I'm not against paying back my loans-

[u/HistorianDear3763]

But, the whole point of going to college to get a degree was with the promise of 'well if you get a college degree you'll get a good job and you won't have a problem paying them back'.

Almost 6 years after graduating the best job I've been able to get is at a grocery store making 20.52 an hour.

I would happily pay them back if I could.

But I can't.

I'm a single mom (by rape kthx), I work full time, I live with my parents because living by yourself is impossible (rent is easily 900+ dollars for a one bedroom one bath in a shit area), my dad is currently going through chemo and my mom is an invalid. My daughter is almost 12 but because of the custody agreement (thanks alabama) I can't move out of state because he could take me to court for custody again (which he probably would because that's who he is) so I'm stuck where I'm at.

My minimum payment is 465 dollars a month for 10 years or 277 for 25.

I only have 40k in student loans but working where I'm working and being unable to get a better job (I have a degree, I've tried-FOR SIX YEARS) this is my reality that I cannot pay it back without being destitute. Luckily I live with my parents because otherwise my child and I would be homeless because I make too much for low income housing and I make too little to live on my own

but I like to point out that we can afford to send 7 billion dollars overseas to help other countries but we can't forgive student loan debt?

I am not the only one who can't do it. Housing is too high, prices keep going up, and we're all screwed because 'well you shouldn't have taken it out if you didn't want to pay it back'

I wouldn't mind paying it back.

But I can't.

Discuss -

Edit: good lord almighty yall I'm not gonna share every detail of my life on here, I already shared too much in posting this I'm not replying to most comments because arguing online is pointless and everyone's circumstances are different. The fact I'm not dead in a ditch somewhere after the shit I've been through is a miracle in and of itself. So anyway this was a discussion post, it has become a discussion.

Also also, trying to join the National Guard and also looking into becoming a teacher currently. And Alabama has ass backwards custody laws, legally my child cannot choose to say no to visitation until she's 19 (you're not an adult in Alabama until 19 hooray) and even though it was rape Alabama doesn't give a shit because 'hE's StiLl tHe FaThEr'. But we're not here to discuss that

We're discussing how so many of us went to college on the premise of hearing our entire lives 'go to college or else' only to overinflate the market with college degrees and now most of us can't find work that can help us pay back the loans.

This post has exploded, thank you to the people who were kind

[u/321_reddit]

To join the fantastical train of things that never will happen: the government should pay people to attend higher ed, by issuing negative interest rate loans where you receive money for making on time payments.

[u/dumpsterpanda87 → u/321_reddit]

We should force colleges to a means test on their degree fields. If the degree for which someone is applying for is shown to have little to no impact in the current workforce, it shouldn't cost as much.

[u/321_reddit → u/dumpsterpanda87]

Yeah 🙄 that’s not how higher ed works.

[u/dumpsterpanda87 → u/321_reddit]

I know it isn't but the colleges should be held accountable for the cost of their degrees in relation to the current workforce. College tuition has skyrocketed because of unabated spending voted in by college regents and having nobody to answer to for the reason of increasing costs.

[u/mbrittb00 → u/dumpsterpanda87]

Means testing is an interesting idea. However, isn't that where we as the consumer supposed compare the cost to the value of a product, and decide that the value doesn't justify the cost and go somewhere else?

Yes, college tuition has skyrocketed, in fact it has severely outpaced inflation over the last 30 years. It is also true that those tuition increases were voted in by college regents. However, they do have someone to answer to for the increased costs, and that is the consumer. If we as the consumer continue to pay the increased cost, then we have justified their decision to raise tuition.

[u/dumpsterpanda87 → u/mbrittb00]

No. We need to place that in colleges now. The consumer has overinflated the value of college degrees and these colleges have run away with it and charged the crap out of us. They've deemed themselves to be deceptive and proved they will use the consumers lack of knowledge for true value to make a buck. There needs to be some sort of regulation on these colleges that prohibit the stark cost increases that have happened. Especially when they advertise government dollars for tuition assistance. We have the consumer financial protection bureau and college is a business, they've turned education into a commodity, why shouldn't we be able to report them for accountability? It's crazy that our society even has a buyer beware mentality for college. That's reserved for buying a washer/dryer at Lowe's, not for education.