Bankruptcy wipes out student loans

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

aSagacious · Jul 17, 2011

Sorry, life doesn't work like that.

BillySimmons · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

I think we've just solved the problem of all of our student loans! bingo!

Eric01 · Jul 17, 2011

I guess if you took out a personal loan from a loan shark of an amount of 250,000 you could.

But you might get some visitors in the night.

CodeBlu · Jul 17, 2011

I am no economist... however I have a deep appreciation for economics and finance.

Businesses must remain solvent to keep the economy flowing. If the large businesses fail... the economy fails. However, while I don't agree with bailing out big businesses all the time while their CEOs are banking millions and the general populace suffers.

In general if you file for bankruptcy you can clear SOME of your student loans if you show undue hardship etc.

Take a read over this... yes I know it's wikipedia. But it's the future!! hahah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_Education_Opportunity_Act_of_2008#2008_reauthorization

NickNaylor · Jul 17, 2011

Student loans are one of the few forms of debt that can't be discharged through bankruptcy normally.

Nice thinking though.

pancakesyrup · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

No.

NightGod · Jul 17, 2011

NickNaylor said:
Student loans are one of the few forms of debt that can't be discharged through bankruptcy normally.

Nice thinking though.

This. If you can manage to get personal loans and use those to pay for college than, yes, it would work. Good luck finding a bank crazy enough to do so, however.

swamprat · Jul 17, 2011

not student loans from the government

CodeBlu · Jul 17, 2011

NightGod said:
This. If you can manage to get personal loans and use those to pay for college than, yes, it would work. Good luck finding a bank crazy enough to do so, however.

No bank would EVER do this. They employ actuaries to sum up your life in a formula.

Instead of trying to cheat the system... how about you work hard... pay off your loans like everyone else does. Don't spend crazy money on a Benz or a BMW, live modestly. Pay your loans off and be done with it.

THAT SIMPLE!

autotroph · Jul 17, 2011

NickNaylor said:
Student loans are one of the few forms of debt that can't be discharged through bankruptcy normally.

Nice thinking though.

Came here to say this.

Perrotfish · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

In bankruptcy individuals can discharge almost all kinds of debt: motrgage debt, credit card debt, gambling debt, whatever. However, due to a series of recent political misadventures, there is one kind of debt that cannot be discharged in bankruptcy: student loan debt. That's why you need to be so careful about taking out student loans, until the law changes they're a life sentence. There are a few other kinds of debt that can't be discharged as well, like court ordered payments in a criminal case (not sure about civil). There are also certain assets that you are allowed to keep even during bankruptcy, like IRAs, so it's good to know squirrel away some moneys in those safe investments just incase the worst was to happen.

BTW, GM is a wierd choice if you wanted to give an example of companies cheating the bankruptcy system. If ever there was a company that legitimately needed to discharge its debt, it was GM. This is a company that makes a real product, that provides jobs for thousands of skilled blue collar workers across the nation, and without the protection of bankruptcy it would almost certainly have needed to close its doors.

futuredoc15 · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

There is one way to get out of your loans described here:
Student loan fugitives

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Carl, a Florida native now living overseas, is afraid to move back to the United States. That's because he can't afford to pay his student loans.
Carl (who doesn't want his last name used) stopped making his $450 monthly payments after his family incurred some unexpected medical expenses, and his $55,000 private loans went into default. That's when the phone calls from debt collectors started, and Carl decided not to come back.
"It was made clear that if I ever came home, I'm screwed," says Carl.
Today, he estimates his private loans are more than $70,000. Though he hopes to move home one day, for now, staying abroad is the only option he can see.
"If it means I have to live in exile from friends and family...well, that's the breaks. So be it. But I won't put my family in a situation where they are afraid," he says.
More here:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/23/pf/college/student_loan_fugitives/index.htm

docelh · Jul 17, 2011

if it weren't that way, interest rates on student loans would be higher.

Do you want to pay higher rates to pay for the actions of your irresponsible classmates?

aSagacious · Jul 17, 2011

Perrotfish said:
BTW, GM is a wierd choice if you wanted to give an example of companies cheating the bankruptcy system. If ever there was a company that legitimately needed to discharge its debt, it was GM. This is a company that makes a real product, that provides jobs for thousands of skilled blue collar workers across the nation, and without the protection of bankruptcy it would almost certainly have needed to close its doors.

+1. Not to mention they already paid back their gov't loan, with interest.

Perrotfish · Jul 17, 2011

docelh said:
if it weren't that way, interest rates on student loans would be higher.

Do you want to pay higher rates to pay for the actions of your irresponsible classmates?

Interest rates wouldn't be higher for everyone, student loans would just become like every other loan: the lender would assess the chance that you would actually pay your debt and your interest rates would be adjusted accordingly. For people who are extremely low risk, like medical students or engineers at public schools, the interst rate might actually go down. Meanwhile loans for degrees that almost never pay off, like private university music majors and Chiropractic degrees, would become impossible to get at any rate of interest, so the crap instituions that provide them would be forced to either lower their prices or close their doors.

pancakesyrup · Jul 17, 2011

The student loan industry is an oligopoly, and they LOVE the fact that student loans cannot be discharged. Most consumer protections have been removed by politicians, and yet the lenders are still able to get away with 8%+ interest rates. It is simply a matter of time before debtor prisons make a comeback.

Medicine4Bruhs · Jul 17, 2011

Interestingly, in the past year, student loans (both public and private loans) have surpassed credit card debts as the leading contributor to national debt. It is also increasing more rapidly than CC debt as Americans are paying down their CC debt more and new CC regulations and all.

I also found this compelling (schools with the most student debt per graduate):

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes.../14/10-medical-schools-that-lead-to-most-debt

More fodder for the DO/MD argument.

CodeBlu · Jul 17, 2011

Medicine4Bruhs said:
Interestingly, in the past year, student loans (both public and private loans) have surpassed credit card debts as the leading contributor to national debt. It is also increasing more rapidly than CC debt as Americans are paying down their CC debt more and new CC regulations and all.

I also found this compelling (schools with the most student debt per graduate):

http://www.usnews.com/education/bes.../14/10-medical-schools-that-lead-to-most-debt

More fodder for the DO/MD argument.

Lots of osteopathic schools top the list...

out of the top 3... the first two are osteopathic schools with the highest student debt.

That's quite interesting. I wonder why... I'm happy that I've saved up enough money to pay tuition for my first year of medical school in my state. Hoping to get some scholarship assistance, and my parents offered to pay the rest. Interest free loan from my parents pretty much. I'd much rather give them money anyways. If your parents have the money to pay for school. Work out a loan with them. Much nicer than paying off a soul sucking vampire bank.

aSagacious · Jul 17, 2011

CodeBlu said:
I'm happy that I've saved up enough money to pay tuition for my first year of medical school in my state.

Great! Now all you have to do is get accepted to U of M. 😉

NickNaylor · Jul 17, 2011

CodeBlu said:
Lots of osteopathic schools top the list...

out of the top 3... the first two are osteopathic schools with the highest student debt.

That's quite interesting. I wonder why... I'm happy that I've saved up enough money to pay tuition for my first year of medical school in my state. Hoping to get some scholarship assistance, and my parents offered to pay the rest. Interest free loan from my parents pretty much. I'd much rather give them money anyways. If your parents have the money to pay for school. Work out a loan with them. Much nicer than paying off a soul sucking vampire bank.

Very few families have tens of thousands of dollars to use for med school tuition.

CodeBlu · Jul 17, 2011

NickNaylor said:
Very few families have tens of thousands of dollars to use for med school tuition.

Notice how I said... IF your family has the funds to do so. If not...then yes... loans are the only other way to go... short of running a meth lab or other unsavory business.

postbacpremed87 · Jul 17, 2011

If you file for bankruptcy then your FICO score is toast. Game over for you. You won't be able to get anything in the next decade from a house, car, or basic credit card. In addition it could hurt employment prospects.

CodeBlu said:
I am no economist... however I have a deep appreciation for economics and finance.

Businesses must remain solvent to keep the economy flowing. If the large businesses fail... the economy fails. However, while I don't agree with bailing out big businesses all the time while their CEOs are banking millions and the general populace suffers.

In general if you file for bankruptcy you can clear SOME of your student loans if you show undue hardship etc.

Take a read over this... yes I know it's wikipedia. But it's the future!! hahah

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higher_Education_Opportunity_Act_of_2008#2008_reauthorization

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

- What happens if a guy takes a student loan and dies. Will his wife or family have to repay the money?

- What happens if he gets into an accident and can no longer discharge his debt? Say he ends up like Superman never able to get out of bed?

- Isn't there any way to beat the student loan system?

- The CNN article says "loans can't easily be discharged" - so there's a more difficult way to discharge them?

- "To date, there is about $60 billion in defaulted student loan debt". How do so many people get away with it?

- "Chris (who doesn't want his last name used) graduated with about $160,000 in student loan debt with a master's degree in music." What is someone takes out a student loan, gets a PhD in English, simply cannot get a job - how is he going to pay his loan?

Oh I see now there's a way to discharge student loans. Looks like the quote below answers my own questions:

"To get your student loans discharged, you must file an undue hardship petition. To qualify, you have to satisfy three conditions: First, you must not be able to repay your student loan and also maintain a minimal standard of living based on your income and your expenses. Second, your situation must likely persist for a significant portion of the repayment period of the loan. Finally, you must have made good faith efforts to repay the loans. In about half of cases of people who do file for this hardship petition, debt will be partially or totally discharged"

Perrotfish · Jul 17, 2011

What happens if a guy takes a student loan and dies. Will his wife or family have to repay the money?

If you jointly consolidated the loan with your wife, or (I think) if you took out the loan after you were married then your wife will owe the loan. If the loan is from before your marriage and you never jointly consolidated the loan she's in the clear and the debt is discharged. Debt in America never goes to your other family members, your children, or anyone else, it dies with you unless you've taken it out with your spouse.

- What happens if he gets into an accident and can no longer discharge his debt? Say he ends up like Superman never able to get out of bed?

You can petition for student loans to be discharged for reasons of hardship. You need to prove that there is no reasonable way for you to repay the loan, that you origionally made a good faith effort to repay, and I think there may be some other requirements. You'd need to talk with a lawyer.

- Isn't there any way to beat the student loan system?

'Beat' as in get what you want and not pay for it? Not that I know of.

- The CNN article says "loans can't easily be discharged" - so there's a more difficult way to discharge them?

The hardship discharge I mentioned above. You can't, however, discharge student debt through normal bankruptcy.

- "To date, there is about $60 billion in defaulted student loan debt". How do so many people get away with it?

'Deafault' and 'Discharge' mean different things. Discharge means you don't need to pay any more. Default means you just aren't making the payments, though you're still supposed to. Defaulters aren't 'getting away with it', they still owe the money and if they ever have any income or assests they will be siezed to pay the loan back. They're broke, or hoping the creditors won't find them, or they're trying to live on unreporte cash salaries, or they've fled the country. None of these options are good.

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

Perrotfish said:
If you jointly consolidated the loan with your wife, or (I think) if you took out the loan after you were married then your wife will owe the loan.

Is the above true? Can someone confirm this? Thanks.

Brachyury · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
Is the above true? Can someone confirm this? Thanks.

It's true: do not consolidate your loans with your spouse. If you die, your wife will not be left with your loans, however, if you two decide to consolidate your student loans together and one of you dies, the living spouse will be left with both sets of loans.

Debt is a serious issue, but you seem especially uptight. If you post why you are nervous/upset, some posters may be able to give you advice or information that'll help you sleept at night. Good luck :luck:

Medicine4Bruhs · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
- What happens if a guy takes a student loan and dies. Will his wife or family have to repay the money? Government loans do not need to be repaid if the person dies, ever. With regards to private student loans (ie Signature student loans through Sallie Mae), it depends on the promissory note.

- What happens if he gets into an accident and can no longer discharge his debt? Say he ends up like Superman never able to get out of bed? There are forbearance programs.

- Isn't there any way to beat the student loan system? Suzie Orman tells us to save our money. As does Dave Chappelle.

- The CNN article says "loans can't easily be discharged" - so there's a more difficult way to discharge them? Some debt, such as credit card debt, can be more easily discharged through bankrupty court. Student loan in general is resistant to being discharged unless there are very compelling reasons ("undue hardship") for this (i.e. loss of ability to practice).

- "To date, there is about $60 billion in defaulted student loan debt". How do so many people get away with it? $60B is a small percentage considering total student loan debt is approaching $900B. In comparison, total US credit card debt is also essentially $900B but the percent defaulting on credit card debt is much higher (one 2009 NFCC study found 26% of Americans don't pay all of their bills on time all the time).

- "Chris (who doesn't want his last name used) graduated with about $160,000 in student loan debt with a master's degree in music." What is someone takes out a student loan, gets a PhD in English, simply cannot get a job - how is he going to pay his loan? Dude, I really don't know, tbh. There are ways of course, but someone else needs to tackle this problem with like a counseling service or an accountant.

Oh I see now there's a way to discharge student loans: "To get your student loans discharged, you must file an undue hardship petition. To qualify, you have to satisfy three conditions: First, you must not be able to repay your student loan and also maintain a minimal standard of living based on your income and your expenses. Second, your situation must likely persist for a significant portion of the repayment period of the loan. Finally, you must have made good faith efforts to repay the loans. In about half of cases of people who do file for this hardship petition, debt will be partially or totally discharged" This is good info. More information can be found about loan discharge programs on FAFSA's website: http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/DCS/loan.cancellation.discharge.html

.

911 Turbo · Jul 17, 2011

It used to be legal right? I've heard that a lot of doctors and lawyers just declared bankruptcy after they had completed their education.

circulus vitios · Jul 17, 2011

Venom5 said:
It used to be legal right? I've heard that a lot of doctors and lawyers just declared bankruptcy after they had completed their education.

I read somewhere that it was only a few percent, but the loan companies (and now the government) like to blow it out to proportion as a way to justify pseudo debt imprisonment.

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

Brachyury said:
Debt is a serious issue, but you seem especially uptight. If you post why you are nervous/upset, some posters may be able to give you advice or information that'll help you sleept at night. Good luck

I come from a family that barely survives - we've been poor for generations. And we never get loans. So I am nervous about going into huge debts.

Dr Love · Jul 17, 2011

NickNaylor said:
Student loans are one of the few forms of debt that can't be discharged through bankruptcy normally.

Nice thinking though.

This is true. On the bright side, an education is one of the few things that can't be repossessed.

Medicine4Bruhs · Jul 17, 2011

Dr Love said:
This is true. On the bright side, an education is one of the few things that can't be repossessed.

Which is why 30 year mortgages have ~4% interest rates and student loans (for future doctors highly capable of paying back debt due to their high salaries) have 6.8% interest rates.

NickNaylor · Jul 17, 2011

Dr Love said:
This is true. On the bright side, an education is one of the few things that can't be repossessed.

Keep on thinking that as Uncle Sam is garnishing your wages and taking your tax refunds for not paying your loans.

Dartmouth2005 · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

Good luck. I remember reading that some lawyer in Wisconsin got sanctions entered against her for trying to get student loans discharged in bankruptcy.

Dartmouth2005 · Jul 17, 2011

NickNaylor said:
Keep on thinking that as Uncle Sam is garnishing your wages and taking your tax refunds for not paying your loans.

Not only that but they can add substantial penalties if you default that make it nearly impossible to pay off the loan. Also, your payments will be credited to paying the penalties before even attacking the interest on the loan. It will spiral out of control.

Finally, a lot of federal programs that I have seen ask if I have ever defaulted. I would hate to have to check yes.

Best to just go IBR. I look at student loans as non-dischargeable credit card debt. There is no risk for the lenders.

Brachyury · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
I come from a family that barely survives - we've been poor for generations. And we never get loans. So I am nervous about going into huge debts.

This is totally understandable. There is good news though! If you are from Texas, you'll be glad to know that Texas medical schools have probably the lowest tuition out of all medical schools in the country.

There are also ways to pay for medical schools: if you are interested in serving in the military, the HPSP program will pay for your medical school tuition and give you a living stipend. Another option is the Nation Health Service Corps which will pay all of your med school tuition and will give you a small living stipend provided you agree to go into family practice, peds, IM, OB/GYN, or psych, and agree to serve in an area of need for four years http://nhsc.hrsa.gov/

The reality, though, is that most students take out loans to pay for med school. Is it a lot of debt? Yeah. Is it scary? Yeah. But in the end, you'll be in a field that will allow you to pay-off your debt and have a comfortable life. Does this make it any less scary? No. Most of us have gone through the same emotions you feel right now, and your feelings are totally justified.

If you go into primary care, OB/GYN, or psych, the NHSC also offers loan forgiveness to individuals who practice in areas of high medical need. Also, depending on your specialty, its not unheard of--and is becoming more and more common--for private practices and hospitals jobs to include some form of loan repayment in your starting package. Another option is income based repayment, which was created by Congress to help individuals with a lot of student loans. Including residency and fellowship, if you do public service for 10 years, your loans are forgiven. If you pay your loans for 25 years (including residency and fellowship), any remaining amount is forgiven (granted you have to pay taxes on the amount forgiven).

Point is, if you really want to go into medicine, don't let the debt scare you. You should know what you are getting into, you should borrow wisely, and you should think of a contingent game plan of how you will repay your loans. My advice is that before you even begin to worry about the debt, make sure you absolutely want to have a career in medicine.

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

Brachyury said:
If you are from Texas

Unfortunately I have residency in California now but I am originally from TX

texasm · Jul 17, 2011

Thanks Brachyury! You know, another thing that concerns me is that I am shooting for medical schools in Ireland, Australia and elsewhere. I would really like to spend a few years overseas.

Suppose I take HUGE student loans Brachyury, get an MD from overseas and suddenly find that AAMC or someone else has passed a law that because we have too many "foreign" doctors, only those with degrees from the US can practice medicine here. {I mean, 10 years ago, you could get a BS from Mexico and then pursue your MD in the US. Now almost every medical school insists on an American undergraduate degree. Even an American graduate degree is not acceptable to them, which is basically discrimination built into the system}. What if I am saddled with huge loans with an MD from Ireland but I am not allowed to practice medicine in the US. I don't want to live in Ireland beyond my MD. Know what I mean?

Perrotfish · Jul 17, 2011

texasm said:
Thanks Brachyury! You know, another thing that concerns me is that I am shooting for medical schools in Ireland, Australia and elsewhere. I would really like to spend a few years overseas.

Suppose I take HUGE student loans Brachyury, get an MD from overseas and suddenly find that AAMC or someone else has passed a law that because we have too many "foreign" doctors, only those with degrees from the US can practice medicine here. {I mean, 10 years ago, you could get a BS from Mexico and then pursue your MD in the US. Now almost every medical school insists on an American undergraduate degree. Even an American graduate degree is not acceptable to them, which is basically discrimination built into the system}. What if I am saddled with huge loans with an MD from Ireland but I am not allowed to practice medicine in the US. I don't want to live in Ireland beyond my MD. Know what I mean?

If you want to practice medicine in the US, you basically have to go to medical school in the US. Foreign doctors, even doctors who were fully residency trained in another country, need to complete a full residency in the US to be allowed to practice here. Unfortunately US graduates get first pick of residency slots, and now that there are almost as many US graduates as there are US residency slots most foreign grads will never get a chance to come to the US, however qualified they may be. You were worried about student loan default rates: well the default rate for graduates from foreign medical schools is WAY higher than the default rate for US grads because so many people who go to those schools never become practicing doctors.

If you want to spend a few years overseas, work as medical support for a defense contractor overseas when you're finished with residency (Japan, Bahrain, Germany, etc). Or let the Navy pay for your medical school and hope that they send you somewhere senic rather than to Camp Pendleton. Or just go a spend a couple of years in Ireland before you go to medical school in the first place. Going to medical school overseas, though, is a great way to never practice medicine and never pay off your loans.

NightGod · Jul 18, 2011

postbacpremed87 said:
If you file for bankruptcy then your FICO score is toast. Game over for you. You won't be able to get anything in the next decade from a house, car, or basic credit card. In addition it could hurt employment prospects.

This is no where near true. I have good friends who had to file bankruptcy about five years ago. They spent a few years building perfect credit (using their existing house mortgage and one credit card they managed to keep through the process) and are now able to get loans for vehicles and additional credit cards and their interest rates are only a few points higher than the average. On the employment front, she works at a bank and he's a security supervisor at a nuclear power plant (meaning he has extensive background checks from the NRC). Neither was in any danger of having their jobs or promotions (which, in his case, involved even more extensive background checking) endangered by their filing.

Andersen · Jul 18, 2011

postbacpremed87 said:
If you file for bankruptcy then your FICO score is toast. Game over for you. You won't be able to get anything in the next decade from a house, car, or basic credit card. In addition it could hurt employment prospects.

Who needs credit if you pay everything by cash? I am entering medicine to make big money! 🙂

calvnandhobbs68 · Jul 18, 2011

CodeBlu said:
Lots of osteopathic schools top the list...

out of the top 3... the first two are osteopathic schools with the highest student debt.

That's quite interesting. I wonder why... I'm happy that I've saved up enough money to pay tuition for my first year of medical school in my state. Hoping to get some scholarship assistance, and my parents offered to pay the rest. Interest free loan from my parents pretty much. I'd much rather give them money anyways. If your parents have the money to pay for school. Work out a loan with them. Much nicer than paying off a soul sucking vampire bank.

Osteopathic schools are known for not being especially generous with financial aid/scholarships. They also do things like make you put down a $2000 non-refundable deposit to hold your seat when you're accepted.

Michigan state is interesting...there must be a lot of OOSers going there.

RogueUnicorn · Jul 18, 2011

phonyreal98 · Jul 18, 2011

Just do this when you get out of school:
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuGIgf-ICHM[/YOUTUBE]

See what happens and report back to us.

sweetdaises2000 · Jul 18, 2011

Perrotfish said:
Interest rates wouldn't be higher for everyone, student loans would just become like every other loan: the lender would assess the chance that you would actually pay your debt and your interest rates would be adjusted accordingly. For people who are extremely low risk, like medical students or engineers at public schools, the interst rate might actually go down. Meanwhile loans for degrees that almost never pay off, like private university music majors and Chiropractic degrees, would become impossible to get at any rate of interest, so the crap instituions that provide them would be forced to either lower their prices or close their doors.

Perrotfish, this makes so much sense!

Brachyury · Jul 18, 2011

texasm said:
Thanks Brachyury! You know, another thing that concerns me is that I am shooting for medical schools in Ireland, Australia and elsewhere. I would really like to spend a few years overseas.

Suppose I take HUGE student loans Brachyury, get an MD from overseas and suddenly find that AAMC or someone else has passed a law that because we have too many "foreign" doctors, only those with degrees from the US can practice medicine here. {I mean, 10 years ago, you could get a BS from Mexico and then pursue your MD in the US. Now almost every medical school insists on an American undergraduate degree. Even an American graduate degree is not acceptable to them, which is basically discrimination built into the system}. What if I am saddled with huge loans with an MD from Ireland but I am not allowed to practice medicine in the US. I don't want to live in Ireland beyond my MD. Know what I mean?

Why are you shooting for a degree in Ireland or Australia? Tell us what your stats are and we can help you

Kaustikos · Jul 18, 2011

texasm said:
I know businesses like General Motors can cheat billions of dollars from pensioners and other individuals, file for bankruptcy and wipe out all their debt while making billions.

But can individuals do the same? In other words, if a student graduates from medical school with half a million in student loans, can he declare bankruptcy and have all his student loans forgiven?

{I have a feeling the courtesy extended to businesses won't be extended to ordinary individuals but does anyone know for sure?"

Of all the people you reference. GM? Not Goldman-Sachs? The company that fubar'd the mortgage scenario and made ridiculous bank from it? :laugh:

If you really wanna' try and take it to the man - move to another country.

Essentially, you can't get away from fed loans. I'm already fedup with how they're rudely sniping at my bank account w/o my consent. You're gonna have to just suck it up, essentially.

Forca Barca · Jul 18, 2011

texasm · Jul 18, 2011

Brachyury said:
Why are you shooting for a degree in Ireland or Australia? Tell us what your stats are and we can help you

Just because I want to live and work abroad for a while. Maybe it's a bad idea like others have said.

Bankruptcy wipes out student loans

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I KNOW NOTHING

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Antibiotics 4 Lyfe

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