TSELF Youth Award

[tgirlzoe]

All the best for it Alyssa, we're all hoping you get it. You deserve it.

Is uni debt in America really that much of a killer? In Australia it's all subsidised under the government's HELP (higher education loans program), basically if you're a fulltime Australian resident with a tax file number you automatically qualify for a student loan which gets paid off once you start earning a specific amount.

Is it a similar sort of thing in the U.S? or is it a more cash up front, if-you-have-no-money-fuck-off, situation?

It's rather complicated situation, a mix of private corporations with government backing, direct loans and totally private loans. They all have different rules.

But if you default, which I did, it's very hard to ever get them to give you loans again. I'm working on trying to repair my credit now and pay off these loans. I owe about $15k. I'm sure I'll pay over $20k by the time it's actually all said and done due to excessive interest and fees.

[tgirlzoe]

You think subprime mortgages are a bad idea, you should see the default rate on student loans...

[SarahG]

All the best for it Alyssa, we're all hoping you get it. You deserve it.

Is uni debt in America really that much of a killer? In Australia it's all subsidised under the government's HELP (higher education loans program), basically if you're a fulltime Australian resident with a tax file number you automatically qualify for a student loan which gets paid off once you start earning a specific amount.

Is it a similar sort of thing in the U.S? or is it a more cash up front, if-you-have-no-money-fuck-off, situation?

Financial aid does not pay 100% for most people, and what you get depends on what your parents make (if you're deemed a traditional student), even if there is no way in hell your parents are going to help pay for it.

I haven't seen my dad in years, he wouldn't help pay for my college expenses if someone put a gun to his head... and yet they use tax records to use what he makes to count against what I can get in aid. Even my step dad's tax records are used against me, at least this is how my accountant explained it to me- and likewise he's only related to me by my mom's marriage, he isn't paying for my college education.

They will even count the students' income, savings, and other assets against them, for me it was cheaper to be a student and NOT work than it was to be a student while working... because I lost so much in aid from working (talk about fucked up gov policies...).

So I pay for it using loans. How'd it work? Depends on where you go to school, when I was going to this one private school it was costing me about $45k a year when it was all said & done (textbooks-$2k, tuition-~$30, expenses-~$2k, dorm room- 8k, food plan- 3k, everything else etc- rough estimates by memory). A state school would have been cheaper, a community college I probably could have done in cash if I were commuting (there were none in my area that had 4 year degrees so this wasn't an option for me). The private school actually worked out cheaper in the long run because I was getting about ten grand a yr in financial aid, 15 grand from the school (long story), and the rest was debt. A state school wasn't going to "give me" 15 grand to go there, and the amount I'd save by being in a state school was less than that 15grand.

It's easy to leave a 4 yr school, if paying just with loans, with $100k in debt. But I'm talking about the idea of taking out -even more- so that you can cover stuff like trans surgeries, which'll make any existing debt problem far deeper.

But its also not going to be an option for anyone who needs to use that full $45k/yr to pay for college Remember what they will lend you will be no more than $45,000 minus whatever you get from the feds. So if you get ten from the feds, and need 20 to stay in school- the most you can borrow from a private lender is $15k/year (for other expenses).

[Alyssa87]

thanks for all your well wishes and kind words everyone

[lupinIII]

Well, I guess that's the difference, whereas higher education in the U.S. is a highly diffused and diverse business with a lot more independent private institutions etc, not to mentio way more government schools in Aus it's a far far smaller enterprise with only a relative handful of government unis and even fewer private ones, meaning its much easier for the government to provide more blanket funding for people attending. I feel bad for the international students, they're ones hit hardest here since they aren't eligible for a lot of the government grants.

And the other thing, the interest that accrues on our student debts is relatively low compared to other debts that we will accrue such as home loans etc. so there's the old maxim here that your HELP debt is your favourite debt.

Sorry if I sound like I'm gloating, I really do feel terrible for what you've had to go through on top of everything else in your lives. It's a fucked up situation, no question.

[Thatiger23]

congratz Alyssa and good luck to you

[BrendaQG]

Wow great score. Way to go Alyssa.

Don't fall into the loan trap like I did. I'll be a slave until I win the lottery, or pay them off in 10-15 years.

[AsiaMei]

thanks for all your well wishes and kind words everyone

good luck mami =]

[Solitary Brother]

Congrads to you alyssa!

[tgirlzoe]

Financial aid does not pay 100% for most people, and what you get depends on what your parents make (if you're deemed a traditional student), even if there is no way in hell your parents are going to help pay for it.

That is one justification I had for dropping out. It would be much better for me to wait until I'm 24 to go back because then my parents' income doesn't count as mine. I figured I would pay my loans down a bit and go back when I turned 24. But I was unable to make a decent income (part-time minimum-wage is going to pay the rent but can't pay my loans) so I ended up defaulting which is a horrible, horrible mess financially. Avoid if at all possible.

So the first time when I would be eligible to go back to school would be the 2009-2010 year coming up because I'll be 24 then. But I can't because of my default. Anyway, like I said, I detest the academic system and I don't work well within it. I enjoyed college life for what it's worth in terms of openness and personal growth. I don't believe I really learned anything of any importance or use there, especially not something worth $15,000. If you want to use it just to have the shot at getting a higher paying job, which is what universities are selling these days, then it's a very risky gamble but if it's worth it to you, then take it.

To me, it's not a big deal whether I make $15,000* a year or $50,000. If I made $50k, I'd just end up spending more and probably have a higher-stress job. If you live smart, then you can make $1200 a month like me and still have money left over for the little luxuries in life like buying plenty of $2.50 beer and $5.25 chocolate bars and finding plenty of clothes at vintage and consignment shops. No, I'm not able to get surgery or buy a house, but I'm still kicking it and it's a lot better than when I was homeless. I just feel that had I done things differently, I would have not gone to school (I didn't want to, my parents expected me to but they couldn't pay for it either) at least not right away.

Also, if you want to make money, you don't have to go to college to do so. You just have to have an interest in that sort of thing. I went to school to be a teacher, and that usually requires a degree, but the educational college at my university is very competitive and I've seen friends go through it and it's not my style, even if I could get into it. I'm not sure what I'd do if I went back but probably something rather business-like and traditionally masculine -- probably computer science major with math minor so I can actually design algorithms smarter rather than just doing whatever is most straightforward. I could pursue a computer job now and probably make over twice what I'm making now but I have largely lost my interest in programming.

Do what makes you happy.


* - I gross $18,200 and net about $15,600 of that. I don't do anything under-the-table, so that's the whole of my income. It's livable if you know how to live.