A letter to the President…
This is a letter I sent to the President discussing my issues with the present school loan program. A version of this letter was also sent to my state representatives in Washington.
In a land that boasts justice and equality for all, the laws governing the payment of these loans are far from fair.
Ultimately, I accept the fact that these are loans that I owe and I will do my best to make sure they are paid. In this respect I am not one to “Pass the buck” and blame everyone else for my problems.
I do however expect that the opportunities and options that are available to some that can make these loans manageable and affordable to pay should be available to everyone. Unfortunately in the case of “Parent Plus loans”, this is not the case.
Publishing this letter is not being done to gain sympathy or to get people to feel sorry for my situation. It is the beginning step in my effort to try and make a difference in the system and the way things are being managed.
I welcome your thoughts:
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Dear Mr. President
I am a fellow Chicagoan living in the southern suburbs.
My concern is with the present school loan program, specifically with parent plus loans.
My first daughter began and finished school with very little incident. I co-signed her first quarter, and she handled the rest. She is now in a repayment plan that is affordable for her and I can walk away feeling like I have done my part as a parent in the lower / middle income bracket of this country without breaking anybody’s back financially.
Now comes my second daughter; she just finished school last year. I went into the school loan process expecting much of the same as before. It was not until her second year that it was made clear to me that I was responsible for these loans, not her.
Please understand: I do not begrudge her an education. On the contrary, I have done all that I can to support her. It is unfortunate that I did not ask the right questions and the right information was not made more easily available.
As we went through this new process, it was interesting to note that my daughter would have had better financial support if she came from a broken home; if my wife and I were divorced. I think it’s sad that those of us out here that effectively keep our marriage in tact are seemingly punished for our success.
Looking back, I was also fascinated at how easy it was to get these school loans as compared to before. Very little financial information was requested and more than enough money was provided.
My second daughter finished her education and I am now faced with what I am finding is a very confusing and convoluted process of paying it back. I am 55 years old, finally looking at my mortgage being paid off, and now looking at school loans that will take me until I am 85 years old to pay off and totaling three times what my house was originally worth.
Too often, it seems that the Department of Education is more interested in making a profit than helping students and their parents make this country better through the education of her people. To me, I believe there is more profit in educating our children in such a way that the student and their parents can afford to pay the loans back and still afford to live our lives and keep our homes.
During my research, I found the following on the website:
This is where I found the following:
ALERT: Only certain “new” borrowers qualify for the “Pay As You Earn” plan. As of July 1, 2014, all new borrowers qualify for the more generous Pay as You Earn plan provisions such as 20 year forgiveness instead of 25 years and the more generous repayment formula. President Obama made an announcement in June 2014 that included some proposed changes to income-driven repayment. The idea is to extend the more favorable Pay as You Earn terms to all borrowers with older loans. However, this is just a proposal for now. This will not happen overnight. It will only happen if the Department of Education successfully amends the regulations. The timing is not clear. President Obama said that his goal is to make the new plan available to all borrowers by December 2015.
I am not looking for a free ride; I am simply trying to find a solution that I can afford. Looking at this, it seems that there is a solution available to some, but not to all.
It also seems that the full plan, if implemented, would be fair for all:
I urge you Mr. President to complete this process as soon as possible.
If I may recommend the following:
- The school loan application process needs to more in-depth and involved. I don’t see the need to make it more difficult for people to get loans, like I have heard the Republicans want to do. We just need to make it more realistic and make the options and consequences more obvious upfront.
- Interest should not start until the student is out of school; better yet, not until they acquire their first full time job. Again: The profit this process should make possible is the education of our students, not the financial gain of the Department of education.
- Most important, Parent plus loans need to have the same options and opportunities as all other loans have for repayment!
As the holder of several Parent Plus loans, I do not have access to the various “Pay as you earn” options. At this rate, my loan payments will be greater than my mortgage well into my seventies. As a parent who’s only thought was to make sure my kid got an education, I find it frustrating that so many of us are being forced into dire financial conditions at a time when we are supposed to be thinking about retirement.
I am not trying to get out of paying what I owe; I am just trying to make it more manageable.
My daughters get the option to pay as they earn; making certain things like eating and paying the rent possible while they grow and earn. As the parent of those daughters, I should be given the same opportunity, especially when the daughter –who is willing to pay her part- still can’t get a job regardless of her efforts!
Additionally, in the pay as you earn plan that I am not allowed to use, the unpaid balance gets added to the borrower’s income at the end of the term –so in reality, nobody loses anything.
She can’t pay me if she doesn’t have a job.
If she can’t pay me, it makes it hard for me to pay the Government.
If I can’t pay the Government, they come and garnish my wages, leaving me unable to pay my mortgage.
If I can’t pay the Mortgage, they take my house
If they take my house, I can’t properly prepare to do my job each day.
If I can’t prepare to do my job each day, I loose it.
And then, if I lose my job, not only am I unable to “Keep the family fed”, but the Government doesn’t get any money either.
In the end in this worst case scenario, I end up on welfare with the Government garnishing even that!
Please sir!
I need your help!
I always have, and always will do my best; I will never give up, even though I am afraid.
I could just use your assistance in making this a little easier to bear.
Respectfully!
Ronald K. Koons
