Learn What Obama's Student Loan Plan Means for You

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I agree with Justin. I graduated with a degree in biochem engineering but could not find a job. Now I work two jobs (one fast food and one walmart) to pay off the money I foolishly got fronted to me.
You guys are lucky people can even bankruptcy. If it was up to me if you were hippie scum and don't pay back your loan you would have to work as a slave doing manual labor on the roads.

John of CO 5:04PM March 30, 2012

Justin's comment is naive and ill-informed, to state the least.

Steve of IN 3:16PM March 30, 2012

@ Justin (MT) - How do you expect someone to get a second job when most cannot even get one, let alone have the time to do it. What if you already live in a $100k home and only have one car of which is needed to get to work in the first place. It's also likely that if you are in the situation you don't have a budget for lavish meals anyhow. Think before you speak. This is not special treatment it is a benefit for those who need it; allowing them to pay their loans and still survive as an outcome of how the economy is at this point. This is not to say that people won't take advantage of the system but I for one am grateful for this and hope to use this additional aid as I don't qualify for any other. I suggest others look into it as well instead of going into bankruptcy or foreclosure as that obviously doesn't help the economy any more either. Thanks to my friend for showing me these new options!

April of OH 2:22AM March 29, 2012

suck it up and pay your note as you promised! EVERYONE faces hard times and there are no exceptions. Work a 2nd job, live in a $110k house instead of $200k, sell a car, eat top ramen...instead of putting your hand out and expecting someone to give you special treatment.

Justin of MT 4:33PM March 23, 2012

I AM 76 YRS OLD AND I AM STILL STRUGGLING TO PAY MY PLUS LOAN I TOOK TO EDUCATE MY CHILDREN. HOW ABOUT THAT? A SENIOR CITIZEN PAYING STUDENT LOANS
WHO IS GOING TO HELP THE SENIORS?

Ananda DeSilva of MO 12:19PM March 23, 2012

I owe over $100,000 in student loan debt (public and private) for a career as a pilot. I lost medical necessary to fly (utilize my education) and am now on disability. I have defaulted on these loans, and beginning next month my disability check will be garnished 15%. I am determined to get off disability, and am not classified as "permanently disabled." I cannot live on this income, and and I don't know where to turn for advice or help.

Amanda Hodo of MS 12:16AM March 08, 2012

Try suffering with ridiculous student loan payments for 20 some odd years only to find out that the only ones to get bailed out are the ones in the middle of the age of being "in the know". From the moment I got my first bill, which was more than I could pay back then. I have done my best to find ways to please the loan companies and follow their rules. My story is too long to write in detail, but I will outline.
When I could not make my first payments I begged with the student loan company and they told me I would go into default if I made a partial payment. Then I visited our state representatives office and his happy assistants laughed me out of there when I asked why I couldn't make partial payments. My only options were forbearance/deferment or default, so trying to please I chose not to default. What a mistake! My interest accrued alarmingly fast so I still could not make payments. I was always looking for the highest paying jobs just to satisfy my loan payment requirements. Then a popular suggestion from the loan company is to “better yourself” and go back to school! What a joke that was! Then after being laid off multiple times and sometimes working two low paying jobs things just got continually worse! I had to defer and forebear the loans on different occasions each time my loan grew and grew till I was paying a minimum monthly payment of over $400, which was all interest!
I even made the decision not to have children until I got control of the student loan and here I am in my mid 40's and life has passed me by and no children, no retirement and no home! In the beginning I was determined to pay the loan off if I had to die doing it and that is exactly what I'm doing! The student loans are slowly killing me.
I would love to learn what Obama is doing about archaic student loans for those of us who do not receive any benefit from his new provisions? I would really appreciate anyone who can point me to someone who knows anything about other provisions.

Aprylsnow of PA 7:32PM March 02, 2012

I think some of you should have taken a few finance courses early in your college career and it would have perhaps saved you a lot of grief. The lesson I learned from reading these comments which should have been common sense: don't accumulate $300K in debt in a field with poor job outlook and an average annual gross income of $38,000. You took the money, so did I. Time to accept responsibility for OUR choices. If you aren't working 60 hour weeks, you aren't trying hard enough.

Jacob of NY 9:29PM February 26, 2012

I owe 108,000$ in student loans. I am a teacher. The debt continues to grow faster than I can pay it down. It is a monster that is devouring my life.
Every month, Direct Loans sends me a new email with a different loan amount owed. Some as low as 400$ some as high as 800$. You never know. My payments never meet the amount the currently show. Meanwhile, I read about Obama's 15% of your discretionary income repayment plan but the Direct Loan operators know nothing about this. Nor are they aware that in 2014 it changes to 10% of your discretionary income. No one there is clear about what discretionary means.
Obama needs to find a way to help those of us who are already suffering because we made the mistake of going to school instead of running up credit card debt traveling and and having fun. The people who spent irresponsibly, well they get to declare bankruptcy and do it all over again within a year.

Barbara Cinque of NY 2:19PM February 23, 2012

President Obama is always preaching about Education and professional Education. Well, while it took he and Michelle 10 years to get out of debt, that was years and years ago. What about the professionals (physicians, lawyers, etc.) who owe private and federal loans and cannot get "BAILED OUT" -- President Obama you will get a lot of votes if you come up with a plan to forgive some of the debt professional educators have incurred trying to get jobs that they were sure would take care of them, their families and children. Not one bank that you BAILED OUT will do that. Think about the students who are working in their selected fields and come up with a plan to forgive them at least those private loans -- yeah, the ones financed by those banks you BAILED OUT!

Brenda Wilson of CT 7:01PM February 20, 2012