Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Former students of for-profit college declare a repayment strike on their student loans:http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/student-loan-recipients-go-on-repayment-strike-face-default/ar-AAafuwjFrom the article:WASHINGTON Sarah Dieffenbacher is on a debt strike. She's refusing to make payments on the more than $100,000 in federal and private loans she says she owes for studies at a for-profit college that she now considers so worthless she doesn't include it on her resume.The "debt strike" sentiment is catching on.Calling themselves the "Corinthian 100" named for the troubled Corinthian Colleges, Inc., which operated Everest College, Heald College and WyoTech before agreeing last summer to sell or close its 100-plus campuses about 100 current and former students are refusing to pay back their loans, according to the Debt Collective group behind the strike.They're meeting Tuesday with officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent government agency that already has asked the courts to grant relief to Corinthian students who collectively have taken out more than $500 million in private student loans.The Education Department is the group's primary target, because they want the department to discharge their loans. A senior department official is scheduled to attend the meeting.Denise Horn, an Education Department spokeswoman, said the department has taken steps to help Corinthian students, but is urging them to make payments to avoid default. The department has income-based repayment options.By not paying back their loans, the former Corinthian students potentially face a host of financial problems, such as poor credit ratings and greater debt because of interest accrued.The former students argue that the department should have done a better job regulating the schools and informing students that they were under investigation.This speaks to the larger problem of For-Profit colleges who milk students for the maximum they can get in student loans while providing what may be a substandard product for those funds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I hate to tell you, but there are quite a few legally non-profit institutions where similar things are going on. Some of their former students may be trying this soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Ormond,That wouldn't surprise me at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sologdin Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 striking against third party creditors doesn't make the greatest sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercenaryChef Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I know people who refuse to pay their culinary school loans because of the fraudulent claims that got them enrolled. $80k in debt late and holding the skills and experience to make $12 an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 so they made a series of bad decisions, leading them to have a worthless degree and $100,000 in debt and now they continue to make bad decisions and refuse to pay the debt they agreed to repay for a worthless degree. makes perfect sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddington Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 so they made a series of bad decisions, leading them to have a worthless degree and $100,000 in debt and now they continue to make bad decisions and refuse to pay the debt they agreed to repay for a worthless degree. makes perfect sense. Guess a lot depends on how that bad decision was made. Being defrauded isn't a bad decision on the victim of the fraud, an also for $100,000 I'd be expecting some quality. That's a non trivial amount of cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Guess a lot depends on how that bad decision was made. Being defrauded isn't a bad decision on the victim of the fraud, an also for $100,000 I'd be expecting some quality. That's a non trivial amount of cash. There is a difference in $100,000 in debt for attending medical school and coming out a doctor, with the expectation of earning $250,000 and going $100,000 in debt for a liberal arts or a "business" degree with the expectation of earning $30,000 to $40,000. If you are earning a degree, you should be able to do basic math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 FE,I don't believe these are Med students making these complaints. I think these are people coming out with generic BA's or BS's then discovering their degrees are essentially worthless after encumbering themselves for the equivelent of a house payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madness Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 The problem is one of accredidation and actual experience. But I'll just let explain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Scot, of course these are not medical students. that was the point of my comment. The people who put themselves $100,000 in debt for a generic degree from a university that people go to when they couldn't get into a decent university, well, they put themselves there. I dont feel bad for them a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 FE,I see where you are coming from and, respectfully, you are ignoring the problem of fraud and information disparity between the contracting parties here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 If they can prove the schools defrauded them, then sure, go for it. But if the schools were on the level about what was being offered, then these are people who made a bad decision and are trying to weasel out of the consequences. I'm aware that there are for-profit schools that have been shutdown for fraud, and I certainly think their former students should have their loans forgiven; but I'd be surprised if all for-profits were lying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frog Eater Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 FE,I see where you are coming from and, respectfully, you are ignoring the problem of fraud and information disparity between the contracting parties here.there probably was an information disparity between the parties. the students probably thought that they were going to be better prepared and qualified for jobs. every school can brag about a selection of students that land great jobs, but the majority of students who graduate from for-profit schools dont land these types of jobs. They chose to attend the school, they need to repay the loan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanteGabriel Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Higher education is being run like a bubble-building scam. People who sign up for bad loans from bad schools bear some blame, yes, but let's not ignore that an entire industry is doing all it can to whip up demand in order to hoover up eager "customers" with easy (too easy) access to cheap credit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempra Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I am more sympathetic to those who hold large amounts of private student loans. For those with federal loans, there are a host of income based plans that cap payments to 10-15% of your income and even total debt forgiveness for working 10 years in the public sector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Summah Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 I think it's quite probably the case that higher education is in a bubble right now, and that people who went to these for profit schools are some who are feeling it badly right now. In terms of the fraud, I've seen ads for these for profit schools and have seen what they say, they are definitely attempting to mislead people in order to get them to enroll. My state university never made promises like that, or any promises at all. Moreover many of the people I know who have attended these for profit schools are the first the in their family to go to college and frequently attended high schools with very poor guidance counseling. I'm not sure how people in this type of situation are supposed to know how fraudulent the claims are and how much the loans (especially private loans) will hurt them in the future, because we're all told that the only way to get ahead is to go to college and many jobs that shouldn't require higher education now require bachelors or at least associates degrees, I've seen receptionist positions advertised that require a bachelors, which is absolutely ridiculous and will probably not pay well enough to make student loan payments. Because it's in a bubble and tuition and fees have gone up so high (in general, not just at for profit institutions), so have the average amount held in student loans. Personally I have student loans (all staffords and perkins) that I can't pay (because I'm disabled and cannot work), and they are all either in income based repayment (for 0) or in forbearance/deferment. However all the unsubsidized loans (and maybe some of the subsidized) keep accruing interest that is added on to the principal, increasing the total amount I owe. I have looked into having the loans discharged due to disability and while I most certainly qualify based on the criteria I saw, I have had a great deal of trouble getting information and especially getting the correct forms and who to send it to. And I have nowhere near the amount of debt as many people who attended for profit colleges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bronn Stone Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 The fraud occurred when those schools lied about placement rates, and misled about graduates salaries.Some of these students should have shown greater judgment, but their judgment is no worse than those who bought $300K houses in outer Podunk County and could walk away unscathed after bankruptcy or simple foreclosure, depending on state law.The greatest crime of all is a society that doesn't spend enough to educate them in the first place. Investing in the future of citizens should be the #1 priority of a government, and is among the better-run nations of this planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Greenleif Stark Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Have you no honor?If you put your mark on the paper it's your responsibility to follow through with your end of the bargain. It's not like the bank sought these students out and forced them to sign up for the loans. These students(or anyone for that matter) should take responsibility for their actions. Can I go on strike with my bank over my mortgage payments? Either figure out a way to make your payments or take the black, Night's Watch cab always use bodies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Scot A Ellison Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 TGS,If there is fraud in the inducement honor doesn't really come into it. I say that as someone who has paid back all their student loans. If they applied for the loans based upon fraudlent information that should factor in their liablity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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