School Loan Warning -- Any Government Regulations?

I don't understand why people don't utilize community college for the first 2 years of college. If you are not getting Financial Grants/Scholarships, going to and paying for a 4 year university doesn't make sense.

 

I have read a lot about this being the next bubble that is going to burst and looking at the numbers I can't help but think that it is true.

 

Here's a question. I'm a recent grad who's been working for about 6 months now. I have a very small student loan (~13k) as part of my financial aid package at Rice which is a combination of Stafford and Perkins spread over 5 banks (eek) which I don't understand for such a small amount but I digress... 6 months has passed and the grace period has ended and have to start paying back. I have enough money saved to pay it off at once but should I do that? I hear advice from others that since it's such a small loan and the interest rate is pretty low, I should stretch it out and build credit but I'd rather not be in debt and pay it off at once and not owe any money.

[Lebron voice] What should I do? [/Lebron voice]

 

Personally, I would pay it all off at once if I could and find other, cheaper ways of building your credit. If you can quickly get out of 5 figure + debt, then do it.

 

Depends on what you are going to do with your $13k and the interest rates on your loans. If you are just going to let that cash sit in your savings account and you have enough beyond that for emergency purposes, than paying it off is a better use of the money. If you think you might need that kind of cash soon, I'd just make regular payments.

 

Most people don't realize this, but its really about connections. If you go to a top tier school, you are there to get connections and obviously good grades.

Connections lead to better opportunities, so make friends with every Nerd/Geek possible, because one of them is going to launch some sort of Google company and you can be there to cash in.

 

Northeastern is far from being a no-name school.

 

Thanks for posting, that's very interesting.

 

word....I did this, but I had to pay for college myself as we weren't rich growing up...I'm a believer in this as you have a vested interest if you pay for it yourself...but I digress...

Back on topic...WTF?! $200K for a stupid sociology degree?

 

I'll second this. If you're investing your excess cash in something that is currently paying a higher interest rate then what the student loan people are paying you, you should probably stick with that. Or, if you're going to continue to be engaged in need-based financial aid schemes and need to make yourself appear as poor as possible, keep and enlarge that debt as long as you need it. Otherwise, just get rid of it. No need to micromanage your credit. Pay your bills and debts in a timely way and your credit will be fine.

 

One of the things to consider is that student loans can not be wiped with bankruptcy I believe. Which makes it a much safer lending option for banks.

 

UHD all the way. No debt and graduating in may.

 

If the government is going to overspend somewhere, education is probably the place we should least worry about.

 

granted, it's for a business degree, but no shortage of advice in this thread to just go to the best school and worry about the cost later. Interestingly, it was advice to NorthEastern too. $50K base cost per year for a 4 yr program will put you in that kind of debt . That's before spending money and books....

Crazy....but easy to see how one can get in such a bind.

 

Working in higher ed, I can say that students need a hell of a lot more financial counseling too especially when it comes to student loans. I think maybe 1-2 courses should be added as general education requirements.

I hear students each semester, and most of the them are from low-income backgrounds, where they brag on how much of a refund they get back after tuition, fees and books are paid for yet they never take the time to think about the massive amount, plus interest, that they will have to start paying pack several years down the line. That's why I am glad I work in higher ed too and can participate in the Direct Loan Consolidation program. Pay what I can for 10 years and then the rest is forgiven.

 

Why didn't she goto Umass? Umass isn't that great, but it's on par with Northeastern and really cheap. So she picked Northeastern because of the campus location and maybe all her friends went there. Her parents messed up by not educating her and by not having a 529.

 

i can agree to a degree, but why is it up to her parents? If her parents aren't rich, or anyone parents aren't rich, they probably don't have $$ to put into a 529 plan. IMHO, the children need to help pay for school and not rely on their parents, like its an entitlement...

 

There is no good place to waste money. You can send a hundred people to community college to learn real skills for that kind of money.

 

that was to New York University for finance. Which is a very different case than northeastern for a business degree. NYU finance grads are some of the highest paid people in the world fresh out of college so that is one of the few situations where paying the extra money may have been worth it over state schools like UT or TAMU where starting salaries for business students average around 45k

 

oops! I thought this post was from the original poster and found the NorthEastern connection interesting. But even so, nobody asked him about his drive, focus, ambition, class standing, or financial means. Just -- it's the best school -- go for it. No real consideration if he's not ready and might flunk out -- or won't be in the group getting the big bucks (for an undergrad no less)

With tuition what it is -- especially for undergrad non prof degrees, it's just too easy to get into crazy debt -- and so much pressure to do so...