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Student Loan Debt Spirals at For-Profit Colleges (Page 1 of 2)
Despite the publicity in recent years surrounding an ostensible “student loan crisis” that has saddled a generation of college students and their parents with overwhelming amounts of student loan debt, a large number of college students are actually graduating with little or no debt from student loans, newly released data has revealed.
However, the likelihood that a college student will take on any student loan debt depends largely on the type of school he or she attends, with students at for-profit career schools, online schools, vocational training programs, and other for-profit institutions tending to rely on student loans in much higher proportions.
Many College Students Eschewing Student Loans
About one in three college graduates leaves school without any debt from student loans, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education as part of its National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, which is conducted every four years.
Of those students who earned a bachelors degree in the 200708 academic year, 34 percent graduated with no debt from student loans a figure that has held steady over the past four years. Of those students who earned either a two-year or four-year degree or certificate, 41 percent graduated with no student loan debt.
The For-Profit Exception: Student Loan Debt Saturates Career Schools
A breakdown of the NPSAS student loan debt data, however, reveals that student loan borrowing diverges widely across types of higher education institutions, with students at for-profit colleges borrowing money for their education more often and in larger amounts.
Virtually all for-profit students are graduating with at least some debt from college loans.
Among graduates of two-year associate degree programs, for example, whereas only 38 percent of those in public programs left school with at least one education loan, 98 percent of those in for-profit programs did so.
Among graduates of two-year certificate programs, only 30 percent of students in public programs left school with education debt, while 90 percent of students in the for-profit programs did so.
Of those students who earned bachelors degrees, 62 percent of those in public four-year programs and 72 percent of those in private four-year programs graduated with debt from student loans, while 96 percent of students in for-profit bachelors programs did.
More Private Student Loans Seen at Career Schools
Students in for-profit programs were also more likely than their private and public counterparts to leave school with debt from non-federal private student loans.
Overall, 30 percent of students earning a higher education degree in 200708 had taken out private student loans. But the percentages were much higher among students of for-profit schools.
Among graduates of associate degree programs, 60 percent of those in for-profit programs had taken on debt from private student loans, compared to just 15 percent of those in public two-year programs.
School Loan Deferments and Forbearance
Student loans are designed to be quite easy to pay off, but there are times when students simply can’t make the payments. Because student loans and school loan consolidation can make the balance of your loan add up, there may come a time when you have trouble meeting your required payment. In this case, it is important to take steps to protect your personal credit in order to build a financial future in the long term. It is never good to default on a loan, and it is even worse to default on a federally funded student loan.
When you can’t make your payments and student loan consolidation isn’t an option, you might want to consider a last resort. Gaining a deferment on your student loan is an excellent way to get a break. Many people have trouble paying back loans of all kinds, so lenders have developed this option to help. They are just as eager to get their money back as you are to pay it, so they will work with you in order to find a solution that works for everyone.
And important thing to remember about school loan deferments is that you can not apply for this type of help after you’ve already defaulted. If you feel like the burden of the student loan is going to be too much to bear, talk to your creditors before it gets to that point. Once you go into default, your credit will be ruined and there will be no deferment option to bail you out.
Deferments will allow you to put off the payments until a later time. Obviously, this will not eliminate your debt, but it will give you some room to breathe. There are fees and charges associated with putting off the repayment of a loan, but it is better to pay these fees than to have a large student loan go into default.
Before you get to the point where deferment is necessary, consider calling up a student loan consolidation company. If you have private lenders for the student loan, they can sometimes work with your lenders in order to lower the rates that you pay. In some cases, they can even help to develop a repayment plan to keep you out of default. This is an option that works for lots of folks.
If you aren’t comfortable with school loan consolidation, then forbearance is another option to strongly consider. As with deferment, this isn’t the most pleasant outcome to the problem, but it beats the alternative of defaulting on the loan. Like deferment, forbearance must be applied for specifically. Some cases will be granted and some will not. It all depends upon your lender and your circumstances. During forbearance, you payments are temporarily suspended or reduced for a certain period of time. This is usually more of a short term fix when deferment or student loan consolidation is not an option.
School loan forbearance and deferment is a good way to keep yourself out of financial trouble. Defaulting on a loan can be financial death, so any way around that is a good thing.
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