On July 1, interest rates on federal Stafford student loans are set to double from 3.4% to 6.8%, and lots of lawmakers in Washington seem to agree that the rates need to remain low, they can’t come an agreement on how to pay for it, meaning millions of students could be caught in the crossfire — and millions more could be added to the spreading ocean of student debt.
In an effort to put a face to the issue, our cohorts at Consumers Union’s DefendYourDollars.org recently asked people to let Congress see just how much you owe on your student loan by sending in photos of themselves holding up messages to lawmakers with the amount still owed on their student loans.
The collected images are being added to the slideshow at the bottom as people submit them. If you’re interested, pose for a (family-friendly) photo with your student loan and e-mail it to photo@consumersunion.org.
“Lawmakers care what their voters think,” writes CU. “Put a human face on the cost of a college education now and send a strong message to your elected officials.”
By submitting my photo to photo@consumersunion.org, I authorize Consumer Union to post my photo online. I verify that the image is of me, shot with my knowledge and permission. I understand that I am to receive no compensation for the use of this image. I give Consumers Union the right to use my image for the purposes of education, promotion or advertising the advocacy work of Consumers Union.
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These people that have been paying their loans for 10+ years that started with below 100k are likely making the minimum payments, or differed their payments. The smart ones borrow as little as possible and make above minimum payments..
I’ve been paying the minimum for years. You see you’re not the smart one. My interest is at 5.25% so you have to look at the extra money to see where it could go. Right now you can deduct up to $2500 in interest which is the entire amount for many people. If they’re in the 25% bracket that effectively makes their interest about 4%. If you take into account 3% inflation the real cost of borrowing the money is 1%. Now would you rather that money go there or towards your retirement where the historic rate of return is closer to 8% (5% after inflation)? So I say pay the low interest debt last and make that extra money work for you. That’s the really smart thing. The same goes for your mortgage and low interest car payments. If you can’t be the stock market (over a long period of time) then put it in there.
$0 because I don’t take out loans I cannot afford.
I just took a look… I owe… $112,255.45 and pay about $1,300 a month.
and have been for about 5 years now…
:X
Why do you pay so much? That seems high. Are these private loans? Or are you trying to pay things off more quickly. I owe 21K and I’m paying just over $150.
Yeah its dear old Sallie Mae. :X
I owe 17,500 and i’m a teacher. I hope to get the federal loan forgiveness to pay that off, but that is after 5 years of teaching. This isn’t bad, and I really do feel that people with thousands more in debt are the reality today.
$127,000 in the hole for me.
Zero dollars. Since you cannot pay off zero, I will owe this amount for infinity +1.
If that makes anyone feel bad, I do have other debt.
It seems to me the main reason there’s so much college debt is that so many schools are in an arms race of sorts to have ever-increasing revenue, so they constantly raise prices for that reason alone and not because it really costs that much more. And when it does cost more, it’s often because other schools are putting upward pressure on the prices. They’re doing it, so we have to, too, or else we look cheap.
Ultimately something is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you don’t pay, somebody else will. Now raise the price. Do they still pay? Raise it more. Repeat until they won’t pay any more.
How about they also hold a sign showing how much extra life time income their college education will bring them?
Education is a voluntary investment that pays off if you do it right.
No pic, but I owe about $15,000 still on a $19,000 loan I took out in 2000! I’ve conceded to the fact that I will be paying on this for the rest of my life.
Oh, and the kicker? The classes that I took were NOT official Microsoft classes that I was lead to believe they were. I received no certifications, nor was I able to take the certification tests. The classes basically did nothing for me or my career. It was a joke and I’m still paying for it.
Absolutely zero. I’m lucky enough to be from the Isle of Man, which due to the insane cost of fees and the resulting lack of students choosing to go to university and then bring the knowledge back to the island, pay the fees if you acheive the necessary grades.
Breakdown of my college debt for those interested…
The Loans: $364k (this is with their added interest)(the government website lists my total as 374k, my servicers combined list it as what follows, what is the real debt? who knows..)
1. San Jose City College, 2 years, Administration of Justice -> 7,608
2. San Jose State University, 2 years, Philosophy -> 17,853
3. Santa Clara University School of Law, 3 years, J.D. -> 285,222
4. Santa Clara University School of Law, 1 year, LL.M. -> 52,692
Cost of living while going to college: $268k
Rent (1,300) Utilities (250) Gas (200) Food & Misc (for 2) (850) Internet (100) Phone (for 2) (200) Vehicle Payments (400) (only until 2010) = 3,300 a month / 39,600 a year, x 7 years of school (-when car paid off) = $268,000
Medical Costs: $40k
PTSD stress ground teeth into nothing since returning from Iraq, teeth not covered by VA unless you are 100% disabled, 3 root canals, every tooth crowned, rolled into SCU Law J.D. school student loan.
Cost of the Actual School Units: $156k
SJCC -> Almost zero, books cost a few hundred, but the classes were around $5 each.
SJSU -> Same as SJCC, thanks to Pell and other grants
SCU J.D. -> $1,400 per unit x 86 units -> $120,400
SCU LL.M. -> $1,500 per unit x 24 units, – 17k from new GI Bill -> $35,983
Income: $98k
10 months as a security guard at 11 an hour x20 a week – taxes = $7,935
10 months as an army reservist E-5 with 6 years in, ~275/month = $2,750
DKF Veteran’s Scholarship (5k a year, 3 years) = $15,000
Robert N. Chang Transfer Scholarship (3.5k? for 2 years) = $7,000
Old GI Bill, $1,300 x 40 months = $52,000 (what I served 4 years in the Army expecting)
New GI Bill, $1,868 x 8 months = $13,488
Cost of Living (268k), Medical (40k), Units (156k) = $464k, – Income ($98k) = $366k student loan debt (plus 11k on credit cards)
Once I had my J.D., and over 300k debt, I already hit the maximum I will ever pay monthly on my student loans (unless I got a really really high paying job); the system encouraged me to go ahead for another year of post-graduate education, and interest rates do not factor, at all, into my how much I will be paying off on my debt (if I only make 90k a year, I will end up paying $337,500 on my $364k loan)(at most, making $140k a year, I’ll pay ~$530k total over the 25 years).
I would have worked more, but keep in mind I was having surgery and/or was injured every year from 2005 through 2012 (chest cartilage injury, hip surgery, tonsillectomy, septoplasty, near totaled car accident (hit & run), totaled car accident (causing long lasting neck and back injuries), and 18 months of major dentistry where most of my teeth were just exposed nerves covered in a thin plastic casing).
7 years, 4 degrees, full set of crowns -> $375k debt
Which of course was supposed to be nested to my comment on the first comment, and not made into its own comment at the very end.
Before you take out student loans, you need to research what your education will cost, VS what you will earn when you enter the working world. You need to weigh this out. I’ve seen people rack up $100K in loans, for a job in a field that just doesn’t pay much. So Think!