Oof ouch owie

Don't worry, lenders must assume some risk, that's why we use bankruptcy -

Oh, right.

How do you rack up 500k in loans without telling your prodigy that they better do something with it or else its going to fuck everyone up? Like if they didnt go to become lawyers or surgeons then they essentially self sabotaged their entire family.

They garnish your wages!

The only way that could conceivably work out is if everyone collectively protested their student loans together since it's such a massive problem for so many people. Even then, the government would probably buckle down and try to destroy half the country's financial viability before they caved and admitted this toxic industry preyed on kids that didn't know what that debt meant when they signed up for it.

Apply for the SAVE income driven repayment, you could possibly end up with a $0 payment. Plus there is an “on-ramp” for 1 year in which you’ll be accruing interest, but you can not make payments without falling delinquent. Which is only recommended if you expect your financial situation to improve significantly within the next year.

First of all, I’m not in the US so I can’t say anything about how it works there, I only know the rules that applied to me (I live in a small European country).

If you can’t afford to pay your monthly payment, you submit an income statement. If they agree you make too little then they either lower the monthly amount or don’t have to pay at all, depending on income. If your income increases you have to start paying again. The payments (if you can afford it) are so that the loan is paid back in 15 years. After 15 years whatever is left of your balance is forgiven. The loan also had a 0% interest rate. Also, part of the loan would be converted into a gift if you managed to graduate within a certain time frame.

don't forget to add some stanky interest on that principal

College is very expensive in the US, with the average “in-state” school costing $26K/yr for someone who lives on campus and $56K/yr for a private institution. Since a majority of undergraduates are teenagers with virtually no savings, they take on loans to pay for college. Also unlike traditional loans where you can declare bankruptcy, these loans are very difficult to get forgiven.

There obviously a lot more to it, but that’s the gist in three sentences.

It's a way to force an 18 year old into a life of indentured servitude under the guise of "financial assistance" by simply clicking accept on a couple online forms, only for 40% of them to end up working jobs that don't require a college degree in the first place.

So back in the mid 1900's in the USA tuition cost a fairly reasonable amount (about 8-10 percent of a minimum wage income could be budgeted for school, depending on which one you went to) but from 1970-2020 we saw an explosion of college tuition that didn't match inflation/CoL/income.

So now in order to budget for a public state school you need to allot about 40% of your minimum wage income for tuition. OR you can sell your life to the military and potentially die that way (if you're even medically able and willing) in addition to the previously mentioned "go into debt until you're 60" method that we currently use.

Somehow, while costs have been skyrocketing the quality of schooling has been going downhill for awhile now as funding gets reallocated to the things that make the most money which is just sports essentially (also why it's so damn expensive.)

It's a loan made of public money that universities seem to think is an open faucet and upcharge a ridiculous amount for tuition.

It's a loan like any other loan to help with or completely cover the cost of attending college/university. The main difference is that there are certain regulations that lenders are supposed to follow. Loans are needed because there are schools that are tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars per semester and it's all but impossible to pay for out of pocket for the vast majority of students.

the average US public university is about $11,700 for tuition. that doesn't count room and board if you are staying in a dorm in campus. private universities are much more.

Lots of Americans are insecure and are convinced that they need to go to a $7,000/semester University or they're a failure. For many, it's entirely possible to get a good education without ever paying a dollar through scholarships (provided either through the state or private parties). I graduated with two bachelor's last year and was paid about $12,000 per semester in scholarships refunds for attending a lower-cost, but still accredited, university.

Where have you been the last 3 years?

I mean, we weren't forced into it. We were just told we'd be homeless (or some other stand in for poverty) if we didn't.

Now a lot of people with loans are in poverty because of them. We weren't forced into them is only technically true.

Most jobs that pay a living wage now require you have a degree, or HR won't even let you interview.

It is a requirement, and the cost of college has increased much faster than inflation.

Being forced to take on a major loan to have a decent job is something people should complain about.