UCBChemEGrad

I read the article. God that's sad.

bdmrad

tragic, but I doubt the loans were his only problem.

lkf725

I may have missed it, but why can a person with poor credit not be hired easily? It seems that such a person would be a reliable employee since he really needs the money.

It doesn't really say what Jason was doing in the time between ages 21 and 35. Was he employed? Was he being treated for depression? He certainly couldn't have been working on his masters degree for 14 years. A note for student graduates: if you send out dozens of resumes without a single bite, you need to repackage yourself and possible be willing to look at other jobs and locations.

Also, I noticed from the article that two pharmaceutical companies were interested in him at the time of his death. It is so important to follow up on applications and resumes persistantly with phone calls, each and every one. And sometimes multiple times.

goaliedad

Two areas that would definitely give a person a problem getting hired with poor credit would be any job requiring a high level security clearance and any financial jobs with access to significant money. Probably not where he was applying, but beyond that, large employers find that people with poor credit often turn up to be employees with other problems (substance abuse, family problems, etc.) that could roll over into the job. Unfortunately, it is more expedient for the HR department to filter them out rather than find out why their credit score is so lousy.

3bm103

My son applied for a job as a teller at a bank and they ran his credit rating. Seems reasonable, but something kids need to know. They can, and will, do a background check, a drug test, and a DMV check. And not just jobs at banks. A sprinkler company a friend's son applied to the summer before college ran a DMV check. He was hired but his friend was not because of the points on his license.

joecollegedad

bdmrad said--
tragic, but I doubt the loans were his only problem.


The student's mom said--
Jason is dead...<of the loan company>... "You are part of the reason he took his own life.''



This thread is related to that other cc thread about the student who 'does not want to pay back her loans' after choosing a fancy LAC and majoring in anthro, I believe. It has brought out similar responses: the people who indict the system, people who blame the student, and people who blame the parents.

One thing that is different is that in this case, the parents did not step in and bail the student out (probably did not have the means). For all those who advise a 'tough love' approach to these kinds of things, please see a distinct end state of that approach. The stakes are high. Even for a state school, ISU's *avg* indebtedness is $17k, I believe. This person probably did not have have as much means as the *avg*, so carried a higher debt.

In the end, realistic self knowledge, especially of financial means to pay for college, BEFORE the ball starts rolling and gets out of control, is especially indicated.

----But such calm rational analysis is very difficult: there is a hyper competitive job market staring at a student, costs of the response to that hyper competition - higher education - going WAY above inflation, AND without a proper, proportionate support by that which has a compelling interest to educate the most people that can be educated, the State.

lkf725

Thanks goaliedad! My naivety is showing.

mojojojo69

It said that he was hired between 21 and 35, the only problem was that he didnt want a job in his profession because the collectors would want to take all his paycheck away, or something like that; so basically, he was earning very little.

goaliedad

lfk,

Not a problem. BTW, I hear that in some states they use credit checks as part of getting auto insurance. I guess the actuaries have decided that people with bad credit histories are also bad drivers. Oi!

UCBChemEGrad

The Federal loans can only be garnished up to 15% of disposable pay.

I'm not sure what the private loans would garnish.

07DAD

Realize that a $65,000 indebtedness for his undergraduate and post graduate education could have been paid back at $500 or less a month in those 12 years. (12 mths X $500 X 12 years =$72,000). A 40 hour a week job at $5.00 an hour would have provided that.

The article stated: "While relatives acknowledge Yoder had fought depression on and off for years,..." Also his mother's statement that debt collection efforts were part of the reason he took his life indicates there were other things going on.

The article also said that after his death there were two contacts made with employment offers in his field. Repayment of an educational loan is not (nor rationally should be) limited to income in your field!

The article revealed he did not want to take a job outside his field (for fear of garnishment of wages).

DISCLAIMER: The following is not legal advice. I find it hard to believe that he knew about wage garnishment, but did not know that his wages could be garnished whether the employment was in his field or not. Wage garnishment has to leave the person enough to live on.

Sending out resumes does not give anyone a pass. The job market changes all the time. Demand in your field is a variable everyone experiences. Lack of demand does not excuse you from getting a job doing something "outside your field."

It is sad, but the guy seems to have done nothing to meet his obligations.

The "government" that is supposed to provide this affordable education is just you and me and our tax dollars. Personally, if it was a government loan, it should be paid back. Each "bad loan" that a private lender has to write off results in higher interest rates and/or less loan dollars for other students.

standrews

Perhaps it is time that a separate subcategory under the "Financial Aid & Scholarships" forum for "College Loans & Debt". While access to loans may constitute financial aid, the loans them self are not financial aid, any more than a mortgage or car loan is financial aid. The loan burden upon students and their families is growing. This thread is an extreme example, but one that I fear may become more common. Students need to understand that loan is debt that must be repaid. That fact cannot be overemphasized.

There is a new report out on student indebtedness. It received mention on insidehighered.com

The 15-page report is here:
http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org/...port_FINAL.pdf

mojojojo69

07dad, are you rich or something? stop defending the monster (the companies + banks)

Anyways, back to your argument, i dont think he would have been able to pay it off in 12 years like you claimed. He debt was around 100,000, not 75. And either way, there is something called "interest" and u dont know how high his rates were.

2by2

I still say part of the problem is that our kids rich or poor feel entitled to too many things. Too many times we the parents are afraid to step in and say NO. The most important thing that has to be done is to educate the kids about the process, I think there was something on the news a few years ago where the gal went to a high priced LAC, took out 200,000 in loans and wanted to be and was a teacher. I will say- there aren't too many loan companies that are going to sit down with her and say "is this a wise choice"?
That is somebody elses job. Yes our kids may be 18 or 21 and young adults but the sink or swim theory only works if you taught them how to swim first!!

dusty

This thread and the one of the daughter who refused to pay her student loans are the reason I do not post. Do any of you or your mother live in a trailor? Who knows the difficulties, mentally, monetary or otherwise that faced this young man. How preposterous of anyone to engage in "he was probably"...when none of us knows. Frankly, with all the responses to the daughter who refused to pay back her student loans, the crisis and warped system of college loans could have been on a path to being revamped had the posters directed their energy to applying pressure to loan system rather than hammering about whether the daughter had graduated. Did this young man have health
insurance to get counseling? Who knows. For the few who showed compassion in their responses, I thank.