A student loan is only "cheap" if you will actually be able to get a job in your field of study when you graduate that will pay you enough to both repay your student loans and have a life.
In California many food servers and bar tenders have degrees in law, social work, psychology and chiropractic which are all dead end field with increasing unemployment rates.
With For Profit schools selling degrees in law, psychology and chiropractic on every street corner this has become a huge problem/scam.
Upwingerof CA2:20PM July 11, 2010
You seem to definitely have most of the definitive comparison sites on there. One that I've found is very helpful to me is the Loan Comparison Tool at Privatestudentloans.com.
Here is the link: http://www.privatestudentloans.com/compare/
It has most of the top lenders, so it was super easy for me to compare them at a glance and find what I needed. My financial aid counselor actually recommended it to me since I didn't receive enough federal loans.
Anyway, thanks again for the great list!
Jake E.of MA4:51PM June 25, 2010
Hi Peter: Bankruptcy courts currently treat federal and private education in the same way. They are both equally difficult to discharge in bankruptcy. The only difference is that federal student loans now offer income-based repayment and public service forgiveness. So students have more repayment flexibility and hope for relief with federal loans. Read more details about the rules for borrowers who get into financial trouble here: http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/paying-for-college/2010/05/03/new-hope-for-debtors-struggling-with-student-loans.html
Kim Clarkof DC2:56PM June 21, 2010
www.TuitionU.com is another source that shows many of the low cost credit union private loan options
David M.of ID1:37PM June 21, 2010
This is a very helpful summary of tools available to students seeking deals on private student loans.
With regards to the bankruptcy provision...I wonder if this might inadvertently steer borrowers away from the federal loan program and towards the private loan programs? If a student is aware they have a discharge-able loan with the private loan but not the federal loan, might it spur some students to pick the private loan over the federal loan for that reason? If so, it will be important for the department to differentiate the repayment/deferment/forbearance options when marketing the program.
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Upwinger of CA 2:20PM July 11, 2010
Jake E. of MA 4:51PM June 25, 2010
Kim Clark of DC 2:56PM June 21, 2010
David M. of ID 1:37PM June 21, 2010
Peter Carroll of MD 1:07PM June 21, 2010