School: Brooks Institute and Dowling College - 2010, 2011
Student loan balance: $380,000 combined
The Harden-Stones don't believe they will ever earn enough to pay off their student loans.
Heather (on the right) got her masters degree from Delphi University in environmental studies in 2010 after an undergraduate degree in anthropology from a private college in New York. She works as an environmental scientist and still owes $80,000 for her entire college education.
"I really had no idea of the true cost of college. I just signed what I needed to sign and had no idea how much in loans I was taking out," she said.
Lisa, left, racked up most of her $300,000 in loan debt from going to Brooks Institute, a top school for photography in California. Upon graduation, she discovered she'd never make enough money from photography to pay her loans. So, she got her MBA in marketing from Western International University and recently got a full-time marketing job.
"I just got caught up in the whirlwind of borrowing and borrowing and borrowing just so I could graduate," she said.
NEXT: My music school cost me $183,000
Name: Kellen Kleinfelter
School: Berklee College of Music - 2007
Student loan balance: $173,000
Kleinfelter plays the electric bass guitar, getting a professional music degree from one of the premier colleges for contemporary music study, and racking up $183,000 in student loans.
After graduation, he owed monthly payments of $1,400 to the lender Sallie Mae. But Kleinfelter couldn't make a single payment, because he didn't earn enough at the music warehouses where he worked moving boxes at $7 an hour.
The lender hounded him. "They'd call three or four times a day. They were very tough. I'd try to diffuse the situation with humor. I offered them a kidney. I asked if there was a mop I could come push at Sallie Mae. But mostly I'd say, I don't make $1,400 to give you."
Eventually, he got a job doing information technology support engineer for a tech company. He now pays about $700 a month after Sallie Mae worked out a new monthly payment based on his income.
"I pay more in student loans right now than I do in rent," he says. His parents co-signed his loans, which is another burden he feels. "It's the most depressing thing. I can't even off myself, because then the debt goes to my family."
NEXT: Moving in with parents to pay off $86,000
Name: Courtney Umhoefer
School: Ohio State University - 2011
Student loan balance: $86,000
Umhoefer went partly to the University of Wisconsin and Ohio State to get her degree in consumer financial services.
She now has a job helping financial advisers with research and trades at a small wealth management firm. But with monthly student loan payments of $950, she has about $400 left over each month for rent, food and other basics.
After living on her own for two years, she has recently decided to move back in with her parents to save money.
"I'm not saving for my future.
I can't see myself having children or getting married or saving for a house. I feel stuck," she said.
NEXT: 11 years later, debt still tops six figures
Name: Samaiyah Robinson
School: Seton Hall University - 2002
Student loan balance: $107,000
Robinson launched her career at Merrill Lynch after getting a degree in business administration. She believes the degree has helped her land jobs easily. So, even though she owes $900 a month in loan payments, Robinson doesn't regret going to school. She currently works as an executive assistant at a big pharmaceutical company in New Jersey.
As a college student, Robinson said she had no idea about the consequences of borrowing so much.
"I feel like I probably won't pay these student loans off in my lifetime, but I've got a degree from Seton Hall and it looks pretty good on my resume," she said.
NEXT: Turned down Ivy League school
Name: Joshua Morss
School: State University of New York, Buffalo - 2007
Student loan balance: 0
As prestigious as an Ivy League education might be, it's also expensive. So, despite getting into Cornell University, Morss decided to turn down the opportunity because it was going to cost three times as much as his other choice, the State University of New York at Buffalo.
His parents supported the decision and paid his instate tuition bill.
"It was almost a no-brainer. An Ivy League degree might have helped with networking opportunities," Morss said.
His advice for students: "Do everything you can to avoid student loans, because it hangs around forever."
I liked this comment:
What a lot of people are missing is the fact that our society essentially forces everybody into a college degree. You are forcing an 18 year old that has zero work experience (outside of a part-time job doing remidial tasks) to choose where the rest of their life is going to take them. This is the portion of your life where you will go through more changes than ever. You will change mentally, emotionally, and physically at least as much as you did during puberty. You cannot expect that anybody at this time knows where there life is heading.
You are telling these children, who aren't even old enough to drink, that they must invest tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars on a guess for what their future will hold. As these articles show, most students can't even balance a check book, let alone fathom what 100k in loans will do to the rest of your life.
This is a problem with our society. We have absolutely no direction through high school. Hell, 75% of high school students are still absolutely positive that they will be playing professional sports in 5 years. Parents and teachers don't teach their children the negative aspects. They only focus on the diploma at the end of the 4+ years. When did somebody sit down and tell them that they will be paying $1000.00 dollars a month in student loans when you can buy a house for half of that?
We can also blame our businesses. They see college as the training days of the workforce. They aren't willing to invest the resources to train their people anymore. That's why you can't even get an entry level position now-a-days without a 4 year degree or 4 years in the field. It's entry level! Clerical work that you need a degree for? Really?
I have two bachelors degrees. My first from a State University in Biological Sciences and Secondary Education. The second from an online institution in the Science of Technology. I have been through it all and I shudder when I think of our future. I am also a teacher and know where our education system is heading. We should really look at changing things and fast.
Topic: Student Loan Horror Stories (Read 4203 times)