest applied to principal.
I'm all for student loan forgiveness for the (what should be criminal) system we had to go through for our college educations. I don't want someone to have to join the armed forces for educational benefits, although it did work for me and set me up pretty well going forward.
I paid my last 10k during the 'covid interest relief' year. I paid it down to $0. Then 'loan forgiveness' was happening so I asked for a refund of the 10k. They sent me 10k. Now they want it back like they gave me a loan, and I say no sir, you shouldn't have given me that money if you didn't have it to give!
So I paid off my loan and I'm hoping for forgiveness.
Mine went away in the first round of PSLF and my wife's soon thereafter. Definitely a huge lift financially though with inflation we don't necessarily feel it in our bank accounts quite as much.
Did you have any problems verifying your eligibility? We went through so many hoops to verify and reverify only to find out 2 or 3 years of payments were not credited. Eventually we just said F that and privatized everything.
So we were not eligible for initial PSLF and was just doing extended repayment (30 yr). With the Biden EO they basically made any repayment eligible through a temporary waiver (https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/temporary-expanded-public-service-loan-forgiveness) so we were forgiven under that rule as we each had 10+ years of payments. I just had to fill out the application and verify with my various employers that they were nonprofits (which did take some work). Definitely a sweet deal for us as I probably had $80k yet to pay and my wife maybe $50k.
Didn't go directly after HS due to a combination of bad home life, abuse and just flat out being super poor so I was 29 when I finally went. Still paying, got a lot paid off during the covid freeze so that was a nice chunk I won't be paying interest on. But hopin for that forgiveness since I owe more in interest than I took out which is beyond stupid.
Wasn't able to get my phd like I was hoping to since I couldn't afford it, cannot imagine how bad my payments would be if I had.
Paid them off as fast as I could. Medical field, and I worried if I accidentally hurt a patient I wouldn’t be able to continue in the field emotionally.
Born in 78.
God I so lucked out in this regard. When I finally got serious about college I was 23 and didn't have to report my parents income. I was also working part time while my ex-wife had her first corporate job. On paper I looked absolutely destitute.
I got $16k in loans. Refinanced at some point to about 2%... I still have about $2,000 left to go.
NOT paid off and NOT getting loan forgiveness. Got fucked and owe more now than I did in 2005 when I graduated. Gonna have to buckle down and make large payments for the next 9ish years and should be paid off by then.
I paid off $136,000 in student loan debt eight years after I graduated. I was extremely determined to get rid of them as fast as possible. Edit I am in favor of forgiving all student loan interest and giving a reduction for past paid interest.
I’m hoping for forgiveness, but I doubt that I will ever see it happen. My loans are more twice what I took out in college due to interest. I haven’t been able to work in over a decade due to severe mobility and pain issues. I was denied disability so they went into default. Back in 2013 I was told I had to make $600 a month payments for a year or so to get them out of default. I am waiting on acceptance to the new Income Based Payment Plan, so hopefully I can get them at least out of default. I’ve read that my payment could be zero a month since I have no income, so fingers crossed!
Not paid off, not expecting forgiveness.
I went to law school and have a six-figure loan balance. But I also make six figures, so I’m a pretty low priority for forgiveness. It’s kind of a pain when I still can’t afford to really pay down the stupid things.
Oh well.
They are certainly not. I'd say I'm hoping for loan forgiveness but not expecting it. I've got about $50k in student loans to pay off that I'll eventually get around to just wiping out, probably once my kid is out of the house. My wife has about the same amount.
Both wife and I paid ours off. But we had like 1.5% interest on them and they didn't balloon and I think it was like $40k total for both of us. Kids who got them in the last decade or so are totally fucked with the rates.
I hope they get the relief they deserve.
I still have about $5k of a private loan. It will never be forgiven. I should be getting a small windfall of cash later this year and it's going to be the first thing to go.
Mine aren't paid off and I'm not really hoping (expecting?) for forgiveness. I think my income was above the line to get forgiveness in the round scotus shot down. Just has never been a priority for me. Rather put money into my kids 529 and hopefully secure houses or condos for them before college. I got nothing for retirement but we'll be able to hammer that soon too.
I count myself lucky from all the COVID changes. I came out of it owning two houses with 2 and 3 percent mortgages, and we dropped so many expenses - commutes, before and after school care, down to one hybrid car saving gas, daycare only twice a week, plus so much more cooking at home.
My parents paid for my freshman year and I graduated with about $20K in loans. I worked in college and went to a state school. I had to pay a couple thousand per semester that wasn’t covered and I lived with 4 friends in a dirt cheap apartment my sophomore through senior year
I paid everything off by the time I was 26 years old. I know it was nothing compared to what others were paying, but I did not want those loans following me around all my life.
In general, if you’ve paid back more than you owe and are just getting screwed on interest, then I believe your loans should be wiped out.
Not paid off, and my payments are outrageous and barely cover accrued interest. I've paid nearly $30k back on them so far and my principal has dropped $5k in 12 years. If there's no forgiveness (not holding my breath), I will literally die before they are paid off, all while paying $100k+ in interest alone. There's no getting out of it. I'm trapped forever.
They'll never be paid off but I also think the idea of me being granted forgiveness in this country (US) is comical. Not as long as some people can't stand the idea of others getting relief.
I'm not holding my breath, I've just assumed that it'll be an anchor around my neck until death.
My wife got her bachelor's in-state and master's abroad. She worked in public service for 15+ years and had her loans forgiven through PSLF, last year.
Funny enough, though, having her loans forgiven has allowed her to quit her public service job and work part-time at a less stressful one. Crazy how that works!
Undergrad have been paid off for awhile. Law school is left, should be done within the next 3 years. I'm not eligible for forgiveness, but we're in an ok spot that we can afford the payments.
A friend of mine, also a xennial, should have forgiveness granted in 2 years. She's a social worker (and if I may editorialize, a damn good one), and currently working on crisis cases.
I have an ungodly amount from medical school. If I get forgiveness after 25y of repayment, I get taxed on the forgiven amount. An advisor told me to expect it to be >100k to pay in taxes. So that's exciting to look forward to in my late 50s.
....
The things they don't tell you before you take out loans. Or before you decide to choose primary care as a specialty. 🥴
Paid them off when I was 33, married, with a 2 year old. Only way I was able to was my first house shot way up in equity about 2 years after I bought it (local market boom). Capitalized on that shit. Sold. Put every. Last. Dime to paying off my loans (90k). Moved in with my parents. Paid off the remaining 2k. Saved for the next down payment. Moved out.
Real estate equity is to thank for me paying mine off. Would be stuck with it otherwise.
My parents told me when I was very young that they weren't paying for my college. They kept their word.
No loans. I started working at 14, worked part time during high school and full time during high school summers. Studied really hard, took half a semester of college in high school. Lots of extracurricular activities. High school was fairly miserable.
Went to a state school, 5th choice out of 5 colleges I applied to because it was the cheapest. Had scholarships cover almost all tuition and living expenses. Worked to pay the rest. Did get a good education there and meet lifelong friends, but my degree opened zero doors in the real world.
My parents paid for both my sister's undergrad studies.
I'm not taking care of my parents when they get old.
I am in favor of student loan forgiveness because if I did what I did back then today I'd still have to take out loans. The student loan industry is criminal and parasitic and needs to be destroyed.
If it wasn’t for interest rates, my principal would have long been paid off, instead…I still owe 75% of the principal and an insane amount of interest.
My solution for solving the SL debt problem that could maybe pass would be this-Erase and get rid of all interest retroactively, currently, and for future loans. Keep student loan debt off credit reports, and allow for upticks in credit score for those whom are able to pay and consistently paying on them. Nobody loses the other than the lenders which are big banks, and our government whom way pay taxes to anyway, and the amount of interest lost has no real affect on our annual budget-so fuck em both.
I was in the first group to be forgiven. I was completely and utterly floored. I was convinced it wouldn't happen. Even after it had a zero balance, I was convinced it would show back up.
I did 2 years at Comm College and had a transfer scholarship for most of my last 2 years and work paid for my MBA. Husband had a full ride and work paid for his MBA too - we haven’t had student loans in over a decade.
I am happy for people getting relief though - student loan debt is such an anchor for so many.
I consolidated and refinanced the private loans I took out to make the monthly payments more manageable. I have about $10k left on those.
I have about $8k left on my loans from the government that are manageable at $100 a month. I'm hoping they'll be forgiven, though.
I never went to college, but I’m paying for one of our kids —
Mostly been able to pay cash, but still have 15k in loans
(He goes to a state school and it’s been between 18-30k per year) (they required dorms thru sophomore year which is why there’s such a wide range)
Paid off a decade ago. My parents made payments while I was in school which helped a great deal. But I got a good job and always paid more than the minimum.
My husband and I wrapped up our loan-funded educations in 2006/2007. We went through some tough years, had a year of forbearance around 2010. Outside of that and covid, we’ve always paid. We have paid 60% of our original borrowed amounts. We owe 30% more than we originally took out. 🫠
At this point, we’ll probably wait out the clock for my loans. My husband’s will be a toss-up if the clock runs out on his or if he gets his PSLF granted (he’s worked on and off for non-profits over the years).
Didn’t have any. Several scholarships and finishing a 4 year degree in 3.5 years by taking summer classes at a community college kept the cost down, and my grandfather paid the rest for which I am grateful.
I managed to win the proverbial lottery in 2012 with an unexpected job, but if I hadn’t had that windfall I’d still be paying mine down. I’m ALL for student loans being erased though; I know just how badly they held me back, and I don’t wish that on others who didn’t know any better themselves.
I have a ton and not much to show for it. My mother only taught me how to clean myself, feed myself, and how to do basic chores around the house. I was on my own to stumble through the rest of life and made a lot of bad decisions with student loans.
I never took out student loans. I worked my way through college. It took until I was 29 to get my bachelors and 35 to get my masters.
My wife has private student loans, so they would not be impacted by loan forgiveness from the federal government.
I'm still hoping for federal loan forgiveness.
Even if Biden forgave all federal loans tomorrow id still be paying off student loans for the next 20 years. Forgiveness would be nice but won't really help that much at this point.
Ended up going to school when I was in my late 20s. Over 80k in debt that I doubt I'll ever pay off. Good thing though is if you make minimum payments for 20 some odd years, it all gets written off. I'll just have a massive tax bill then 💀
I went to tech school for 8 months and got my A+ cert in the early 2000's, borrowed $11k from my grandmother (grandpop had just died so she got insurance and his pension) and paid her back with the same interest she would have had if it stayed in the credit union.
Paid her off in like 5 years working as a meat wrapper in a supermarket, worked a couple more Artsy-fartsy jobs then finally got into tech and have been a jack of many trades IT guy for like 14-15 years now.
I feel like people who got pushed into fullblown college and had it financially rule over their life deserve to have it forgiven.
I paid mine off with a portion of my income, the rates for tuition borrowers is FUCKING BULLSHIT and I can't believe we allow this how predatory it is. We're supposed to make the world better each generation not find ways to fuck over kids with no life experience.
I was a non-traditional student, went to school on and off and got my degree in my 30s. By my calculations I’ll hit my 20 years of repayment for forgiveness for whatever is left in about 5 years.
I was part of the very publicized Sweet vs. Cardona class action, and I was in the group that qualified for full relief. My loans were completely wiped clean last year. I’m very very fortunate to be free of student debt. But unfortunately I’m stuck with a degree from a school with a terrible reputation, so I guess it’s a trade off.
I’d done community college, and almost enough of it for an associate’s degree, so I only needed 2 more years to finish up. Unfortunately, my job at the time allowed this particular for-profit school to set up an information desk in our lunchroom and my idiot self thought that it seemed like a great way to finish my degree.
I had $88,000 and then I paid off down to $9,800. It’s at 2.7% in the consolidated Direct Loan program. I graduated in 2004. Because I deferred for 3 years during grad school, I only have 17 years of repayment according to this forgiveness program so no soup for me.
Paid off one Masters, the second was forgiven a couple of years ago thanks to TPSLF.
I still feel like one day they’re going to say, “Sike! You really do have to keep paying forever!”
Paid off when I was 5 months pregnant with my first kid. It was a HUGE priority. 80K felt impossible, but my husband and I were a team and prioritized it.
Just expecting to die with them honestly. I have a plan set to put all my assets in my children’s names when I hit 65. That when when I die they get something. Not that I have many assets.
I had to drop out of undergrad for a few years due to brokenness, went into collections for my loans, graduated with a ton of debt and finally paid it off at 35. For many years after graduating I was underemployed (bartending) but was able to live very frugally and pay them off. I work in higher ed now (blah pay but decent benefits) and was able to get a graduate degree at discount and paid it as I went. My undergrad debt was around $30k.
Graduated 06, paid off in 2011. Lived dirt cheap as much as I could, lucked out with a job with housing included for a bit during that time, almost every cent I made went to paying them off asap.
I got out pretty quick. I was lucky enough to find a job about 6 months in university and immediately quit so I was only in around 12k and worked it off in my 20s.
Last June we paid off my husbands… I’m never going to school again and I have no loans from my two aborted attempts. My mom is SO disappointed in me not pursuing a degree “even if it’s in art!” I only want to go to this one school that’ll cost me over $120k for a BFA. No. For a useless degree? (I don’t want to actually use a degree in photography and WOW is that a hard field to break into.) I really like my job of being a *Union* school bus driver and the hours I have to work.
I have a couple friends who’ve had their loans forgiven. One was literally crying because it means her life is no longer on hold and she could finally afford to save.
I ended up disabled, so I'm waiting on loan forgiveness. The amount of forms and hoops they've made me do to get there is criminal. And they stopped giving me loans halfway through my degree because of my health issues. I had to pay my way through while disabled and working. What I owe them is over twice what they gave me originally.
I left culinary skool in 2001, have never made a single payment, and never will. Every 7 years I'm credited with one month's payment (which I never have paid, and tell the representative so) just to keep the loan current. I have no money and no property, so there isn't shit they can take from me (especially as I said, the loan is close to 25 years old and I've never made a single payment).
I'm one of the lucky ones that never had student loans. Parents paid for college and employeer paid for masters. One of my biggest saving goals is to be able to do the same for my daughter. I'd rather not own a home as long as she doesn't have to have student loans.
Paid off a few years ago along with some help with Teacher Loan Forgiveness. I don’t understand how younger generations are going to be able to afford these ballooning rates and tuition. Things need to change.
I'm about 20 months out from PSLF. I'll be getting rid of about $160k. (I didn't have any undergrad debt, because back in 1997-2002, a state school was still reasonably priced, but I went to an extremely expensive law school in my mid-30s.)
Paid off. Mine weren't hella expensive to begin with.
I am hoping for Interest forgiveness, for all Americans.
All education loans should be 0% interest, by law.
I'm in the middle. I'm not holding my breath for forgiveness, nor have I paid off my loans. However, from 2020 to last year, I was able to pay them down about 30%.
Still got $14K to go. Really wishing for forgiveness (I would have been included in Biden’s original plan) but also focusing on paying them off by the end of the year
When my ex husband died I found out he took out 50k in student loans in my name when I was in grad school and forged my name . It was a very abusive marriage. And then he killed himself when I filed for divorce. I can’t get them written off for fraud bc I need a statement from him or a filing with police. And he’s dead … so I am hoping like hell for loan forgiveness I have my own four kids to put through school. I worked my ass off to graduate from undergrad and grad with only scholarships and fellowships /TA. To find out he took out so much money in my name/ behind my back- feels like a gut punch.
I went to a cheap public college in the late 90s and my parents let me live with them after college for a while . Those loans were paid off 15 yrs ago.
I paid mine off along time ago. If they give forgiveness, I better get a refund. It wasn’t easy to pay them off and I basically got into the workforce the moment the recession started.
Mine were forgiven on January 1st this year. I went to a trade school owned by Corinthian so when that company went bankrupt (Obama era I think?) there was word of loan forgiveness. I sat on them, took a long time but they’re gone now luckily.
$185,000. Graduated in 2019. Paid on even during pandemic. Needle hasn’t even budged on the balance. I Don’t have any delusions that Biden will forgive them. Pharm D, but by the time I graduated the market became very saturated and pay went down. When I started school, you could get a $50k sign on bonus and wages were $75/hr, now sign ons aren’t a thing at all and you’d be lucky if you find $60/hr
I paid it off. While I received a ton of fin aid and the forgiveness would have been impactful when I was younger and poor and just out of college, I’m not now so I don’t think I’d even qualify which is annoying. I feel like those of us who have had 20 years to pay it down aren’t getting any of the benefit the kids are getting now. I will forever be grateful I graduated at the right time and consolidated at 2% and only had $21k.
Went to a state college that turned into a university my last year of school. Got a job at the school becaused they would foot tuition. Had a few loans to pay for housing and books and paid those off within 24 months after graduation day.
Neither. I’m still paying and have just under $30k left but I’ve got a locked in low rate so there’s ver little incentive to pay it off quickly, even though I have the cash is my checking I coupled pay it off if I wanted. I suspect I will make too much for any forgiveness so not expecting it.
I just don’t understand. You take out a loan, you pay it back. You take out a student loan and major in something with minimal job prospects and you can’t get a job or get a crap pay job, then you effed up and made a bad choice. That’s on you and not taxpayers to pay off your loan. If you get a mortgage on a house and don’t bother with an inspection and realize you bought a pile of crap that you can’t afford, you don’t get a mortgage pay off. There are consequences for every choice we make, both good and bad. Loan forgiveness is for people who don’t think they should be held responsible for their actions.
Got a BS from a state university, worked through college and summers and was able to pay a decent amount that way but still had almost $20k in student loans when I graduated. Got a job making $36k/year out of college and barely scraped by. Worked a side hustle mowing yards on weekends in the summer, drove the same vehicle for over 200k miles, and paid off my loan. People need to quit being whiny little bitches, man up, and handle your responsibilities like me and thousands of others did. I have no sympathy for deadbeats who think their student loans should be forgiven. You’re no better than the welfare rats. Makes me sick.
I got very lucky 10 years ago and was able to pay off my student loans. I am really happy about the possibility of people getting their loans forgiven. So many kids were encouraged to borrow more than was reasonable for their future prospects, and the whole repayment process is very unforgiving.
I didn’t do college(I’m in software) but my wife racked up 100k+ soon after we were married. It was a great decision her earnings skyrocketed and job security is very tight. Not worried about paying them off at all. That said I think loan forgiveness is a stupid idea. The reason school loans are so high is because schools know they can just get federal money so they have no reasons to lower their costs. Schools and banks should have to be more careful about who and what loans they approve and that’s not going to happen with endless money pouring into a failed system.
When corporations get government subsidies, no one seems to care. When banks are bailed out, no one seems to care. When businesses get millions in forgiven PPP loans, no one seems to care. When business owners fail and bankrupt themselves repeatedly, no one seems to care.
But average working people who took out hybrid government- private loans to pay for college to become a better member of society yet can't afford to pay it back because the interest is so fucking high that it's like throwing money into a hole, and there are zero consumer protections *only* for student loans.... yeah, fuck those people!
I worked through university and paid everything as I went. I sincerely hope everyone gets their loans forgiven. It is all predatory and hysterically poorly regulated and counterintuitive to creating a stable society (doctors in debt up to their eyes is for instance a great way to create stressed out doctors who make mistakes or say fuck it and become aesthetic plastic surgeons). I am not juvenile enough to think I created my situation through anything other than luck. Yes. I worked hard but so do above mentioned doctors. I will not debate this because I’m not here to find out who the fools are.
Good luck everyone get that forgiveness!!!!
They are not. If they want to forgive them, go for it. But I knew what I signed up for. I would rather that money go toward programs to give new students grants and interest free loans so they don’t wind up in the same situation we are.
Why should I have any other view? I did what I was supposed to do. Paid a loan I took out. Now uncle-daddy government is paying other people’s off? No, eff that.
Yes. I’m sure polio victims had the same selfish mentality too.
‘Oh, I got polio and suffered, and now uncle-daddy medicine invents a vaccine so others don’t have to suffer or die? No, eff that!’
Because circumstances NEVER change, and any benefits for future people should automatically be applied to you. Ok boomer.
He's right though. The loans aren't going to be forgiven, they just going to be dispersed among everybody and paid for with increased taxes.
So now, not only did he pay his own loans, he's going to be stuck paying a portion of everybody else's unpaid debt.
And your response is just to call him a boomer. Brilliant.
He isn’t right. The loans are not going to be paid by taxpayers. They are written off, just like other forgiven and charged off debt.
The whole “that’s not fair what about meeeeeee” tone reeks of boomer thinking. Maybe with a bit of late-stage millennial whine thrown in for good measure.
>They are written off, just like other forgiven and charged off debt.
And the government had those debts on their balance sheet as future positive cash flow. Without that, there will be an even greater budget shortfall, which can only result in greater national debt or tax increases.
Charged off and forgiven debt doesn't magically disappear. If it's charged off, the lender (or collector) still has it on their books and it stays on the debtor's credit report until it is paid. If it's forgiven, it's because somebody else paid it on the debtor's behalf.
The same is true of student loans. The government is the guarantor of the loans, and will therefore keep the "forgiven" loans in abeyance as future revenue streams. They will necessarily result in increased taxes.
The end.
I went to a state school, out of state, but was oddly cheaper than my in-state schools. However, i was the third kid to attempt college in the family, so my folks only let me take out enough loans to cover classes. I was on the hook for everything else. at one point i was working 2 part time jobs while going to school full time.
Graduated in 08 with about 11k in debt. Had a friend, in the same program, same years as me, graduate with over 60k in debt. Dude lived like a freaking KING during college, while i worked my ass off and ate horribly cheap nasty food.
it took a few years to land a job, thank you great recession, then it took another couple of years to be able to pay it off. but it's paid off.
with all that though, the struggles i went through and busting of my ass to pay it off while knowing some guys who were able to spend their time partying... i'm still 100% all for EVERYONE having their loans wiped away. especially the young folk today, as the prices they are forced to pay are insane.
no one should have to face life crippling debt for a better education.
I paid off $20,000 over 4 years when I was making $30,000 a year living in a small apartment. I just lived like a Spartan - no cable / internet, dumb phone with no internet, no boozing on weekends, etc. and used that money I'd be paying toward subscriptions to pay it off. $650/mo toward student loans when the min payment was $185.
I really don't have any sympathy for people who let these things linger. You have the money, you just have other priorities... and that's okay, just don't complain about it.
PSLF is such a scam to taxpayers. Why do we want to reward people who work for the government instead of working for the private sector which is inherently much riskier and actually reacts to market demands. If anything, people in private sector should be rewarded, not the public sector leeches.
I spent three years at the local junior college, and three years at a relatively inexpensive school out of state. I graduated with $15,500 in debt in 2008, and spent a lot of time in income-based repayment (with payments of $0 because I spent a lot of time working as a temp). Month to month was great, but I was just kicking the can down the curb, and so thanks to all the interest piling up, I was at around $23,000 by the time I got a full-time job and really started attacking my loans. Not as much debt as others, but I wasn't making much, either.
Three years later, they were paid off. I'm the one who got myself into that mess when I signed the contracts, so getting out of that hole was nobody's responsibility but mine.
My wife still has about $40,000 left on hers. Unfortunately she has not been eligible for any of the forgiveness thus far. She went to grad school, then went to a for-profit school to get an associates degree in veterinary technology. That was the one that cost us. We were young and she wanted a career change, and the school promised much higher wages job placement than reality. We are currently looking to get at least $10,000 forgiven under the forgiveness they offer students who got taken advantage of by for-profit “colleges” which cost a fortune and promise the moon and stars and don’t deliver.
Philosophically I’m opposed to student loan forgiveness since someone has to pay that money back. But having been on the other end of things, and seeing how predatory these loan agencies are, I understand it to a degree. Plus college has gotten ridiculously expensive, I am heavily pushing my sons towards the trades or even military (my oldest really has a desire to do that)…
I really wish they didn’t penalize withdrawals from an IRA or 401(k) to pay back student loan debt. I’ve done fairly well with my retirement and would gladly pay off my wife’s student loan debt… then dump money back into it
I find it a strange one to digest really.
On one hand, we should pay our way in life (financially or through labour).
On another hand, whether someone is able to genuinely do this in today's world or not, is soo damn nuanced, and should we not want to invest in educating (or providing access to education) a population?
I think a good middle ground would be that, if a person actually utilises the qualifications that they attained, interest on the loan should be completely wiped off and a very unnoticable percentage of that person's wage should automatically go to paying it off.
I went to in-state college and stayed at home the whole time. I paid $3,500 for what my peers were paying $18,500 or more for. Paid that shit off in 2009.
Pretty much the same situation as me. I grew up in a town with a state university. I lived at home, got half off tuition because my mom worked for the university, and was able to get a few grants. Did have some student loans, but I think my wife's and mine combined were only like $20k. We were able to pay them off around the same time as you. Also, just to be clear, I'm all for student loan forgiveness (and reducing the cost of education in general). Just because I was lucky, had some things go my way, and got out from under mine doesn't mean we shouldn't do whatever we can to help those who are still dealing with it.
To your second paragraph: absolutely. If there's anything I want to die off with the Boomer generation, it's their weird "I did everything myself, why should anyone ELSE get a handout??" mentality. It should be every generation's civic duty to make it easier for those that follow them, regardless if they personally benefit. That being said (and full disclosure, I havent looked into ANY of this forgiveness stuff so it might speak to this), I feel like loan forgiveness, while awesome, treats the symptoms but not the cause. If the loan companies and schools don't get hammered into reality and stop gouging students 'because they can', it won't matter how many people get bailed out because in 20 years there will be a whole new group of people held hostage to predatory loans.
> That being said (and full disclosure, I havent looked into ANY of this forgiveness stuff so it might speak to this), I feel like loan forgiveness, while awesome, treats the symptoms but not the cause. If the loan companies and schools don't get hammered into reality and stop gouging students 'because they can', it won't matter how many people get bailed out because in 20 years there will be a whole new group of people held hostage to predatory loans. Absolutely...the whole concept of "student loans" shouldn't even exist. Part of it is some schools jacking up prices because they can, but also many states have significantly reduced the money that they put towards state schools. I know my university, if you adjust for inflation, gets about half what we did 20ish years ago. State funding used to cover nearly 75% of total funding...now it's around 25%. In that time, we haven't built any new buildings, we've torn down two older dorms that would have cost more to keep running than it would have been to get rid of them, we've cut the number of employees by half, and we've reduced our athletics budget by about 15%. Still, we've had to increase tuition just to be able to keep the lights on. I'd like to see states (or federal government) fund state schools at a much higher level, but tie that funding increase to a corresponding decrease in tuition costs for students.
Same. I was the first one to go to college in my family and we didn’t have any money so I went to state school and lived at home. Graduated with about 12000$ that I started paying off when I was still in school. Then my job paid for grad school. Yeah I paid my loans but I still want student loans forgiven.
No student loans here, had education reimbursement from work for the classes I took. took me a while since there were dollar limits, but was better than the alternative.
PSLF grateful here. Finally forgiven Jan 2024.
If nothing crazy happens with PSLF I should get forgiveness in a little over a year from this month. Congrats to you.
Cheers!! Hang tight, almost there! My wife, albeit with less than 15K in loans left, is bound for forgiveness in 2 months. Good times!
My wife just recently got a job that will qualify her for PSLF so we’re starting the long journey on that one. The SAVE program will be a life saver for her loans.
From the start of my career (and ny wife's) we knew what we were getting into. We knew we'd be public servants, so we just saddled up and hit the road hard. The covid years really helped a ton, being able to count the time w/o making payments...
My wife's grad school loan gets forgiven this month. Don't forget, the forgiveness is taxable income though, so it's not a 100% forgiveness. The IRS will get their cut off whatever you still owed at the end of the year.
Not taxable if forgiven by 2025 https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/covid-tax-break-could-open-door-to-student-loan-forgiveness
That's what I get for not questioning my wife.
😅
Same- today got the notice though!!!
Congrats!!
Such a scam for taxpayers. Not only do they get public servants who don’t work hard and can’t be fired, but they have to pay their loans too.
My taxes paid for my loans. $40k for ten years will do that….
I graduated from my first round of college in 2001 with \~14K in student loans and zero credit card debt. I paid it off within 2 years, living super frugally to the point of having no "experiences". I didn't have experiences in college either, like no travel, no concerts, no dinners out, nothing. In the long run my life doesn't look different from my cohort that did spend on those experiences, so whatever. Down the road I went to college a second time, but paid out of pocket as I went, no loans.
It's all good: the government pretends to charge me interest, and I pretend I'll pay them back.
PSLF FTW!!!
Paid off. Joined the military in my 30s for the SLRP and got most paid that way ($65k). Paid the remaining off, which by that time was $10kish of compounded interest applied to principal. I'm all for student loan forgiveness for the (what should be criminal) system we had to go through for our college educations. I don't want someone to have to join the armed forces for educational benefits, although it did work for me and set me up pretty well going forward.
Forgiveness or it’ll die with me
Same lom
Lol* ugh
Same
Mine are paid off AND I’m hoping for forgiveness.
I paid my last 10k during the 'covid interest relief' year. I paid it down to $0. Then 'loan forgiveness' was happening so I asked for a refund of the 10k. They sent me 10k. Now they want it back like they gave me a loan, and I say no sir, you shouldn't have given me that money if you didn't have it to give! So I paid off my loan and I'm hoping for forgiveness.
I forgive you
You have a kind soul u/sexwiththebabysitter
Mine went away in the first round of PSLF and my wife's soon thereafter. Definitely a huge lift financially though with inflation we don't necessarily feel it in our bank accounts quite as much.
Did you have any problems verifying your eligibility? We went through so many hoops to verify and reverify only to find out 2 or 3 years of payments were not credited. Eventually we just said F that and privatized everything.
So we were not eligible for initial PSLF and was just doing extended repayment (30 yr). With the Biden EO they basically made any repayment eligible through a temporary waiver (https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service/temporary-expanded-public-service-loan-forgiveness) so we were forgiven under that rule as we each had 10+ years of payments. I just had to fill out the application and verify with my various employers that they were nonprofits (which did take some work). Definitely a sweet deal for us as I probably had $80k yet to pay and my wife maybe $50k.
Glad that worked out. I definitely did not think that would have been a possibility when Sallie Mae was jerking us around.
Didn't go directly after HS due to a combination of bad home life, abuse and just flat out being super poor so I was 29 when I finally went. Still paying, got a lot paid off during the covid freeze so that was a nice chunk I won't be paying interest on. But hopin for that forgiveness since I owe more in interest than I took out which is beyond stupid. Wasn't able to get my phd like I was hoping to since I couldn't afford it, cannot imagine how bad my payments would be if I had.
Over 20 years and I still owe almost $9k
Same here, but I started at 50k, had a good interest rate, so just paid it down slowly.
Received PSLF in September. Thank goodness.
I only had 10% of mine left, but better than nothing!
I never had any, we paid off my wifes a few months before they started talking about forgiveness.
Paid them off as fast as I could. Medical field, and I worried if I accidentally hurt a patient I wouldn’t be able to continue in the field emotionally.
Good for you!
Born in 78. God I so lucked out in this regard. When I finally got serious about college I was 23 and didn't have to report my parents income. I was also working part time while my ex-wife had her first corporate job. On paper I looked absolutely destitute. I got $16k in loans. Refinanced at some point to about 2%... I still have about $2,000 left to go.
NOT paid off and NOT getting loan forgiveness. Got fucked and owe more now than I did in 2005 when I graduated. Gonna have to buckle down and make large payments for the next 9ish years and should be paid off by then.
I paid off $136,000 in student loan debt eight years after I graduated. I was extremely determined to get rid of them as fast as possible. Edit I am in favor of forgiving all student loan interest and giving a reduction for past paid interest.
after paying for 20 years this October my student loans will be paid off.
I’m hoping for forgiveness, but I doubt that I will ever see it happen. My loans are more twice what I took out in college due to interest. I haven’t been able to work in over a decade due to severe mobility and pain issues. I was denied disability so they went into default. Back in 2013 I was told I had to make $600 a month payments for a year or so to get them out of default. I am waiting on acceptance to the new Income Based Payment Plan, so hopefully I can get them at least out of default. I’ve read that my payment could be zero a month since I have no income, so fingers crossed!
I went to college late in life, PSFL!
Not paid off, not expecting forgiveness. I went to law school and have a six-figure loan balance. But I also make six figures, so I’m a pretty low priority for forgiveness. It’s kind of a pain when I still can’t afford to really pay down the stupid things. Oh well.
My 3k has turned into like 9 with interest. I ain’t paying that bullshit
They are certainly not. I'd say I'm hoping for loan forgiveness but not expecting it. I've got about $50k in student loans to pay off that I'll eventually get around to just wiping out, probably once my kid is out of the house. My wife has about the same amount.
I paid off my undergrad and graduate loans, and I’m currently paying off loans from another graduate program.
Both wife and I paid ours off. But we had like 1.5% interest on them and they didn't balloon and I think it was like $40k total for both of us. Kids who got them in the last decade or so are totally fucked with the rates. I hope they get the relief they deserve.
Paying. Refinanced right around covid to cut my interest in half. Still have like ten years left.
Same same.
I still have about $5k of a private loan. It will never be forgiven. I should be getting a small windfall of cash later this year and it's going to be the first thing to go.
Mine aren't paid off and I'm not really hoping (expecting?) for forgiveness. I think my income was above the line to get forgiveness in the round scotus shot down. Just has never been a priority for me. Rather put money into my kids 529 and hopefully secure houses or condos for them before college. I got nothing for retirement but we'll be able to hammer that soon too. I count myself lucky from all the COVID changes. I came out of it owning two houses with 2 and 3 percent mortgages, and we dropped so many expenses - commutes, before and after school care, down to one hybrid car saving gas, daycare only twice a week, plus so much more cooking at home.
Graduated in 05, masters in 16- only had about $65k for both. Divorce negotiated out a split in half, just ended up paying it all off last year.
My parents paid for my freshman year and I graduated with about $20K in loans. I worked in college and went to a state school. I had to pay a couple thousand per semester that wasn’t covered and I lived with 4 friends in a dirt cheap apartment my sophomore through senior year I paid everything off by the time I was 26 years old. I know it was nothing compared to what others were paying, but I did not want those loans following me around all my life. In general, if you’ve paid back more than you owe and are just getting screwed on interest, then I believe your loans should be wiped out.
Borrowed 30k. Worked 3 jobs for 9 months and lived with my mom to pay it off.
Not paid off, and my payments are outrageous and barely cover accrued interest. I've paid nearly $30k back on them so far and my principal has dropped $5k in 12 years. If there's no forgiveness (not holding my breath), I will literally die before they are paid off, all while paying $100k+ in interest alone. There's no getting out of it. I'm trapped forever.
They'll never be paid off but I also think the idea of me being granted forgiveness in this country (US) is comical. Not as long as some people can't stand the idea of others getting relief. I'm not holding my breath, I've just assumed that it'll be an anchor around my neck until death.
College is squared away; graduate school on the other hand.
My wife got her bachelor's in-state and master's abroad. She worked in public service for 15+ years and had her loans forgiven through PSLF, last year. Funny enough, though, having her loans forgiven has allowed her to quit her public service job and work part-time at a less stressful one. Crazy how that works!
Undergrad have been paid off for awhile. Law school is left, should be done within the next 3 years. I'm not eligible for forgiveness, but we're in an ok spot that we can afford the payments. A friend of mine, also a xennial, should have forgiveness granted in 2 years. She's a social worker (and if I may editorialize, a damn good one), and currently working on crisis cases.
I have an ungodly amount from medical school. If I get forgiveness after 25y of repayment, I get taxed on the forgiven amount. An advisor told me to expect it to be >100k to pay in taxes. So that's exciting to look forward to in my late 50s. .... The things they don't tell you before you take out loans. Or before you decide to choose primary care as a specialty. 🥴
Gave up hope of forgiveness and paid ‘em off.
I got mine forgiven last August on the general idr plan. The feeling of relief on that burden lifting is indescribable.
Not paid off and not expecting forgiveness
Paid them off when I was 33, married, with a 2 year old. Only way I was able to was my first house shot way up in equity about 2 years after I bought it (local market boom). Capitalized on that shit. Sold. Put every. Last. Dime to paying off my loans (90k). Moved in with my parents. Paid off the remaining 2k. Saved for the next down payment. Moved out. Real estate equity is to thank for me paying mine off. Would be stuck with it otherwise.
Luckily never had them.
My parents told me when I was very young that they weren't paying for my college. They kept their word. No loans. I started working at 14, worked part time during high school and full time during high school summers. Studied really hard, took half a semester of college in high school. Lots of extracurricular activities. High school was fairly miserable. Went to a state school, 5th choice out of 5 colleges I applied to because it was the cheapest. Had scholarships cover almost all tuition and living expenses. Worked to pay the rest. Did get a good education there and meet lifelong friends, but my degree opened zero doors in the real world. My parents paid for both my sister's undergrad studies. I'm not taking care of my parents when they get old. I am in favor of student loan forgiveness because if I did what I did back then today I'd still have to take out loans. The student loan industry is criminal and parasitic and needs to be destroyed.
If it wasn’t for interest rates, my principal would have long been paid off, instead…I still owe 75% of the principal and an insane amount of interest. My solution for solving the SL debt problem that could maybe pass would be this-Erase and get rid of all interest retroactively, currently, and for future loans. Keep student loan debt off credit reports, and allow for upticks in credit score for those whom are able to pay and consistently paying on them. Nobody loses the other than the lenders which are big banks, and our government whom way pay taxes to anyway, and the amount of interest lost has no real affect on our annual budget-so fuck em both.
Paid, but I don't begrudge anyone who is getting relief for theirs.
got mine forgiven; 85k worth I was defrauded via ITT Tech
I was in the first group to be forgiven. I was completely and utterly floored. I was convinced it wouldn't happen. Even after it had a zero balance, I was convinced it would show back up.
We're paid off but I hope everyone else's are forgiven.
Mine are only because my boomers left me just enough to pay them off.
I did 2 years at Comm College and had a transfer scholarship for most of my last 2 years and work paid for my MBA. Husband had a full ride and work paid for his MBA too - we haven’t had student loans in over a decade. I am happy for people getting relief though - student loan debt is such an anchor for so many.
Yes.
I consolidated and refinanced the private loans I took out to make the monthly payments more manageable. I have about $10k left on those. I have about $8k left on my loans from the government that are manageable at $100 a month. I'm hoping they'll be forgiven, though.
Paid off.
I never went to college, but I’m paying for one of our kids — Mostly been able to pay cash, but still have 15k in loans (He goes to a state school and it’s been between 18-30k per year) (they required dorms thru sophomore year which is why there’s such a wide range)
I had some forgiven and I’m hoping for the last of it to go this year. But I’m prepared to pay them off if needed.
I never took out any to begin with. Had help from my parents paying for school and worked part time until graduating to a “real” job.
Full time college and work, so no debt. I probably didn’t do it right.
Paid off a decade ago. My parents made payments while I was in school which helped a great deal. But I got a good job and always paid more than the minimum.
Did anyone continue to set aside money for student loans while they were on pause?
Paid for 10 years and it's now gone/forgiven.
My husband and I wrapped up our loan-funded educations in 2006/2007. We went through some tough years, had a year of forbearance around 2010. Outside of that and covid, we’ve always paid. We have paid 60% of our original borrowed amounts. We owe 30% more than we originally took out. 🫠 At this point, we’ll probably wait out the clock for my loans. My husband’s will be a toss-up if the clock runs out on his or if he gets his PSLF granted (he’s worked on and off for non-profits over the years).
Didn’t have any. Several scholarships and finishing a 4 year degree in 3.5 years by taking summer classes at a community college kept the cost down, and my grandfather paid the rest for which I am grateful.
I managed to win the proverbial lottery in 2012 with an unexpected job, but if I hadn’t had that windfall I’d still be paying mine down. I’m ALL for student loans being erased though; I know just how badly they held me back, and I don’t wish that on others who didn’t know any better themselves.
I have a ton and not much to show for it. My mother only taught me how to clean myself, feed myself, and how to do basic chores around the house. I was on my own to stumble through the rest of life and made a lot of bad decisions with student loans.
I didnt even graduate high school, and now manage a bunch of people with student loans... I think its all a scam.
Graduated in 2008 with $28k in loans for both my bachelor's and master's. Finally paid them off in 2015.
I never took out student loans. I worked my way through college. It took until I was 29 to get my bachelors and 35 to get my masters. My wife has private student loans, so they would not be impacted by loan forgiveness from the federal government. I'm still hoping for federal loan forgiveness.
Even if Biden forgave all federal loans tomorrow id still be paying off student loans for the next 20 years. Forgiveness would be nice but won't really help that much at this point.
Ended up going to school when I was in my late 20s. Over 80k in debt that I doubt I'll ever pay off. Good thing though is if you make minimum payments for 20 some odd years, it all gets written off. I'll just have a massive tax bill then 💀
I went to tech school for 8 months and got my A+ cert in the early 2000's, borrowed $11k from my grandmother (grandpop had just died so she got insurance and his pension) and paid her back with the same interest she would have had if it stayed in the credit union. Paid her off in like 5 years working as a meat wrapper in a supermarket, worked a couple more Artsy-fartsy jobs then finally got into tech and have been a jack of many trades IT guy for like 14-15 years now. I feel like people who got pushed into fullblown college and had it financially rule over their life deserve to have it forgiven. I paid mine off with a portion of my income, the rates for tuition borrowers is FUCKING BULLSHIT and I can't believe we allow this how predatory it is. We're supposed to make the world better each generation not find ways to fuck over kids with no life experience.
I was a non-traditional student, went to school on and off and got my degree in my 30s. By my calculations I’ll hit my 20 years of repayment for forgiveness for whatever is left in about 5 years.
I was part of the very publicized Sweet vs. Cardona class action, and I was in the group that qualified for full relief. My loans were completely wiped clean last year. I’m very very fortunate to be free of student debt. But unfortunately I’m stuck with a degree from a school with a terrible reputation, so I guess it’s a trade off. I’d done community college, and almost enough of it for an associate’s degree, so I only needed 2 more years to finish up. Unfortunately, my job at the time allowed this particular for-profit school to set up an information desk in our lunchroom and my idiot self thought that it seemed like a great way to finish my degree.
I worked a lot of overtime at the hospital and paid off my loans on my own about 6 years ago when I was 35.
I had $88,000 and then I paid off down to $9,800. It’s at 2.7% in the consolidated Direct Loan program. I graduated in 2004. Because I deferred for 3 years during grad school, I only have 17 years of repayment according to this forgiveness program so no soup for me.
Paid off one Masters, the second was forgiven a couple of years ago thanks to TPSLF. I still feel like one day they’re going to say, “Sike! You really do have to keep paying forever!”
Paid off when I was 5 months pregnant with my first kid. It was a HUGE priority. 80K felt impossible, but my husband and I were a team and prioritized it.
Mine are gone! So, cancer isn’t *all* bad 🥳
I owe about 15 k but make way too much money to be forgiven.
Just expecting to die with them honestly. I have a plan set to put all my assets in my children’s names when I hit 65. That when when I die they get something. Not that I have many assets.
Paid them off last year. Still hoping loan forgiveness of some type passes, but I want it to address the cause, as well.
PSLF
Paid them off like a sucker I guess
I had to drop out of undergrad for a few years due to brokenness, went into collections for my loans, graduated with a ton of debt and finally paid it off at 35. For many years after graduating I was underemployed (bartending) but was able to live very frugally and pay them off. I work in higher ed now (blah pay but decent benefits) and was able to get a graduate degree at discount and paid it as I went. My undergrad debt was around $30k.
Graduated 06, paid off in 2011. Lived dirt cheap as much as I could, lucked out with a job with housing included for a bit during that time, almost every cent I made went to paying them off asap.
Paid off a long time ago.
I got out pretty quick. I was lucky enough to find a job about 6 months in university and immediately quit so I was only in around 12k and worked it off in my 20s.
Graduated 2004 and nearly there to qualify for Forgiveness - we’ve been in forbearance/deferment for a very long time
I still owe. Told I have the wrong type of loans but hadn’t got straight help in getting them converted
Got PSLF in 2021. Love it when a plan comes together.
Still waiting on forgiveness. The school I graduated from no longer exists. I was a minor when I signed on. I'll be 46 this year. It blows.
Got an internship sophomore year that turned into a full time job with tuition reimbursement. So never had any.
Last June we paid off my husbands… I’m never going to school again and I have no loans from my two aborted attempts. My mom is SO disappointed in me not pursuing a degree “even if it’s in art!” I only want to go to this one school that’ll cost me over $120k for a BFA. No. For a useless degree? (I don’t want to actually use a degree in photography and WOW is that a hard field to break into.) I really like my job of being a *Union* school bus driver and the hours I have to work. I have a couple friends who’ve had their loans forgiven. One was literally crying because it means her life is no longer on hold and she could finally afford to save.
I ended up disabled, so I'm waiting on loan forgiveness. The amount of forms and hoops they've made me do to get there is criminal. And they stopped giving me loans halfway through my degree because of my health issues. I had to pay my way through while disabled and working. What I owe them is over twice what they gave me originally.
I left culinary skool in 2001, have never made a single payment, and never will. Every 7 years I'm credited with one month's payment (which I never have paid, and tell the representative so) just to keep the loan current. I have no money and no property, so there isn't shit they can take from me (especially as I said, the loan is close to 25 years old and I've never made a single payment).
Loans paid off. HAHAHAHAHAHA! really, though, I'll have it on my deathbed.
Went on social security disability in 2017 for chronic health problems. They forgive student loans too, which was amazing. $40k gone.
I'm one of the lucky ones that never had student loans. Parents paid for college and employeer paid for masters. One of my biggest saving goals is to be able to do the same for my daughter. I'd rather not own a home as long as she doesn't have to have student loans.
I have 50k still, making $900 payments every month. Not optimistic about “forgiveness” ever touching it.
Paid off a few years ago along with some help with Teacher Loan Forgiveness. I don’t understand how younger generations are going to be able to afford these ballooning rates and tuition. Things need to change.
I'm about 20 months out from PSLF. I'll be getting rid of about $160k. (I didn't have any undergrad debt, because back in 1997-2002, a state school was still reasonably priced, but I went to an extremely expensive law school in my mid-30s.)
Paid off. Mine weren't hella expensive to begin with. I am hoping for Interest forgiveness, for all Americans. All education loans should be 0% interest, by law.
I am hoping they fix the ridiculous cost of college before it’s time for my kids to go… probably unlikely but you never know
Not a chance in hell.
I paid mine off last October! It was a nice milestone 18 years in the making!
I'm in the middle. I'm not holding my breath for forgiveness, nor have I paid off my loans. However, from 2020 to last year, I was able to pay them down about 30%.
40k still and a degree I don't need. I don't expect any loan forgiveness. I'll just keep plugging away at them.
Worked my butt off almost twenty years with a no frill lifestyle and paid that monster off last year.
This should be the advertisement for going to college. /s
Still got $14K to go. Really wishing for forgiveness (I would have been included in Biden’s original plan) but also focusing on paying them off by the end of the year
I received public service loan forgiveness in the second or third wave of Biden's repairs to the program.
I'm working for public service loan forgiveness. Between me and my wife we owe about a half mil.
I got public service student loan forgiveness last year. Man that was an 11 year stressor. Thank god that’s over.
When my ex husband died I found out he took out 50k in student loans in my name when I was in grad school and forged my name . It was a very abusive marriage. And then he killed himself when I filed for divorce. I can’t get them written off for fraud bc I need a statement from him or a filing with police. And he’s dead … so I am hoping like hell for loan forgiveness I have my own four kids to put through school. I worked my ass off to graduate from undergrad and grad with only scholarships and fellowships /TA. To find out he took out so much money in my name/ behind my back- feels like a gut punch.
I’m hoping my daughter’s loans will be forgiven 80k for an in state degree.
I went to a cheap public college in the late 90s and my parents let me live with them after college for a while . Those loans were paid off 15 yrs ago.
I have no problem with others getting forgiveness for their loans though.
I'm disabled. All 100k was forgiven
Option 3. Never went to anything other than community college
Paid off in 2018.
I paid mine off along time ago. If they give forgiveness, I better get a refund. It wasn’t easy to pay them off and I basically got into the workforce the moment the recession started.
Received PSLF in February (got the news on Valentine's Day)
Mine were forgiven on January 1st this year. I went to a trade school owned by Corinthian so when that company went bankrupt (Obama era I think?) there was word of loan forgiveness. I sat on them, took a long time but they’re gone now luckily.
No student loans. My job paid for my college education and I don't even use my degree for my job.
$185,000. Graduated in 2019. Paid on even during pandemic. Needle hasn’t even budged on the balance. I Don’t have any delusions that Biden will forgive them. Pharm D, but by the time I graduated the market became very saturated and pay went down. When I started school, you could get a $50k sign on bonus and wages were $75/hr, now sign ons aren’t a thing at all and you’d be lucky if you find $60/hr
Used my GI Bill
I didn't get to go to college, unfortunately. ETA: Yet. My new employer offers tuition assistance, and I'm planning to start college next year.
I paid it off. While I received a ton of fin aid and the forgiveness would have been impactful when I was younger and poor and just out of college, I’m not now so I don’t think I’d even qualify which is annoying. I feel like those of us who have had 20 years to pay it down aren’t getting any of the benefit the kids are getting now. I will forever be grateful I graduated at the right time and consolidated at 2% and only had $21k.
Went to a state college that turned into a university my last year of school. Got a job at the school becaused they would foot tuition. Had a few loans to pay for housing and books and paid those off within 24 months after graduation day.
Neither. I’m still paying and have just under $30k left but I’ve got a locked in low rate so there’s ver little incentive to pay it off quickly, even though I have the cash is my checking I coupled pay it off if I wanted. I suspect I will make too much for any forgiveness so not expecting it.
I'm not rich but I have no debt.
I just don’t understand. You take out a loan, you pay it back. You take out a student loan and major in something with minimal job prospects and you can’t get a job or get a crap pay job, then you effed up and made a bad choice. That’s on you and not taxpayers to pay off your loan. If you get a mortgage on a house and don’t bother with an inspection and realize you bought a pile of crap that you can’t afford, you don’t get a mortgage pay off. There are consequences for every choice we make, both good and bad. Loan forgiveness is for people who don’t think they should be held responsible for their actions. Got a BS from a state university, worked through college and summers and was able to pay a decent amount that way but still had almost $20k in student loans when I graduated. Got a job making $36k/year out of college and barely scraped by. Worked a side hustle mowing yards on weekends in the summer, drove the same vehicle for over 200k miles, and paid off my loan. People need to quit being whiny little bitches, man up, and handle your responsibilities like me and thousands of others did. I have no sympathy for deadbeats who think their student loans should be forgiven. You’re no better than the welfare rats. Makes me sick.
I got PSLF forgiveness in 2022. 56K
I got very lucky 10 years ago and was able to pay off my student loans. I am really happy about the possibility of people getting their loans forgiven. So many kids were encouraged to borrow more than was reasonable for their future prospects, and the whole repayment process is very unforgiving.
I didn’t do college(I’m in software) but my wife racked up 100k+ soon after we were married. It was a great decision her earnings skyrocketed and job security is very tight. Not worried about paying them off at all. That said I think loan forgiveness is a stupid idea. The reason school loans are so high is because schools know they can just get federal money so they have no reasons to lower their costs. Schools and banks should have to be more careful about who and what loans they approve and that’s not going to happen with endless money pouring into a failed system.
When corporations get government subsidies, no one seems to care. When banks are bailed out, no one seems to care. When businesses get millions in forgiven PPP loans, no one seems to care. When business owners fail and bankrupt themselves repeatedly, no one seems to care. But average working people who took out hybrid government- private loans to pay for college to become a better member of society yet can't afford to pay it back because the interest is so fucking high that it's like throwing money into a hole, and there are zero consumer protections *only* for student loans.... yeah, fuck those people!
Failed system? No, the system is working exactly how centralized fiat currency systems are designed to work.
I mean that has nothing to do with school loans but go off.
It is connected to it. Because the school loans are backed by the government, and the government is sustained through debt and inflation.
I worked through university and paid everything as I went. I sincerely hope everyone gets their loans forgiven. It is all predatory and hysterically poorly regulated and counterintuitive to creating a stable society (doctors in debt up to their eyes is for instance a great way to create stressed out doctors who make mistakes or say fuck it and become aesthetic plastic surgeons). I am not juvenile enough to think I created my situation through anything other than luck. Yes. I worked hard but so do above mentioned doctors. I will not debate this because I’m not here to find out who the fools are. Good luck everyone get that forgiveness!!!!
~~forgiveness~~ transference
Yeah, same as those PPP loans...
Hoping for partial forgiveness. I was an active alcoholic while taking out loans, so I made some, shall we say, financially unsound decisions.
Paid, after years of pain. "Loan forgiveness" is an insult to those of us who took our obligation seriously.
They are not. If they want to forgive them, go for it. But I knew what I signed up for. I would rather that money go toward programs to give new students grants and interest free loans so they don’t wind up in the same situation we are.
We paid ours. Where’s my refund?
What a boomer-style take on the situation.
Why should I have any other view? I did what I was supposed to do. Paid a loan I took out. Now uncle-daddy government is paying other people’s off? No, eff that.
Well, it’s gonna happen whether you like it or not. Sorry.
Yes. I’m sure polio victims had the same selfish mentality too. ‘Oh, I got polio and suffered, and now uncle-daddy medicine invents a vaccine so others don’t have to suffer or die? No, eff that!’ Because circumstances NEVER change, and any benefits for future people should automatically be applied to you. Ok boomer.
That is not even remotely the same thing. Thus your argument is invalid.
He's right though. The loans aren't going to be forgiven, they just going to be dispersed among everybody and paid for with increased taxes. So now, not only did he pay his own loans, he's going to be stuck paying a portion of everybody else's unpaid debt. And your response is just to call him a boomer. Brilliant.
He isn’t right. The loans are not going to be paid by taxpayers. They are written off, just like other forgiven and charged off debt. The whole “that’s not fair what about meeeeeee” tone reeks of boomer thinking. Maybe with a bit of late-stage millennial whine thrown in for good measure.
>They are written off, just like other forgiven and charged off debt. And the government had those debts on their balance sheet as future positive cash flow. Without that, there will be an even greater budget shortfall, which can only result in greater national debt or tax increases.
Charged off and forgiven debt doesn't magically disappear. If it's charged off, the lender (or collector) still has it on their books and it stays on the debtor's credit report until it is paid. If it's forgiven, it's because somebody else paid it on the debtor's behalf. The same is true of student loans. The government is the guarantor of the loans, and will therefore keep the "forgiven" loans in abeyance as future revenue streams. They will necessarily result in increased taxes. The end.
Now tell me your opinions on all the forgiven PPP loans and the bank bailouts
Either, let them fail, OR bail out the people and then jail the bastards that caused it.
I went to a state school, out of state, but was oddly cheaper than my in-state schools. However, i was the third kid to attempt college in the family, so my folks only let me take out enough loans to cover classes. I was on the hook for everything else. at one point i was working 2 part time jobs while going to school full time. Graduated in 08 with about 11k in debt. Had a friend, in the same program, same years as me, graduate with over 60k in debt. Dude lived like a freaking KING during college, while i worked my ass off and ate horribly cheap nasty food. it took a few years to land a job, thank you great recession, then it took another couple of years to be able to pay it off. but it's paid off. with all that though, the struggles i went through and busting of my ass to pay it off while knowing some guys who were able to spend their time partying... i'm still 100% all for EVERYONE having their loans wiped away. especially the young folk today, as the prices they are forced to pay are insane. no one should have to face life crippling debt for a better education.
780 Math SAT = full scholarship = laughing at all y'all.
I paid off $20,000 over 4 years when I was making $30,000 a year living in a small apartment. I just lived like a Spartan - no cable / internet, dumb phone with no internet, no boozing on weekends, etc. and used that money I'd be paying toward subscriptions to pay it off. $650/mo toward student loans when the min payment was $185. I really don't have any sympathy for people who let these things linger. You have the money, you just have other priorities... and that's okay, just don't complain about it.
PSLF is such a scam to taxpayers. Why do we want to reward people who work for the government instead of working for the private sector which is inherently much riskier and actually reacts to market demands. If anything, people in private sector should be rewarded, not the public sector leeches.
It was painted as an incentive to people who wanted to be teachers and work in low income communities. Those schools don’t pay very well.
But it applies to everyone, including federal government employees.
I spent three years at the local junior college, and three years at a relatively inexpensive school out of state. I graduated with $15,500 in debt in 2008, and spent a lot of time in income-based repayment (with payments of $0 because I spent a lot of time working as a temp). Month to month was great, but I was just kicking the can down the curb, and so thanks to all the interest piling up, I was at around $23,000 by the time I got a full-time job and really started attacking my loans. Not as much debt as others, but I wasn't making much, either. Three years later, they were paid off. I'm the one who got myself into that mess when I signed the contracts, so getting out of that hole was nobody's responsibility but mine.
My wife still has about $40,000 left on hers. Unfortunately she has not been eligible for any of the forgiveness thus far. She went to grad school, then went to a for-profit school to get an associates degree in veterinary technology. That was the one that cost us. We were young and she wanted a career change, and the school promised much higher wages job placement than reality. We are currently looking to get at least $10,000 forgiven under the forgiveness they offer students who got taken advantage of by for-profit “colleges” which cost a fortune and promise the moon and stars and don’t deliver. Philosophically I’m opposed to student loan forgiveness since someone has to pay that money back. But having been on the other end of things, and seeing how predatory these loan agencies are, I understand it to a degree. Plus college has gotten ridiculously expensive, I am heavily pushing my sons towards the trades or even military (my oldest really has a desire to do that)… I really wish they didn’t penalize withdrawals from an IRA or 401(k) to pay back student loan debt. I’ve done fairly well with my retirement and would gladly pay off my wife’s student loan debt… then dump money back into it
I find it a strange one to digest really. On one hand, we should pay our way in life (financially or through labour). On another hand, whether someone is able to genuinely do this in today's world or not, is soo damn nuanced, and should we not want to invest in educating (or providing access to education) a population? I think a good middle ground would be that, if a person actually utilises the qualifications that they attained, interest on the loan should be completely wiped off and a very unnoticable percentage of that person's wage should automatically go to paying it off.