Thanks for clearing that up. It is true though, isn't it, that the banks that made these loans in the past will be protected against loss by the government? I certainly agree it is a worthwhile program in general despite the occasional poetry major who, try as they may, is unable to make good on their loan and must die to wipe the book clean.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2010-06-09-bankruptcy09_CV_N.htm interesting article with explanation of what debts can and cannot be discharged in bankruptcy
All I want to say is the best quote ever in relation to this topic is in the movie "Good Will Hunting". In all seriousness it had a profound impact on my life.
Well, my economics studies told me that: 1. Subsidize something and the supply increases 2. Increase the supply and the price falls Therefore subsidizing college increases the number of students but reduces their average earnings.
With all your respect I doubt you have a MBA. You are invited to discuss in my post: http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=201544
From the article: "Under the bankruptcy law, filers can protect their summer home and yacht, but they can't protect their primary residence..." What kind of bullshit is that!
I put myself through school, always had a part time job while I was away at college, and a summer job at home. At one point I had a full time summer job doing mostly data entry P), a part time job working the meat counter at a grocery store and another part time job doing landscaping at an apartment complex - all three at the same time. I'm clearly a sucker - I worked my butt off to pay for school. Much better to take out huge loans, party my brains out then b!tch about the greedy lenders.
I took out big loans to go to grad school. I had a great time. It was far easier to go to law school than work a full time job... which I had done for two years. I went out at night after studying. I bought a used motorcycle with my loans And when I got out in 1991 - the economy just started to suck. To me and all my fellow graduates it looked like I would never pay back our loans. Eventually, we all did - to my knowledge. It may have taken 5-15 years but we did. So my advice is suck it up, go find an industry you are interested in and work for peanuts at first. Its still america... hard work, honesty and talent are frequently recognized.
Back in the 90s, engineers used to get ridiculed by the supposedly cool people who studied gibberish like psychology, poetry, drama etc. They would spend large, while we would put down our desires for having fun. I used to think that there parents must be rich, now I know that they were just taking student loans. This kind of education was getting people good jobs, even better than engineering for decades. So, these people were studying stupid stuff and making big money. Many of the top executive have degrees in psychology, history etc. But the music stopped and these people who thought they could get one of these easy degrees and still make 100K+ are now left holding the bag. These poor students need compassion and not ridicule. Their parents did not guide them well.
these students did not work hard enough to be engineers...(neither did It.) Every single one of us going out for beer while our friends in engineering and pre med were studying their asses off knew the choices we were making. I had no compassion for myself or my friends or the people with student loans now. You can still find a way to apply yourself and make some money even in this economy.