(Newswire.net — April 21, 2020) —
Anyone who has paid any attention to the news recently has likely seen plenty of information related to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Every part of the economy is suffering. This includes the healthcare industry, which is being overworked, to the retail section of the economy which isn’t seeing any work at all. Sadly, one segment of the population that has been overlooked is our students. Whether it is high school students, college students, or graduate students, everyone has been forced to engage in “distance learning.” While this might sound great in theory, students are still taking out loans to complete their education. Student loans are a major issue and they cannot be overlooked during this time of crisis.
While the government has suspended interest on their loans during this difficult time, not every student is able to cover the cost of his or her education with government loans alone. Sometimes, reports davidboehrerlaw.com, the federal graduate plus loan simply isn’t enough. This is particularly true for those who take out loans for undergraduate work and then have to follow this up with graduate school, such as medical or law school. For these students, says stromlawyers.com, they might end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Some students try to pursue loan forgiveness by targeting an underserved area. In this situation, students might be able to get their loans forgiven by practicing in a rural community. While this sounds great in theory, the reality is that a shockingly low percentage of student loans are actually forgiven using this method. Students might be lured into believing this is a viable path when, in reality, it is not. Students can be sorely disappointed if they fall behind on their loans because they think they are going to be forgiven. Then, they find out they actually owe more. Furthermore, this forgiveness only applies to government loans. This does not apply to private loans or the interest on them.
A similar problem can arise when students engage in something called income-based repayment plans. This allows students to pay a lower amount than is required during times when their income is down. Sadly, this also means that students might end up paying money while the amount they owe is still going up. This is because the money they are paying is not enough to cover the interest on the loans. These are major problems that need to be addressed. There needs to be a major shift in the way higher education is handled in this country and the leaders of this generation need to step up and take charge.