Teacher with $303,000 in student debt...

[freeloader]

At the risk of offending any of the teachers out there, I think that you can get a perfectly good BA/MEd at your local state university (all online) for a lot less than 200K (I'm guessing that the other 100K is interest).  I don't know that spending all that extra money to go to an elite school actually makes you a better teacher or makes you more employable once graduated.  I can only hope that she had a fun "college experience" because it seems clear that she's paying for it now.

Well, she isn’t really “paying for it now”. The original link is dead, so I found another version of this story. Not sure if it was in the one linked above, but it notes her $200/mo income based repayment has been on hold with the Covid-related pause. 

Depending on her income based repayment plan, she has to pay for 20 or 25 years. Let’s do some math: 12 payments per year of $200 is $2,400. If she has a 20-year program, 20x2,400 is $48,000; 25 years would be $60,000. 

I have this sinking suspicion her tuition was a lot more than $60,000 for her two degrees. So, more likely than not she will die with this debt (and the remainder will be forgiven/eaten by taxpayers) OR she will make her payments for 20/25 years…and the remainder will be eaten by the taxpayers. 

She says because of the pause in student loan repayments that she has $200 for gas and groceries. To me, that sounds like she is living without too much wiggle room in her budget. Paying $200/mo likely isn’t going to pay off her principle even if the interest is wiped out, but she says she wishes the interest will go away so she only has to pay the principle. IF SHE NEEDS $200/MONTH FOR BASIC EXPENSES, HOW THE HELL IS SHE SUPPOSED TO EVER PAY OFF THE PRINCIPLE???
 
The person in the article is 53. I think it would be really interesting to know a bit more about her life. Did she finish that BA 30 years ago?  When did she get her master’s degree in education?  How long has she been teaching?  Did she have unforeseen events (such as taking in a relative) that totally derailed her finances?

Without knowing some/all of those answers, it really is hard to get a sense of how justified this lady is in her displeasure/anger with the system.  It is possible she made choices which, while not ideal, were reasonable. If she got her teaching degree, say, 15 years ago and took on some debt to do it only to have to take in a relative unexpectedly, I am really sympathetic to that. Kids are expensive. If you have a fairly tight budget and suddenly have to spend thousands of extra dollars per year, unexpectedly, on a child, I get how you end up in a place like this lady. 

https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-tea...2022-5?amp

---

OH, the more I think about this article the angrier I am getting.

Of course this woman doesn’t have a second job. If she had a second job, her income based repayment amount would increase. She would basically be earning pennies from that job, as the great majority would likely go to her loans. She actually has a very strong DISincentive to get a second job.

Ok, so she has basically gamed the system. Whatever. We can debate the system, whether income based repayment is good or bad, yada, yada, yada.  BUT NOW, this woman has the gall to complain about the system WHEN SHE Is GOING TO PAY 1/5 OR LESS of her debt.  

People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, AND PEOPLE WHO ARE GETTING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS WORTH OF THEIR DEBT WIPED OUT SHOULDNT COMPLAIN THAT IT ISNT ENOUGH.