OCCUPY STUDENT DEBT

Our mission is to collect user-submitted student debtor stories in the hopes of illustrating the true impact of the student debt crisis on millions of struggling Americans. All stories posted are direct from our site's visitors unless otherwise noted. SUBMIT YOUR STORY! --- Loading...

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Taking on the Student Debt Crisis

For students just entering college, it must be a stressful time. In addition to adjusting to their new surroundings, many are also probably wondering how they will afford to pay for it once they graduate.

It seems like everyday we hear of new statistics about the cost of college and the ever-increasing amount of money students have to borrow to attend college today. This spring, it was reported that the  average student debt for 2014 graduates is an astounding, $33,000. This amount is nearly double what borrowers had to repay 20 years ago, even after adjusting for inflation.

The student debt crisis is not just impacting lower-income students either. Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center released data showing that the largest increase in borrowing over the last 20 years has actually been among the more affluent students.

Data from studentdebt.silk.co

It also showed that over the same period, the typical total student debt for recent graduates who borrowed, more than doubled.

Data from studentdebt.silk.co

For reasons such as these, this Tuesday, October 14, George Washington University will host “Taking On the Student Debt Crisis," an event combining performance, discussion and activism in an effort to increase the dialogue about our country's student debt crisis. This free event will feature a moderated discussion with CNN’s Van Jones as well as the performance of Aaron Calafato's monologue, For Profit.

.@aaroncalafato and I are taking on the #studentdebtcrisis in #DC. Join us for this free discussion. https://t.co/FUN2eUTxzB

— Van Jones (@VanJones68)

October 11, 2014

In addition to co-hosting CNN's Crossfire, Van Jones is also President/co-founder of Rebuild the Dream, an organization that champions innovative solutions to fix the U.S. economy. One issue the organization has focused a great deal of attention on, is the student debt crisis.

Calafato has performed his play, For Profit, at more than 100 college campuses and community events across the country. Calafato's play chronicles his experiences working as an admissions counselor at a for-profit college as well as the predatory nature of his former work.

Event Details:

Where: Marvin Center Amphitheater, Third floor

When: October 14th, 7:30 pm

Presented by Rebuild The Dream, GW Not For Profit, the Student Association at The George Washington University (SA) and GW College Democrats

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

FOR-PROFIT COLLEGES BANKROLLING REPRESENTATIVE JOHN KLINE

As Chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, Kline has made it apparent who he feels he represents -- those that shower him with campaign cash. Even at a time when countless for-profit colleges face lawsuits and investigations for fraud, Kline has remained this industry's biggest ally, leading the fight against gainful employment regulations.

Below is a list of the for-profit colleges bankrolling Representative John Kline:

Data from for-profit-colleges.silk.co

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Solidarity with #FloodWallStreet

This past Monday, more than 3,000 protesters flooded Wall Street demanding that policies standing in the way of clean energy solutions end. This followed a day after the People's Climate March, which drew over 300,000 from all over the world, making it the largest environmental rally in history.

The visuals below look at how the United States compares to other countries on greenhouse gas emissions, and it's not so pretty.

Data from greenhouse-gas-emissions.silk.co

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

WikiLeaks Spy Files: The interactive searchable database

In early September 2014 WikiLeaks released its last batch of leaked Spy Files -  which it had started releasing in 2011. To mark this anniversary, one of Silk's data journalists Alice Corona cleaned and structured the data to build an interactive database combining the three Spy Files releases. 

Currently, there are 559 leaked company documents, and 15 location tracking reports from WikiLeaks Counter Intelligence Unit (WLCIU). The 559 files disclose to the public internal documents from more than 100 companies specialized in intelligence and (mass) surveillance technologies. These technologies are sold both to Western governments and to dictators, and have been used by the Syrian government. The 15 documents from WLCIU reveal the timestamps and locations of 20 members of these companies, whose whereabouts WikiLeaks has decided to track in order to show where the main surveillance contractors are sending its people. But what does the Spy Files database actually contain? Which are the most recurring intelligence companies and what systems do they target? How to download exactly the leaked document your research calls for? To answer these questions, we've decided to import WikiLeaks's DB into Silk, to combine it with semantic technologies, a powerful query engine and a user-friendly interactive visualization interface. 

Data from wikileaks.silk.co

Read more at WikiLeaks.silk.co!

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

[occupysalliemae-blog]

Today, millions of Americans are overwhelmed with education debt. To address this important issue, my partners and I formed StudentDebtCrisis.org, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fundamental reforms to the way in which higher education is paid for in America. Last week, along with more than a dozen other organizations, we launched a new project - the #OutWithStudentDebt Video Project - a way of shedding the stigma of embarrassment and shame that comes along with being in such debt merely to obtain an education. Here are ten eye-opening reasons people should submit their student debt videos to the #OutWithStudentDebt campaign.

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

#OutWithStudentDebt

#OutWithStudentDebt Video Project

Don’t you think it’s time to come out about your student debt?

StudentDebtCrisis.org and an incredible coalition of partners think it’s high time that all of us who are suffering with student debt have an outlet to come forward and share our personal stories. The more of us that “come out” and share our student debt stories, the better our chances of turning the dial and, hopefully, create the impetus for some real, concrete change.

Student debtors across the country are coming out! Will you join the movement?

Submit your video TODAY at StudentDebtCrisis.org.

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

26 Years old, overwhelmed with student loans, and moved back in with my mom

My name is Alejandra, and I am a 26-year-old, single woman still living at home. Why? Because I am overwhelmed with my Sallie Mae loans I took out to attend college at Full Sail University.

The Financial Aid officer told me that I could only take out a private signature loan because I could not get any scholarships since I was not a Florida resident. (I am from New Jersey.) They had a Wells Fargo loan and a Sallie Mae loan, but the Financial Aid officer said I would have more benefits with Sallie Mae than Wells Fargo. So as a new 18-year-old passionate student ready to learn, I signed the Sallie Mae form to help toward my tuition and living expenses. I have a loving, hardworking single Mom, who is a phenomenal teacher, brought up my sister and me by herself and faced her own challenges along the way to make ends meet. My mom helped me out as much as she could with living expenses, such as food and small bills. 

Upon graduation, I received the information at my exit interview for financial aid, and I was in shock! I knew I had to pay my bill, but I never dreamed how they took advantage of me. I have paid $30,897.00 since 2008 and my balance has only gone down a few thousand dollars. Between the capitalized interest and interest on top of this entire balance is a killer! I have never been late, nor have I taken out forbearance when I was laid off because the interest would have been worse. My unemployment went to pay the loans. I still owe $66,000.00. I work full time, earning  33K so most of my salary goes to my student loans, both private (Sallie Mae) and public (Federal Government).  Now, I do not even have health insurance because I just turned 26 on July 4th and I am now off of my mother’s policy.  Now I am going to have to take out insurance at work, which will take out more money.  

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

My Debt Has Doubled

Seriously!? After interest, my debt has DOUBLED. I don't know what to do! I'm so lost and it seems like there's no help. And these are just my federal loans! Any advice or help would be appreciated, I'm so stressed and lost.

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Debt Without Knowledge

Below is a breakdown of the student loans I have.   The first is a loan that I knowingly applied for before my first semester at college.   The other two loans shown were loans that were applied for and cashed by my mother without my knowledge.   After my first semester at school I returned home to find my family falling apart.  I decided to stay home and enroll in community college, which I paid for out of pocket.   About a year later, my sister called me and said she noticed some issues with her credit report and that she thought my mother may have taken out loans in her name.  After checking my own credit, I saw the same issues on my credit report.  My mother had taken out private student loans in both of our names, and I later found out that this was an attempt to pay off tens of thousands of dollars of debt that she had secretly racked up against my stepfather's name.   Obviously this created a very messy situation.  After a lot of discussion and a lot of work by everyone involved to try and maintain our family, it was decided  

that my mother and stepfather would work to repay the loans in both of our names as soon as possible until the debt reached the amounts that my sister and I had originally borrowed.   Everything was going okay until my mother and stepfather divorced a couple of years later.   Since that point, I've fought tooth and nail to get payment from my mother every month, and most of the time in delinquency.   Months when I've made the payment in order to try and preserve my credit, she's simply disregarded her end of the bargain.  I've recently engaged to my girlfriend, and I have mounting fear that this will end up falling on the both of us until I take over this entire debt on my own.   I have talked to attorneys and bankers and financial advisers to try and get advice, and I've held out on taking legal action because of the obvious problems it will cause 

in my relationship with her, but I've had enough of it.   Can someone who's been in this situation help me, or explain to me what my best options are???  

Loan Details

Balance Overview

Type of Loan BalanceLoan Balance AmountLoan Balance QuestionsCurrent Principal Balance:$27,367.28

What is Principal Balance?

The principal balance includes the original amount you borrowed, plus any applicable loan fees, less any principal payments.

This amount does not include accrued interest but may include interest that was capitalized (added to the principal balance) when the loan(s) entered repayment.

Closethis Help Text

Late Fees:$0.00

How do I avoid Late Fees?

The best way for you to avoid late fees is to make your payments regularly and on time. The easiest way to do this is to enroll in our Direct Debit program because payments will automatically be processed every month on your exact due date.

Closethis Help Text

Unpaid Interest:$131.62

Accrued Interest

The amount of unpaid interest that is currently outstanding on your account.

Closethis Help Text

Total Current Balance:$27,498.90

How do I Pay Off my loan(s)?

When you’re ready to pay your loan(s) in full, just go to the Loan Payoff section to request your calculated payoff amount. You can then submit your payoff to us electronically.

Closethis Help Text

Loan Details

Print All Loan Details

DateLoan TypeStatusBalanceAction02/18/2005AlplnDelinquent$9,410.38View Detailsfor this entry10/19/2004AlplnDelinquent$5,286.39View Detailsfor this entry07/13/2004AlplnDelinquent$12,670.51View Details

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Airline Pilots Worse off than Most

The number of pilots being trained for the military has dropped substantially. Of those pilots, the number leaving the military to work at the airlines has also dropped significantly because they've seen the recent 50% losses in pay and benefits that have devastated that field.

Most new airline pilots have paid their own way though training. Pilots today will graduate from self-financed training programs in colleges and flight schools across the US to the tune of $100-$140K in loans. We will be greeted by a 5-7 year period of making less then garbage collectors in California. After 6 years of higher education most new airline pilots will qualify for food-stamps in their own states. Oh and yeah, did I mention we're flying your plane too? That's right. If you've flown on an airliner sometime in the last 10 years, chances are you trusted your life to a pilot on food-stamps. Do you know of any person capable of repaying student loans while on food-stamps?? No. We will all default. Turning 1/4 million dollar 20 year loans into $350K plans. In 2011, the average pilot income is $80K. We will never get out from under these loans now that our industry has been eviscerated by privatization, the destruction of the middle-class and the Great American Race to the Bottom.

Below is just ONE of my loans. I have 4 more just like it.

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

A video we put out a little while back. Check it out if you have not, already!

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

You know what…. Student loans will be stressing us out until we DIE! At age 65, I will never be able to pay them off. I would not have gone back to school at 50 years old to get n undergraduate degree and masters if I ad foreseen a debt of 90000. Pay what you can and live on!

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

What retirement?

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Over $ 150,000 in student loan debt

Graduated in 2011 . I needed to get something more substantial then a retail job . For over two years I sent out countless resumes to help relieve my $150,000 debt . I am still working the same retail job and suffering in my payments . I need to pay about 1000 a month in loan payments and my paycheck is about 1200 a month to pay for rent, food, and phone . Need help from my drowning situation

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Borrowed $81K for an undergraduate and master's degree; now owe $130,000!

(Sorry I don't have a picture, hopefully the subject line will suffice).

Funny I thought I was doing the right thing, a good thing, you know by educating myself and not being one of those people society likes to poke at living off government housing and food stamps.  Now at times I think I would have preferred the government housing and food stamp route.  Sure there may have been some other options, but not in my situation.  I have decided that I will never get these loans paid off and I will not kill myself trying to do the impossible.  Thankfully, I only have federal loans which qualify for the IBR plan - though at the 15% cap which is still a little stiff.  However, I know there are deferrments if I cannot make the 15% cap.  In 25 years (the term of the IBR plan), at 51 years old, I will either be dead or very old. Should  I remain alive, I am pretty certain when I draw SS that my payment for IBR will be close to or at zero. Yeah I know what some unlike minded folks might say (and I am not calling names here), that I should have done this or done that to avoid my situation in life.  Well I didn't and really couldn't.  I can't help I was born into a poor family, that I was raised during a time and with the mentality that you don't go to college - you get married young and had children.  So to those that say coulda or shoulda, bite me along with these student loans.

[occupystudentdebt-blog]

Pass HR 4071

My wife and I have $150k in debt, at an average rate of over 6%.  Most of it is federal loans.  To date we have paid about $10k, with most of that in interest.  

We both struggled to find jobs upon graduation in 2008 and at first took part time jobs paying around $10 an hour.  Over the past 4 years my wife was laid off once and I was laid off twice.

My wife now works at an inner city school and I am self employed in real estate.  We earn around $70k a year before taxes, insurance, soc. sec., etc., but even with our income based loan repayment we have over $1000 per month in student loan.  This has kept us from buying a home and starting a family.  We are currently living in my parents basement to help save money.

HR 4071 Would help save us thousands of dollars a year and help us to purchase a home and start a family.