I have a theory. We would ALL been better off borrowing $14,000 and put it towards a beater car, bills for a few months, good interview clothes, things that actually benefit my life directly. I borrowed $14,000 6 years ago and never saw a dime. I borrowed $14,000 to give directly to “the school” Atleast when you get a car loan you have the car to show for your debt. Most of us HAVE NOTHING to show for $14,000 of debt. And not because I didn’t do college correct, but because after 14 grand I still had nothing to show for it. I couldn’t afford to put another $20k into the same system that was failing me. So many of us got stuck in the middle, couldn’t afford to finish, and now have thousands of dollars in debt for NOTHING We don’t want to pay, and I think we shouldn’t.
I don’t know what to do. I looked through all the payment plans, but none of them work. And he just lied saying “ borrows who cannot pay won’t have it negatively effect their credit score “ FAFSA website says otherwise. $100 - $200 a month? My income is only 1,400 monthly. I have to be able to live. $200 is 1/7 of my income. I did not use $14,000 worth of services at my community college. The men at the top of the pyramid are making millions. It’s pure greed.
My written comments weren't addressed at this meeting, but hopefully they make their way to the proper channels, as I was assured they would be in the beginning of the meeting. In case they don't, hopefully someone from the DoE is able to read this and pass it along or address it- here was my comment and idea/suggestion: Is there any consideration for structuring how public service employees (and especially teachers, who are mightily underpaid in most areas) are given forgiveness/have their loans discharged under PSLF to be more like what is offered for military service? Often, teachers aren't able to pay the 120 qualifying payments on their meager salaries, leading them to have to take multiple jobs, in turn taking them away from their families. This creates a large amount of unrest and turnover in the industry, which harms student learning outcomes as a whole. My proposal is that rather than basing forgiveness/discharge of loans off of qualifying payments, it is instead done based on years of service in a public district or qualifying charter school. So, something like placing teacher loans in forbearance until after 5-7 years of service, at which point teachers have their loans discharged rather than having to make payments. This ensures that the government gets their use out of these employees, while the employees are also allowed to not feel financially burdened for choosing a profession of public service. There could even be a contingency where if a teacher leaves the profession or is terminated prior to that service window being reached, then their loans start back up like they would for someone in another industry and they're either given a small amount of forgiveness or none at all. Ultimately, I feel that stagnant teacher pay in this inflated economy is causing an enormous issue (esp post-COVID) and that this problem combined with the influx of other issues at school sites that teachers deal with daily may cripple the education system as a whole if it isn't addressed. If the government doesn't do something to ease the financial stressors we face (which can begin with student loan forgiveness/discharge plans), progress in the US as a whole may collapse within the next couple of decades as teachers exit the profession in droves.
