Student loans is a necessary process for many students who look forward to higher education. It seems that the student loan lenders like Sallie Mae and others are taking advantage of the "Basic consumers protections" that were taken out of student loans in the mid 1990's.
Alan M. Collinge took a cross country trip with a beat up RV in 42 states and 22,000 miles of road. In his travels he met with citizens and legislators to ask about the issue. His mission was to "Persuade congress to restore consumer protections to student loan borrowers." The house and the senate passed HR 2669, the College Cost Reduction Act. The bill's provisions include; interest rate reduction, loan forgiveness for public service, Pell grant increases and income contingent repayment plans for future students. But the problem of basic consumer protection is still not fixed. This leads to many students getting interest rates as high as 18%, and some that have problems paying the loan get a levy fee as high as 25% of the balance of the loan. Some students once they consolidate their loans, get trapped with that lender and are not able to refinance no matter how interest rates fluctuate, or how bad the lender treats them. In Alan's travels he spoke with a couple of former students. He spoke with a chiropractor from Texas whom after defaulting on his loan could not renew his license. He now is a truck driver in Amarillo. There was also an attorney who had so many fees and penalties on his loans that he left the country to start a new life in Asia. He finally spoke with a mother from Oregon, who told him that her son took his life after his loans came to a compounding debt of $200,000. So many students who need the loans are finding it hard to pursue their dreams, will the government ever help them out?
Students who need loans for college should read this article. I think every student should know how these lender groups get away with ripping us off.
<http://www.statesman.com/search/content/editorial/stories/09/03/0903collinge_edit.html>
Demo Kratia
