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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.
The "Pay as You Earn" program will allow eligible student-loan borrowers to cap monthly payments to 10 percent of discretionary income, and have their loans forgiven after 20 years. An earlier version of the program capped payments at 15 percent and offered forgiveness after 25 years. Congress had scheduled the new program to phase in in 2014, but the Obama administration took regulatory measures to make those options available sooner. It's estimated 1.6 million borrowers could take advantage of the program.
To qualify, borrowers must have started taking out federal loans after October 1, 2007, and received at least one disbursement after October of last year. They also must qualify for partial financial hardship based on the portion of their income standard repayments would cost. The program applies only to certain direct federal loans, and not to private loans from banks and other non-federal lenders.
The program will set maximum monthly payments based on income and family size, which can adjust each year. Typically those monthly payments could be lower, though there are also possible downsides: By choosing a so-called Income-Based Repayment borrowers could end up paying more over the life of a loan, and they will have to submit documentation each year. Some critics have also argued the program could encourage students to borrow more than they should.
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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