This video should be moved to a more heavily trafficked area so more can get a greater appreciation of the financial commitment involved. With interest rates going up, tuition skyrocketing every year, reimbursements going down, malpractice out of control, I foresee a major debt crisis on the looming horizon for todays young generation. Imagine 10-20 years in the future when the average med student will owe half a million dollars at 8-9% interest!
It makes me nauseous to think how the rich and older generation can prey on the young sucking away their livelihood.
This was an all too real video and a very blunt article. Kudos to USAToday for exposing this problem. Please feel free to inform as many people as you can about this issue/article/video. Maybe if the word gets out, you can all contribute to lowering interest rates on student loans, maybe even your own. This is not a solution to skyrocketing tuition, but it would be of great benefit.
I graduated dental school in 1982, my husband in 1981. We each had $65,000 in student loans. Our interest rates were between 7-16%. We struggled, but we paid it off much sooner than 30 years. Today's generation is not as fortunate. We are very concerned. My husband and I were in the minority. It was very hard to explain to anyone what it was like to carry the burden of that debt. It is now a more ubiquitous problem. It is a social and ethical problem, and yet many have an attitude similiar to the "Quit Whining" portion of the USA Today article. Unless you are in this kettle of fish of school debt, there is a limited desire to understand your problem, and many have deemed it your problem, not theirs. Deplorable.
What is notable in the video is that this chiropractor, who works full time and makes less than $50,000/year, has interest rates of less than 3% on her $165,000 school debt. Her payment is about a $675/month over 30 years.
At 6.8% on the same size loan, her payment would be close to $1,075/month. At 6.8%, the total payoff including interest over 30 years would be $387,000, not $244,000. The $400 monthly increase raises the monthly payment 60%. Huge.
Interest rates make a staggering difference. The monthly loan payment on the same amount of principle when comparing students graduating a few years ago to students graduating in the next few years will be like night and day. This doesn't even take into account the exorbitant annual tuition increases.
We have been told how lucky we were and how easy we have had it by people who knew squat, but by today's standards we were. It took a lot of effort and sacrifice to pay of that debt in 10 years, actually 13 because some of my loans were deferred while I was in the Navy. My Navy commitment did not come with any scholarship or signing bonus, just a job with a 3 year active duty and a longer reserve commitment that I anticipated, but that is another story. My thoughts are with everyone. Sorry for the long post.
