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Feds: New student loan repayment options set

0bserver92 said:
The Conservatives said they would cut healthcare and their popularity was in freefall till they said it was a mistake and they promised not to. Cutting healthcare is practically throwing you and your party out of a really high window.
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Reality is going to be a bitch either way....
 
RLWSNOOK said:
Not sure what you mean about insurance, hospitals have to have insurance as students are working there already....

So this does not increase the amount of insurance any hospital would need...

But a hospital is able to see more patients when students are there, largely because they make students do the grunt work, making the doctors work more efficient, and requiring less staff in terms of nurses or residents... All I'm saying is tuition for medical school should go down during this period, as hospitals are able to make more money while students work for them.
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The more responsibility a health care worker has, the higher their insurance costs are to the hospital, as a business. Add in untrained, and watch it skyrocket.

It's not entirely responsible for the high costs, no...but it's a factor, I'm sure.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Well, it's one of the, if not the biggest budget item for most developed nations.
It's always going to have a bulls eye on it for cuts in hard times.
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Here it didn't since like I said it's suicide. Most people would rather cut anything else. Even when they cut refugee healthcare, lots of people protested against it.
 
KevinKohler said:
The more responsibility a health care worker has, the higher their insurance costs are to the hospital, as a business. Add in untrained, and watch it skyrocket.

It's not entirely responsible for the high costs, no...but it's a factor, I'm sure.
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I'm not asking for the responsibility to change, I'm asking for the hospitals to subsidize the free labor they are getting... And to be fair I think they (the hospital) are paid... I don't think they should be paid to have someone work for them...

I'm with you on insurance costs being a big part of why health care for say you or I is expensive. But I"m not talking about this. These hospitals already have insurance to cover these students working for them. I'm asking that the hospitals, who ask these students to do pretty much exactly what a resident does, I'm asking for them to subsidize their cost for this time period by roughly $20,000 a year... I don't think that's too crazy of a request.

Would it cost the hospital sure it would. But it would also drastically reduce the cost of becoming a doctor, and allow students to choose primary care or fields that might not pay as much...
 
Gonzo Rodeo said:
This tells me there is an imbalance in the market. Too many people getting too many degrees in things that don't have a great enough need. If there was a greater need for those degree holders, the market would bear a higher salary for them. In theory, anyway.



The ability to leverage the entirety of one's future is how universities get away with such exorbitant fees. Coupled with government subsidizing pretty much ANYONE who wants to go to college, and the idea that literally "everyone should have a degree", we have ended up with a fairly stupid system of higher education. The simple fact of the matter is that not every job requires "skilled" laborers (skilled implying training one can only receive through college). In turn, we dumbed down our regular public education system just so as not to blackball anyone who wants to try at a degree, regardless if they have the intelligence or wherewithall to actually earn one.

Want to make college cheaper? Get the government out of the game and let the market take over. Make the system competitive. If schools had to compete for students (and their money), the fees could not be so ridiculous.
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I agree with this. I think this will become another bubble to burst. Last time we were in talking to our banker, she said that since the government has taken over the student loans tuition has practically doubled. How can that be???
I also think students are going to college and getting degree's in things that are not marketable. I think we need to go back to getting more trade school degrees.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Private school, is practically not worth the cost, it seems, unless you're going to Yale, Harvard, etc.

But lord, $250k....insane
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I have a daughter finishing up pre req's now, and will start Nursing school in the fall....You guy's are scaring the **** out of me....
 
j-mac said:
I have a daughter finishing up pre req's now, and will start Nursing school in the fall....You guy's are scaring the **** out of me....
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BE SCARED. My wife will be paying between 450-600 a month for the next 25 years of our lives, due to student loans, through Sally Mae, the worst there is. Be scared.
 
j-mac said:
I have a daughter finishing up pre req's now, and will start Nursing school in the fall....You guy's are scaring the **** out of me....
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I just finished re enrolling in my local tech school to do my pre req's, the cost is not even remotely close to the prices being quoted here.
I might finish, with $10k in debt and that's a stretch.

Seriously, tech school is like $1k a semester, which is pocket change comparatively.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
I just finished re enrolling in my local tech school to do my pre req's, the cost is not even remotely close to the prices being quoted here.
I might finish, with $10k in debt and that's a stretch.

Seriously, tech school is like $1k a semester, which is pocket change comparatively.
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Whew! I just talked to her, and she is going to tech here as well...She figures less than $20K.....ooooof...big relief.
 
RLWSNOOK said:
I think though, that interest rates for say a medical student could be lower than that of a college student... Just a hunch but I'm willing to bet those who make it through 4 years of medical school are likely much much more likely to repay, than those who make it through 4 years of college... 6.8% in today's market is very high...

It's a hard career, so many people assume that doctors make a lot of money. They don't. My wife will finally start making around 45,000 for 3 years during residency... Hardly the $300,000 the calculators say she needs to support that type of loan payment we will have... And even when she gets through residency, it's likely she will only make $100-120,000 which sounds like a lot, but not with the debt we have taken on and the fact that we want to have a family. But she loves pediatrics (that's what she is going into) and likes taking care of people so she isn't too worried about the money. It is hard when people just claim doctors are rich.... That we can pay doctors less. As clearly they have no idea...
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I agree there is a misconception that all doctors are rich. Not to mention they have to work many hours, which are often unpredictable, and people are sick and injured 365 days a year. That means holidays are rarely guaranteed days off. My father in law works with doctors for his profession and he did not advise any of his children to become a doctor. I really think you have to want to do that and I think the doctors are the ones who will lose money under Obamacare. It is depressing to think about.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
Private school, is practically not worth the cost, it seems, unless you're going to Yale, Harvard, etc.

But lord, $250k....insane
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The actual amount she borrowed was a much lower amount, but the interest gained over the years almost doubled the amount she owed.
 
Green Balls said:
The actual amount she borrowed was a much lower amount, but the interest gained over the years almost doubled the amount she owed.
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Well, I think that sucks, but at least she finished.
Best thing that she can do, is pay extra, if possible, to reduce some of the interest.
 
Just a side thought here....You know what would be a good course that community collages could offer a course study on budgeting, and running a household to include saving for retirement, and how finances work, as well as paying off debt.

It would be a positive way to shift the thinking of people that now still feel that sort of 'I want it now' attitude that is destructive in this country toward personal savings rates, and the health of a service based economy.


Just a thought.
 
wolfman24 said:
The point is to allow low income people to attend college not just the middle or upper class. And if you read the law you would know there are still penalties for defaulting for the student.

Sour grapes.
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That's not the point at all. This legislation does little or nothing to expand opportunities for "low income people."
 
Taylor said:
That's not the point at all. This legislation does little or nothing to expand opportunities for "low income people."
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Not from what i have read. the payout time is beneficial to that end.
 
There have been some misconceptions thrown around here.
Let's start with the bachelor's degree.
The basic bachelor's degree is defined by law to have about 120 to 130 credit hours,
with breath and depth requirements based on it being a BA vs a BS degree.
Most of the courses are the same curriculum weather at State U or Harvard.
In the early 90's the governing boards standardized the curriculum's to ease transfers.
The people you meet in class may be very different the the materiel covered, not so much.
As to the cost, let's look at say a Engineering Professor.
Phd, 20 years experience, to hire one you need to offer at least $60K (this is a little low, but makes my math easier)
So Joe Professor is required to develop and teach 3 classes per semester, 6 per year.
Each class cost $10,000 in salary alone, move the number up to $15K for benefits and overhead.
$15K / 30 students/3 credit hours = $167. per credit hour.
A full load (15 Hours) has a cost of goods sold of between 2500 and 3500 per semester.
Most Universities offset this by hiring adjunct professors at about $2k per class.
The point is, if the tuition is under about $4k per semester, it's not that bad of a deal.
So if you as a parent can send Johnny or Sally to get a bachelor's degree for $32K paid for over 4 years,
it is not a bad deal.
The Jobs that result from even a humanities degree, can be earned back in the first few years.
The delta over a career is huge.
In my mind the degree is more important than the where, it gets their foot in the door.
After that they have to prove themselves.
I paid for both of my kids to get bachelor's degree, and do not regret one penny, one of the best investments I could have made.
Education is one of the few things you can give your kids, that no one can take away!
 
Be leary. The amount they write-off is counted toward income in the year in which it is written off. So if you have $60K outstanding and cannot pay the taxes on an extra $60K in income that year, say hello to the IRS collectors who will be lien-slapping and bank account hijacking and garnishment-filing fools.
 
Green Balls said:
My fiance was going to college for Pharmacy, but she was kicked out before she could start her residency due to a professor who had it out for her. She also didn't have the $40k to do her residency since she was maxed out on student loans. She then went to another college and graduated with a nursing degree and discovered while in that program, there was an error in her financial records and she did qualify for more student loans. In total, for 10 years of college, she ended up with $250k in student loans.

A program like this would help her out immensely, but 90% of the loans were taken out before Oct 2007, so she doesn't qualify. Student loan assistance needs to be expanded for others in her situation. We've ran the numbers through all sorts of online calculators and her monthly payments in total are between $5k and $7k depending on the site. There is no way she is able to repay these loans. She didn't choose to drop out of the Pharmacy program, she was forced out. Some sort of forgiveness should be granted for her situation, but that will never happen. She'll be paying on these loans the rest of her life. It's a crock.
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I'm a P1 in a pharmacy program right now, my debt will probably be around $250,000 when I graduate.
 
Hatuey said:
Feds: New student loan repayment options set - Yahoo! Finance

I never went to university. My job could be pretty much be classified as a 'skilled trade'. I'm not worried about being replaced by somebody else. That said, I find this to be a good idea regardless of whether you're a Republican or Democrat. People work their asses off trying to repay off school loans from careers which simply don't pay what was invested in them while at the same time struggling to pay off house bills etc. Essentially, I think universities are OVERPRICED for the jobs which people acquire once out of them. As one musician put it:

You pay 150K just to earn 50K a year.
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I don't think this is a terribly good idea - this sounds instead like a great way to subsidize non-productive degrees. Little Johnny should be getting urged to major in technology or business, not basket-weaving-themed-poetry.
 
Most degrees are only important because the government says they are.


What's more important...the degree, or the knowledge supposedly gained?
 
KevinKohler said:
Most degrees are only important because the government says they are.


What's more important...the degree, or the knowledge supposedly gained?
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What? The government doesn't say they're important, the market says that.
 
j-mac said:
What? That Boo made that argument? He absolutely did.
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I've asked you for a source 3 times now. This is the third in case you haven't noticed. Source?
 
j-mac said:
What? That Boo made that argument? He absolutely did.
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What I said and linked for you was that budget cuts, state and federal, did lead to tuition increases. We also talked, and linked, private colleges preying on students, running up costs and contributing to higher costs as well. But he's asking for links. Surely you can use the same links I did, or just link him to mine.
 
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