re: At least half of students defaulted or failed to pay down debt within 7 years

Honestly,

I started taking out loans in 2006 because I worked throughout college...lost TOPS, and could not make payments during undergrad. I went on to pursue Teacher Certification and I had NO money saved to pay for it...nor would anyone help me...so I paid for it all with Student Loans.

I have about 60,000 in loans to pay back and I am just now at a comfortable stage in my life where I have started making payments...they have so many affordable options out there that I'm not worried at all. I just pay a small amount every month on auto-pay and dont even think about it.

Sometimes, we dont all get 6 figure jobs out of graduation and dont have mommy and daddy around to pay for things. I did it my way and on my own, and it's not breaking my bank.

Graduating undergrad in the 2008 recession had a LOT do do with my deferment of payments and I'm not the only one in my boat.

So do not be too quick to judge. I had a lot of lean years where I still have not gone on extravagant vacations and I still drive a 2007 GMC Sierra crap truck.

Problem is that many people see the monthly payments and don't make any effort to reduce or develop a plan to repay their loan.

Multiple options available to repay your student loan and all are fairly simple and take minimal effort to apply for.

I used a student loan to get a Master's Degree. Have used various repayment options over the years. People have to make the effort and also have to realize that their will be a repayment process need to plan ahead for that.

Most repayment plans now have debt forgiveness after a set amount of years. Really no excuse not to take advantage of the plans in place.

It was probably one of the worst times to graduate college, with the economy tanking and Obamacare implementation. I am not in favor of loan forgiveness, but I might get on board with paying the interest on unsubsidized loans and extending the payment timeline. If they can't pay down anything at that point, they really have zero fricks to give and deserve no help.

Those schools should no longer be eligible options for government backed student loans.

If your students can't pay their loans, you're either issuing useless degrees or charging excessive tuition.