So you want a variable rate only if interest rates are below what you're paying, but you want it to be fixed if interest rates go above what you're paying, right?
There is nothing unfair about your situation. Everyone is allowed to reconsolidate once after they finish their education. You took that opportunity. You could have waited, and reconsolidated later. So YOU screwed YOURSELF
And I'm curious why you think defaulting will get you a lower interest rate . . .
You've gotten the chance of a lifetime, to have the government pay for you to go to school to study anything you want, for any amount of time you want. And not only that, but the government will loan you the money at a discounted rate. And get this, they'll even pay the interest on a portion of your loans while you're in school and during your residency! And you're upset because your interest rate is a few points higher than someone who took out those loans at a time when borrowing money was cheaper. Yeah, it sure sounds like you're getting screwed. You should just default and have the working class of this country (i.e. taxpayers) make it up to you.
Sorry if I sound harsh, but your sense of entitlement is really irritating to me.
While I, as a taxpayer, don't want to pay for a default, I have to say, I'd rather pay for education as a whole than a useless war!!! In addition, I feel that, investing in education is the only way we can remain competitive in the world market and I am troubled by the fact that our federal and state governments do not understand how important it is for our future that we provide qulity education to EVERYbody.
In my observation, rich, entitled people (like you?) neglect the fact that MOST people in the US, even if they are intelligent, are CUT OFF from quality education at ALL levels due to money. I think that may be because rich, entitled people (like you?) THINK that everybody has the same opportunity you had, because you ignore certain FACTS!!! Sorry if I sound harsh, "but YOUR sense of entitlement is irritating me." You sould just like the trust fund kids that I went to school with! You seem to completely dismiss the reality of those that are less fortunate, and worse, BLAME them for their own situation!!!!
First, you imply that there were choices available in this situation that probably were NOT! For example, you say, "you could've reconsolidated later". How do you know that? In my case, I waited as long as I could, but the interest rates during the real estate boom were so high for so long, people really couldn't wait it out. There is only so long you can wait to reconsolidate! Also, just because Greenspan lowers the prime rate doesn't mean in "trickles down" to PRIVATE borrowers!!! Often when you reconsolidate, your interest rate remains variable, AND (MOST IMPORTANT) capitalizes EVERY QUARTER!!!
Second, what is wrong with wanting to secure a new interest rate when the prime drops if you have the credit to do so? Isn't that what homeowners do when they refinance? Isn't that what you do with your credit card and car insurance companies when you've established yourself as "low risk"? Why is it that you are only allowed to consolidate and "refinance" your student loans ONCE, and then, if interest rates drop after then, you are locked out forever unless you pay a penalty? No other loan is locked in like that. In fact, many I know refinanced their homes, at a FIXED rate that DOES NOT capitalize to pay off their student loans. Why is it that student loans are offered at WORSE terms than any other loan?
Also... why is it that student loan debt is EXEMPT from bankruptcy? I think that the companies that hold your loans don't negotiate with you because they know they don't have to! Credit card companies will work with you because they know that they will get nothing if you claim bankruptcy, yet student loan companies will not compromise because they know that the debt you hold with them can NEVER be written off (unless you become disabled and destined to live below the poverty line for the rest of your life!)
Third, the government is NOT loaning you the money!!! The goverment is only "co-signing" the loan! Only a person that has NEVER HAD to borrow money to pay for their education would think that the government is actually PAYING for anything! They may pay for interest on a FRACTION of your loans (if you qualify), but this amount is NOTHING when compared to what ALL other "first-world", modern, nations provide! Once more, you (me) are DISQUALIFIED from receiving financial aid if your parents make "too much", yet they are not required to actually GIVE you any money!!!
Think about this for a minute. In the global economy of today, the ONLY advantage the US has is in INNOVATION. Due to unions, we can't manufacture products at a competitive rate or quality. Due to poverty, we can't supply cheap labor. All we have going for us is our ability to create cutting edge ideas in science, computers, medicine, and the like. Yet we do not FUND public education!!! Our ONLY way of remaining competitive is to stay SMARTER than the world competition, but we continue to allow only the rich, the super smart (Asperger's?), and the super poor to access and afford the best of higher education.
The "taxpayers" SHOULD be paying more for education! Not just because EVERY OTHER FIRST WORLD NATION does so at a MUCH HIGHER rate already and we should keep up with norms, but also because it is the only hope for our economic future!!!
"Sorry if I'm sounding harsh..." but I think that you might have discounted the importance of funding education at this point in our economic future AND made certain assumptions regarding opportunity that were (are) not really available to everybody.
IMNSHO, being a "doctor" implies that you seek, above all, not to cause harm. When you BLAME others for conditions created by their social environment, you not only cause harm, but you also block any REAL healing or growth that could take place. The ideal of "no harm" is best reached by saying, "above all, I will not judge others, but try to see their point of view and give them new options and hope".
In my experience, change does not happen through shame and blame, it happens through understanding and finding mutual ground. Long ago, I gave up on focusing my energy on political change in favor of individual change because I realized that EVERYBODY is doing the best that they can with the resources they have available. I realized that people blame others because it gives them the FALSE illusion that, given the same circumstances, THEY would have been able to avoid the same fate. This is NOT TRUE. PLEASE, check yourself and show some empathy! How you treat others is a better sign of your personality than how you judge them!
