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"We did what we were told to do and 'followed our dreams,' but we are now trapped by what was meant to be an investment in our futures, not a noose.""Obama's recent student loan 'reform' has done nothing for those in default, or those of us with private (bank-backed) loans through Sallie Mae, Citibank, and so on."
"If we default, we cannot rent or buy homes, or even find jobs with the 60% of employers that check credit. Our professional licenses (i.e. nursing/teaching) can be revoked. And with the fees assigned to defaulted loans that double the amount owed, getting back on one's feet is nearly impossible."
"Not only would voluntarily defaulting do nothing to solve the underlying problem of out-of-control student loan debt, but defaulting can result in any number of detrimental outcomes, including, but not limited to the consequences listed above."
Today's crisis spread from for-profit institutions to others. However, former ones represent the worst problem. Students complain they're mislead. Lawsuits charge fraud, deception, doctoring attendance records, or offering near-worthless degrees.
As a result, their students are twice as likely to default. Among baccalaureate candidates, only 22% succeed in six years. At non-profit private schools, it's 65%, and at public ones it's 55%.
According to American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers associate executive director Barmak Nassirian:
"Mainstream higher ed can really self-righteously look at the big problem out there and say, "The problem lies with the other guy.""But there are all kinds of unfortunate practices in traditional higher education that are equally as problematic that are reaching the crisis point."
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