Forum Post: Thank you, President Obama - Student Loan Reform
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 26, 2011, 5:38 a.m. EST by Justice4All
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I have an embarrassing 100k in student loan debt. I was the first generation in my family to attend college. I received a full scholarship for my undergrad degree, and my employer paid for my M.B.A. However, my J.D. - killed me, financially. Worse, I have not been able to obtain a full-time job since graduating from law school [EDIT: as a cautionary tale, those law schools reporting over 90% employment are simply not telling the truth]. It is the first time in MY LIFE that I have been unemployed, as I have always worked my whole life since Junior year of high school. I stopped working while preparing for the Bar Exam (Illinois), and I was not able to find a job (legal, nonlegal, etc.) since.
The key features of President Obama's plan: (1) reduced monthly payments; (2) payments cannot exceed 10 percent of income; (3) loan forgiveness after 20 years; and (4) effective January (correct me on this if I am wrong).
Believe it or not, while earning my M.B.A., I managed property and over 200 tenants. When I started law school, I moved back with my parents to save on expenses. I never thought I would get stuck in my parents' house, and it is quite embarrassing and humbling. I know that this job market is much (much) worse than people think. I constantly network, door knock, pick up the phone and cold call, offer to take partners of firms out for lunch, etc.
Anyway, I would not inject myself so much in a public post, but this issue is so very important to me.
Thank you.
School, the largest creator of indentured servants known to man.
I agree. I had a nasty situation with my mother when she let my stepfather kick me out as soon as I turned 18 - since I wasn't his kid. So I put myself through college and grad school and worked at the same time. I had some scholarship money because my grades were very good. But I had to take loans out to pay for my housing year round since I was on my own. After ten years of working I was laid off when the company I worked at got bought out. I tried nearly everyday, door to door, webpage to webpage to get a job. If I managed to get an interview I was told I was an excellent candidate but too overqualified - which translates to, too expensive to hire. So I went back to school to try a different field. I will end up having nearly 80K is student loans when I am finished. And it will take me the rest of my life to pay it back, if that. There should have been financial aid in existence to help a kid in my situation. I got a little bit of aid, but in fact, not having parental support - they didn't claim me on their taxes and declared me independent - actually hurt my chances to getting financial aid. Student loan help would be huge for so many people.