The Student Debt Crisis Is Driving Elderly People Into Poverty
47 replies, posted
[quote]WASHINGTON ― Student debt is forcing tens of thousands of elderly Americans into poverty, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.
The findings are startling. More than 110,000 senior citizens had their Social Security checks garnished in 2015 to pay off student loans they’d already defaulted on. Nearly 70,000 Americans over the age of 50 are living in poverty as their Social Security benefits are cut to pay off student loan debts.
Student lending is typically thought of as a millennial problem ― one of exploding college tuition costs and ruthless interest rates that took hold over the past 20 years.
But the GAO report ― requested by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) ― demonstrates that the debt hardship is shared across generations.[/quote]
[url]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/student-debt-elderly-poverty_us_58595c6be4b08debb78b2f2a?section=politics[/url]
you know something fucked up along the way when retirees are still struggling to pay off their student loans
i love that predatory collector agencies have the right to strip apart your paycheck, government given money, etc.
why do i live in this country anymore
[editline]20th December 2016[/editline]
my mother has all of her tax return refunds (as well as her husbands) completely drained by sallie mae.
Hasn't the loan situation gotten worse since then?
Hahahahaha holyyyyyyyyyyyy fuck, college really is a trap in the United States. And it's going to get worse.
There really is going to be a massive brain drain...
Not really brain drain, just the realization that college isn't all that it's cracked up to be.
I'm going to be a college sophomore going into my Junior year at the end of next semester and if I double my loans so far I'll owe ~36,000 by the time I graduate. However, if my loan amount each year keeps increasing as it did from last year to this one it will be more than that.
[QUOTE=Lone_Star94;51559078]Not really brain drain, just the realization that college isn't all that it's cracked up to be.[/QUOTE]
agreed, college isn't for everybody
I'm pretty glad I ended up not getting accepted to the college I've been wanting to. I don't want to be a part of these horror stories when I can just get a certification to prove I know more than what colleges "teach".
[QUOTE=Headhumpy;51559019]you know something fucked up along the way when retirees are still struggling to pay off their student loans[/QUOTE]
Fucked up along the way like losing their job or the economy taking a shit on them.
[QUOTE=BlackMageMari;51559065]Hasn't the loan situation gotten worse since then?
Hahahahaha holyyyyyyyyyyyy fuck, college really is a trap in the United States. And it's going to get worse.
There really is going to be a massive brain drain...[/QUOTE]
going to shoddy schools and not reading contracts to tuition/loans that you sign is also a contributing factor
I'm really fucking glad we've got public education here.
My GF has to spend a [I]single[/i] year in a US university and her fees are worth more than the entirety of what I spent for 5 years of post HS education (charges, rent and food included).
I do wonder with this kind of shit if anyone affected by this will simply snap and lash out at those they perceive as responsible. Sure is creating the perfect shitstorm for it.
I got a solution, raise College Tuition! :v:
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;51559234]Why are you going to college if you can't afford it?[/QUOTE]
Because like most people college is pretty much required.
[QUOTE=RenegadeCop;51559234]Why are you going to college if you can't afford it?[/QUOTE]
You do know that a very slim number of students can "afford" college, right. 36,000 is a reasonable amount of debt.
$36000 seems strangely tame, in the U.K we're looking at $50k+. I always thought tuition alone in the US was like 80k per annum for a fairly bad uni, going up to hundreds of thousands per year for a decent one. I was always amazed at how people managed to pay that off + interest + several hundred thousand more for a mortgage
After WW2 the US became the #1 world superpower. Why? The GI bill subsidized college nearly completely. We became the top manufacturers, producers, and became the smartest nation over the course of a few years.
and then we have 2016.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;51559123]I'm pretty glad I ended up not getting accepted to the college I've been wanting to. I don't want to be a part of these horror stories when I can just get a certification to prove I know more than what colleges "teach".[/QUOTE]
Gl but im working in and around people who did just that and out of college i skipped the 5-6 years it took for them to get to where I am and i have a better job still
I paid around 500euros each year for my architecture school. I can't imagine paying for school with money I don't have.
[QUOTE=GordonZombie;51559241]I do wonder with this kind of shit if anyone affected by this will simply snap and lash out at those they perceive as responsible. Sure is creating the perfect shitstorm for it.[/QUOTE]
na theyll blame those socialist democrats while giving more tax cuts to the rich
Best part: Have parents make no money? Get good grades? Go to some noname state university and you can get basically free. (In my case)
Oh, what's that? One of your parents you don't have contact with makes 50K a year? Enjoy your debt!
[QUOTE=Ishwoo;51559372]$36000 seems strangely tame, in the U.K we're looking at $50k+. I always thought tuition alone in the US was like 80k per annum for a fairly bad uni, going up to hundreds of thousands per year for a decent one. I was always amazed at how people managed to pay that off + interest + several hundred thousand more for a mortgage[/QUOTE]
$36k is like, state college costs. I'm looking at $90k if I go to an in-state (California) university for three years, more for an out of state college.
[QUOTE=bord2tears;51559423]Best part: Have parents make no money? Get good grades? Go to some noname state university and you can get basically free. (In my case)
Oh, what's that? One of your parents you don't have contact with makes 50K a year? Enjoy your debt![/QUOTE]
My parents were SLIGHTLY above Pell Grant and my counselor put me in classes that made me inelligible for state grants. So I got to see everyone around me going to my dream college while I sat around with scores better than most of the school.
[editline]20th December 2016[/editline]
The federal calculators "estimated family contribution" was more than our yearly income, thats the best part.
[QUOTE=MR-X;51559253]Because like most people college is pretty much required.[/QUOTE]
A lot of places will give benefits or outright favor new hires that have a two year degree over a high school diploma but these kinds of generations are a big part of why people get into debt in the first place. They feel like they have to go to school before they know what they want to do because it's "pretty much required" and end up wasting time and money.
It's incredibly ironic how most of us would be able to afford college much more easily if we were poorer than we are. The middle class gets absolutely fucked since they're too rich to qualify for financial help, but too poor to easily afford college.
[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;51559501]It's incredibly ironic how most of us would be able to afford college much more easily if we were poorer than we are. The middle class gets absolutely fucked since they're too rich to qualify for financial help, but too poor to easily afford college.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't even consider myself then middle class. We could barely afford much of anything due to the extreme bills and especially the predatory loans that we had to undergo for for example a lawyer that was completely wasted by a DA that was extremely corrupt to name one example.
Being screwed over is the job of the poor.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;51559393]After WW2 the US became the #1 world superpower. Why? The GI bill subsidized college nearly completely. We became the top manufacturers, producers, and became the smartest nation over the course of a few years.
and then we have 2016.[/QUOTE]
Man, it's like doing this again would be a brilliant idea.
But that's [I]socialist.[/I] Are you a fucking [I]pinko democrat liberal commie piece of shit?[/I]
I'm sitting at $60K in student debt. My monthly payments for the next 30 years sit right at $500. But hey if I ever make into medical school it will have actually been worth it. For now I'm stuck as a lab tech making $11 and making ends meet thanks my SO making into med school and also taking the plunge of student debt to pay for school and living expenses.
[QUOTE=Map in a box;51559393]After WW2 the US became the #1 world superpower. Why? The GI bill subsidized college nearly completely. We became the top manufacturers, producers, and became the smartest nation over the course of a few years.
and then we have 2016.[/QUOTE]
uh you might be oversimplifying things a bit
Meanwhile, we have elected a president who is likely to do absolutely nothing to fix this problem, so it will spiral and destroy lives for as long as he is in office.
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