My teachers told me to go to university. I spent years working and going to school part-time. I ended up with a huge student loan and credit card debt.
I cannot get a job better than what I had without a degree. Only temporary receptionist, call centre, or data entry jobs. Some jobs turn me down because I have a degree. I make less money than I did without a degree. I need to get more university for a decent job but I cannot because of my debt.
I tried to find help; anything to relieve my debt. There is no help for a healthy white woman with a university degree. No programmes, no assistance, no nothing. I need to change my race, become crippled, get a drug addiction, or become a single mother before any government programme will touch me. I’m trapped and I will never get out of debt.
Why did the teahers at high school lie to me? I did everything they suggested to me. Ten years later I can barely pay my rent and feed myself.
Stop lying to students, teachers. Going to university will NOT help your students get ahead in life, it will only financially cripple them for life.
Tell your students to go to a trade school or nothing.
—In Debt Forever
This article appears in Nov 12-18, 2009.
It really depends on what kind of degree you get and what you want to do with your life. I’ll definitely agree that many people come out of university worse off than they were without a degree but lots more come away with careers in their area of interest / expertise.
The moral of the story here is that there are no guarantees in life. I’m sorry that your experiences have been so negative, hopefully things will turn around for you soon.
move.
This is why I haven’t gotten into any post secondary education (I graduated high school 4 years ago)
Join a government union. You will be overpaid, underworked and can miss as many sick days as you like.
It’s good work if you can get it bobby 🙂
An undergratuate degree is worth nothing unless you decide to go further with it. Your best bet is to go to community college. Far less money spent, more one on one with the teacher, you get a work term where you may just be hired on and you leave community college ready for the work force. Most people that attend community college do find jobs afterwards. Sorry your having difficulties.
Bobby33 – don’t hate, hater
I actually just dropped all my classes today, it was a waste of time. You get ahead in the world by who you know, not by what you know, in most cases anyways.
I wonder how much of the OP’s problem can be blamed on the present state of the economy (temporary). …and how much might have to do with Miles’ advice (up to the OP).
Also, I find it hard to believe that there are no “programmes” for women, but maybe we have advanced that far. Maybe soon we will start making decisions on government assistance (and hiring, and considering university applicants) blind to anything over which applicants have no control (sex, race, disease (to some extent)).
That said, I do feel for the OP. I hate to hear of someone working hard and not getting ahead.
Also, my impression is that school guidance counsellors do poorly at their supposed job of helping high school students understand the after-HS world. It’s very important, and they should be filling in the gaps for students whose parents etc. don’t pass on much about it. Up until high school graduation, everyone is roughly on the same path…and then millions of choices open up. That’s a huge transition.
Welcome back No Dogma.
I think university is oversold in high school. There are lots of ways to be successful and earn a good living without a university degree and entering the workforce 2-4 years early without 20-40K in debt can be really appealing.
However, if you have a degree, it can be a real asset, you just have to figure out where/how to sell yourself and your skills.
Not so fast. A degree may sometimes not appear to be worth much in the ads you see in the paper etc, without experience…but you definitely would have found it tougher to use any porfessional job site without one….stick with it, job searches can be extremely frustrating in this economy, in this city.
Having said that, I have two, and I’m now working as a long haul truck driver, lol. I wouldn’t trade this job in now for a cubicle/9-5 for all the tea in Richmond!
Clearly, it is also important to “dress for success”, at your job interview.
Have a look at “No Dogma”‘s power suit, now THAT’s an eye-catcher!
😉
There’s no help for single moms either, so don’t get knocked up!
(or at least there wasn’t in 2003) I hear ya, I don’t think I’ll ever be out of debt either…what we need in this country is Student Loans with no interest, at least then it would seem like I could reach that debt-free life in about 10-15 yrs.
BMF I have a relative who drives truck NL to BC and back and easily clears 6 figures a year, I can see why you wouldn’t change jobs. As for the OP, suck it up. Join a temp agency, get some experience, get hired on and go from there. It’s what I did when I had trouble getting a job with my degree. And now I have one. I swear that university degrees should come with a disclaimer like commercials which reads “results may vary.”
@ Miles:
Thanks. How could I stay away from this place?!
@ baD mR fRosTy:
Good call. That pic was taken the day I got my investment job. *economy joke!
Arg.
This is a tough one, especially with the state of the economy and the flood of Liberal Arts degrees out there.
I made the mistake of taking Politcal Science back in the 80s (Reagan! Communists! Woo Hoo!) , so I know how a wrong turn can push you waaaaay off track. There was a recession then, too, and the only options for arts graduates seemed to be those horrible “temporary” social services contracts that never increased in pay, yet could “evaporate” instantly on government whim.
The only thing I can add to the already full discussion about university vs college is this:
With college-level skills, the starting salaries can be comparitively high and you can often walk into a job immediately.
With university-level skills, things can be much more ambiguous (depending on what your degree is in)—however: even if you have to accept a part-time or entry level job at first, you have more ability to move up through the ranks into higher paying positions. You won’t be stuck being the receptionist forever—unlike some of the women I know with nothing more than grade 9, who will be on that front desk until the day they retire, and there won’t be any “Freedom 55” at their salary.
A general university education cannot “guarantee” you a job, but without it you are automatically considered ineligible for certain kinds of work.
Also, in many traditional trades, those “good” salaries can level off after just a few years, unless you become the business owner. In so-called “white collar” work, the salaries continue to increase late into your career, with people hitting very high earnings in their 40s and 50s when they move into management roles.
It’s a terrible time to be looking for work right now. All I can recommend to anyone who might be reading this is to keep your skills as current as possible, and try to keep in mind that things will be better soon.
If you are young and unattached, moving might not be an unreasonable option. No harm in seeing another part of the world.
Come to think of it, I think if I was just starting out now I would have become a dentist.
i would have become a cop and then a sherrif at the court house…luv you guys
chef school for me… were I to do it all again.
Odds of that happening are next2nil though.
double major @ acadia will do that to anyone without a trust fund.
i was a cook/chef for 25 yrs. the pay scale here sucks…but its a good travelin gig
I think the grass-is-greener effect can definitely take over when you consider what other jobs you might have pursued, but it is still a good idea to do so. Now…how do we pass info that on to the high school set?
By the way, the best thing to do might be what I think I’ve heard from baD mR fRosTy and paingirl: Try more than one thing. I will probably follow suit. I hear you live longer if you don’t work the same job all your life.
My brother is making in the $80,000 range after taking a year course at community college (he moved to Edmonton). My friend has a master’s plus a teaching degree, and he is making in the $50,000 range.
Since everyone is encourage to go to university, the trades are lacking. I have told my kids, unless there is something that you that you really feel you must follow, go to college.
University is not for everybody, and undergrad degrees in philosophy, english, psych etc might not get you very far. There are however good degrees that universities offer like computer science, engineering and business. I just graduated in May with a commerce degree which is proving to be valuable. My university made it mandatory to do 3, 4-month long job placements, so by the time I graduated I already had a year of business expereince and was able to get a great job with a company I really respect that would not have been possible without a degree.
To go or not to go to university is a personal decision. Only you know what’s best for you.
That’s why you go to Hah-vahd.
I got a degree to get a teaching degree, but I was out of money at that point. I did like B.M.F and got into the driving biz. I wouldn’t go back to anything office-related again, unless it’s Office Space. That movie still cracks me up.
One thing that IS kinda sad…is how folks seem to only go to university now with the eventual goal of a high(er) paying job.
Doesn’t anyone want to actually learn and study and write and publish anymore? It’s all about what “job” you can get.
Only degrees with specific focus like accounting, or pharmacy etc actually “train” you to do the job…or at least that’s how it SHOULD be.
Too many “modern” degree programs are WAY too specific for my tastes. At the undergraduate level, I believe folks should have to study a variety of science-related things to earn say a BsC…but these days programs are becoming more and more specific, that some degrees are almost just a 4-year technical/business/trade diploma, really, albeit a thourough one in that field.
Proof of this, I think, was found in a recent poll of Harvard Business school undergrads…3/5 could not name the decade of the American Civil War, as an example…the list went on…
If anything, uni should teach people a love of reading, without that, it’s just a bit of a waste, IMO…
read good lord bmf…i took organic chem. at the mount because i was interested and wanted to learn…i didn’t get anything except a bigger brain
My kids were all taught the love of reading at the elementary school age. (Thank you Mrs. White and Mrs. Boudreau and me = )
But, you are right, BMF, I don’t think university is a complete waste even if you cannot get a job in your field. At least, it isn’t if you were taught to think critically and to love learning. Even learning to communicate successfully (write well) will aid you in any job.
PDF= I waited until 2 weeks ago to watch that movie just because 2 people I knew swore it was worth it- that movie is HYSTERICAL.
Don’t touch the stapler!
The only thing worth less than an undergraduate degree is an MBA. Trust me…MBA are not worth shit all these days. Well they are worth 20K down the drain.
Liverpool, my sister has an MBA and hasn’t even be able to get an interview in 2 years. They are fucking useless. I guess it looks good on a business card but not when you have to get those cards printed on your own because you can’t find a job. Universities are a rip off.
Newsflash – mba have not been worth the napkin they are written for at least 5 years. experience, contacts and interviewing skills are all that will help you climb the ladder. comapnies have figured out that mba are just a money grab and don’t teach people anything. most people i know with them have shit jobs and only got them because they wanted to delay the real world for another year or 2. go to taiwan 2 teach. at least you’ll make 20K not blow it
You know, while the MBA (Masters of Business Administration) is held in less esteem than it once was, probably due to over supply, the MPA (Masters of Public Admistration) is quite in demand as a credential these days.
The focus is on management within government and public organizations, which will be facing massive retirements of senior staff over the next 5 years.
So, if you have a head for finance and management, and would rather work for government rather than private industry, the MPA can be a ticket to that kind of career.
It’s a hard slog though, and from what I have seen a bit dry, so it’s not a path for everyone. But it’s a good option for the right person.
It’s because the job market in this part of the world is completely saturated with people with degrees similar to yours. Did you blissfully cruise through your entire uni career never thinking what you were gonna do? Who was going to hire you?
Someone else said it above, there are plenty of undergrad degrees that will get you good work relatively easily – any engineering or computer science job, for instance. Yes, these are no cake walks, but post secondary isn’t supposed to be. It’s supposed to be hard as fuck, that’s why almost any degree used to guarantee a good job.
As it is, you and way too many other people chose easier paths, and are now stuck with a piece of paper that is valuable only as a stepping stone to another piece of paper that MIGHT be actually worth something. Or you might get lucky and meet someone who knows someone.
I really do feel for the OP, but anyone who still places all blame 10 years later on their high school teachers for personal failure REALLY needs to take a deeper look at the past decade of personal choices.
I’ve been waiting 10 years for the massive retirements of senior staff over the next 5 years. That whole “everyone’s going to retire soon” line is the biggest bit of BS I was fed in University.
Also, I think your degree is only worth as much as you are. It’s your choices and your effort that will make you successful or not, not that piece of parchment that anyone can get with enough time and money.
I’m pretty much in the same boat OP! 24 and cannot for the life of me find work in my field after months of searching and just over a year of related experience. I specifically didn’t do a “general arts” degree because I realized they were worthless, but I didn’t do an engineering, computer science, or one of the more difficult degrees either. I’m not asking to be a rocket scientist making a six figure salary. Before I got into my program, everything looked quite good: lots of opportunities in a growing field which is also considered interesting (not to everyone, but at least to me it was) and decent paying. I guess it was a bit too good to be true! Now, well, there’s hardly any work, unless you have the “minimum two years experience” everywhere seems to be asking for. I do think the economy has a lot to do with it since previous graduates in my program did not have that much of a problem. My field is also, I must say, not something considered an absolute necessity. They say it’s an important line of work, but not many people could really argue we’re absolutely necessary. Obviously, a lot of these “extra” positions are trimmed in a recession.
Anyway, I do understand your bitterness and why you are discouraged because I definitely feel the same way a lot of the time, and I think a lot of helpful advice has been offered here which I too will take in, with a grain of salt of course. I’m actually surprised that more people haven’t told you to stop being such a sook – it’s harder than you may think, people! And RubyJane, how much would it cost to have you as my personal employment counsellor?
I think the key to having good job security or high pay is to do something that most people find repulsive or uninteresting. (vide: RubyJane’s last comment) The less something appeals to the general public, the less competition there will be for it, and the more valuable willing practitioners of it will be.
Maybe the moral is that you can have money or a fulfilling job, but not both.
Maybe your choice is to either be happy not being rich, or to try to buy happiness if you are well-off but unhappy.
…psyche!
Actually, I like the advice that if you make your passion your job, you’ll never work a day in your life.
PS — qpmzwonxeibcruv, spill! What’s the field? Hopefully sharing that is not TMI. If it is, though…no problem.
OOOOOOOooooooooooooooooohhhhhh zZz, Acadia assraped my bank account too, my friend…
So I feel your pain, bud *pats zZz on the back*
I support anyone that takes the time and effort to finish some post secondary education…uni, college, trade school, whatever. It’s never a waste of time to find it within yourself to focus and complete a program…
…and, in fact, that may be the most important thing about a general undergrad BA or BsC…the fact that you were able to stick with something for 3, 4 (10), whatever years and get it finished. Too many folks seem to be thinking about it the wrong way…”Uni is BS ’cause it doesn’t get me one of them there good-payin’ high-fallutin jobs!”
If some ONLY wants to go to Uni to learn how to do something specific…for the increased “job prospects”, they’re missing some of the point, IMO.
Future employers may be just as interested in the fact that you perservered, than what you actually studied. That’s certainly the case for a B Eng…many engineering graduates end up in completely different fields, or as managers, business owners, etc etc…but they would have not likely got in the door (or got financing for that business plan) if they didn’t have the proof that they can stick with something, and succeed.
The future econonmy is not a good time to “drop out” of post-secondary schooling…even if it means getting into the workforce a few years earlier so you can get that iPod/flar screen/new car…The factory/fishplant jobs ain’t a ‘comin’ back! Why am I talkin’ like Davy Crocket? …so many questions…
“I support anyone that takes the time and effort to finish some post secondary education”
Agreed, mostly, but I would add “except most people who have Mommy and Daddy pay for it”. If you don’t pay for something, you don’t appreciate it enough. That’s a life truth, if you ask me. You just know the students who pay their own way through schooling are not the ones treating it like a joke.
Ohh alright, here I spill, though I’m sure if someone I know is reading this they’ll be able to pick off who I am since it’s not a big program in a not so big city and I tend to have a loud mouth in person, but whatever – just know that any potentially embarassing stuff I’ve posted here is not true.
The degree is…
Planning. Urban Planning. Known as a “Bachelor of Community Design” (BCD) at Dalhousie for some odd reason (rather than just, you know, PLANNING like it’s called everywhere else), and also known as a dumbed-down Civil Engineering degree, at least by Engineers, but it is not, I repeat IS NOT, exactly like playing “Sim City.” Very basically, and perhaps only in certain streams of planning, we aim to make places more “vibrant” and “sustainable” based on appropriate government policies, strategies, by-laws, guidelines, etc., and apparently, there’s a shortage of planners just about everywhere! Always going to need more planners! Yep… yeeeaaaaahhhhh…
But hey, who knows, maybe it really is just me. If so, I’d at least like to know what I’m doing wrong!
Actually, that sounds like a very interesting field.
…and an increasingly important one.
…and one that the world s probably only very slowly coming to realize is important.
Besides one player slapping down a community all at once (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebration,_…), though, I wonder how you are supposed to co-ordinate everything needed for something so big. Also, would people in your field mostly work in the public or private sector?
“”Planning. Urban Planning. Known as a “Bachelor of Community Design” (BCD) “”
That sounds like a ticket to travel, actually, for a few years anyway…
Another thing would be to booger off to some far-away land where they need help with water/sewer/communications infrastructure etc (here, I show I have no idea what you do)…even a semi “volunteer” position stocks your resumé…
Plus the opportunity to travel and catch rare tropical diseases!
qpmz…no wonder you can’t get a job like that in Halifax. By the looks of things, I don’t think ANYONE is involved in urban planning round here. Certainly some opportunities to make a name for yourself around here, as long as you can get someone to listen to you.
Jesus Christ 10 years and you’re still in financial hardship? Declare bankruptcy already, you’re past the time limit by 3 years if you’re not still sucking on an educational teat.
For the vast majority of us, work is simply a means to live comfortably. Only a a few people actually get to work in the field they have always dreamt of, so the onus is on us individually, to make a go at whatever your dream is, but in the event of failure in doing this, find something else to do to make some moolah.
SwampDonkey, declaring bankruptcy DOES NOT get rid of student loans!
Miles, one of the problems I see on a daily basis are retired employees getting hired back to do the same job AND collect a pension, which means less positions opening up to young blood…it sucks when you look around and all you see is grey hair and bald heads!
OP, what kind of silly propaganda have you been reading to assume you need to “change your race” and that there’s no help for a “healthy white woman”, etc?? Don’t tell me you really buy into that shit! If you do, perhaps your education hasn’t been quite so good, afterall. Have you ever seen the movie “Amercian History X”? You sound exactly like the main charecter’s dad (not a compliment)! I’m sorry that you’ve had a bad experience but don’t blame it on the fact that you’re a white woman! I’m a white woman whose education paid off….and hey, I know lots and lots more just like me! And funny thing- I have single mother friends, black and asian and every one of them struggled just as much as me or any of the white girls I know to pay their tuition, get through a diffcult university program, and find a job! So get over yourself. Lots of people are in the same boat as you- male, female, crippled, foreign, white, black….ESPECIALLY now and ESPECIALLY in Nova Scotia!!
Hey qpmz . . .
I wouldn’t be very good as a career counsellor I’m afraid!
: )
I only pick up choice little bits and pieces of info here and there from friends and colleagues who stumble upon good fortune now and then.
But you know, as cheesy as this title may sound, “What Colour is Your Parachute?” is still a pretty good guide to helping people choose a career path. And the illustrations make it kind of fun.
Too true Lorilulu…why can’t these old fellers enjoy their retirement? They should be out playing golf and bingo and going on cruises and complaining about teenagers, not hogging all the jobs.
I heard somewhere that nowadays we are extending human life by a few months for every year that passes (and that rate is going up, of course). That might be why jobs aren’t opening up to ‘new blood’ as quickly as they used to.
…but look at the upside!
And about old people WANTING to work longer, I think it’s the same thing as the switch from one parent in a family working to two. It may have its social ills, but to the people doing it, it seems necessary.
I’m really just kidding Dogma…I don’t support mandatory retirement at all…I’m just upset that I was lied to…I was told that there would be plenty of jobs in my field because of all the “retirements” that were expected over the last 10 years….it didn’t happen so now my field is way more competitive.
It’s funny you say that, because I think mandatory retirement might not be such a bad idea.
Actually, I’m imagining a rule that says “Once you take a pension, you have to at least retire from THAT job/field.”
…sounds hard to enforce, but I think a lot of good comes from people leaving their little bubbles, interacting with people they normally wouldn’t, and providing fresh perspectives.
“Once you take a pension, you have to at least retire from THAT job/field.”
Now THAT I would agree with. I just don’t think you need to kick a perfectly functioning Joe or Jane out the door when they hit 65.
…and with that plan, you are not discriminating against people for anything they can’t help (age). They ultimately have the decision.
That decision, by the way, for any pension-eligible people out there, can be understood as: Do I want to take a big pay cut?
If you make $ 60 000 per year when you become eligible for a 40% pension, every year you work beyond that you are only earning $ 36 000. (The other $ 24 000 you would get anyway.) …so you are taking a 40% or 24k per year pay cut. Are you sure there isn’t some other job you might like more and can make 36k at, thereby not affecting your income at all?
70… after that they should just be kicking back and writing off all the orgy’s and travel on their bucket list.
PK. I do expect to be living large in 10 more years when all my debt is payed down and I start to creep back into the black.
until then, it’s RED city all the way… paycheque to paycheque and creditors heckling me every week.
I definately don’t agree with kicking people out the door when they’re 65, that’s just crazy, but its getting harder and harder to move up when EVERYONE is now retiring for a month to get the full pension and then returning and being hired by the same boss to do the same job. I think if you still have knowledge and skills to offer then maybe you should only be able to be re-hired for training/job shadowing for new employees.
Back to the OP, my advice to you is to find THE ideal place for you and get in any way you can…I’ve heard lots of success stories about people starting as a cleaner and ending up in management or even better. I think if you get your foot in the right door, the possibilties are endless.
People don’t *want* to work longer, they’re *stuck* with working longer. If we were taught what the *cost* of retirement is instead of just an *age*, we wouldn’t have to work as long… don’t get me started on people signing 35 and 40 year mortgages at age 35+…
zZz, creditors hounding you I could understand, but heckling?! That’s just mean!
😉
Some of us (myself included) will have no choice but to work into our later years precisely because of the rough start we had at the beginning of our working life: recessions, lack of job mobility, entire career fields popping into and out of need every few years. (I pity all the people who got sold on “Recreation Administration as THE upcoming career back in the mid-80s. Now THAT was a miscalculation!)
Nothing would make me happier than “Freedom 55” (or even better Freedom 45!) but it probably won’t be possible.
The big pensions and benefits are not going to be there for us, and they are even disappearing for those who thought they were entitled to them after a lifetime of working for large corporations.
My advice is to keep your debt load low and keep your skills up to date so that you have a source of income for as long as possible.
And get educated on how investments *actually* work…
re: debt load
It should go without saying, but living beyond your means is inviting cat-food dinners at 80.
Gidget, what do you mean? How do investments *not* work?
…serious question. What do you think people are assuming that’s not true?
lorilulu: Oh why then great student loan sage, does it say that it will on the Federal website regarding it? Yes, it does get rid of student loans, you just have to wait 7 years before filing after the end of your full or part time studies.
Maybe the rules have changed, but I was also of the understanding that declaring bankruptcy did not release you from student loan obligations. I guess I need to research it more.
Keep in mind that we don’t have Debtor’s Prison in Canada, and you can’t get blood from a stone, so after a certain time period some debts are declared uncollectable . . . I don’t think Student Loans can hound (or heckle) you forever.
Heckling does seem out of line, even for the assholes who work for collection agencies . . .
But bankruptcy doesn’t do you a whole lot of favours in the long run.
Seriously though, if you are smart enough and ambitious enough to go to university in the first place I think you should be able to figure out how to get a job that can a least pay the bills. It may not be a dream job, but it’s better than going bankrupt.
No Dogma;
I was saying that investments *do* work – if you know *how* they work. Nobody ever taught a “finance 101” class where I went to school, so I had to go out and learn about things on my own…
Most of my clients think “RRSPs don’t work” because they put away $10K for a couple of years and then bitch about the tax when they take it out to put a downpayment on a car or something. They think they’re a short-term investment…
Or their friendly neighborhood banker encouraged them to invest in Savings Bonds or a GIC and then they wonder why their $200/month for 25 years amounts to the equivalent of 2 years salary BEFORE taxes… and they think they should be able to *retire* on that?
And don’t get me started on the life insurance policies with investments attached…
Miles: no kidding! I used to work 2 jobs and just slammed away at mine. If you’re completely screwed and about to lose your wits out of it though, bankruptcy is a way to get yourself back together. I’d like to know how “healthy white woman” is still so buggered after a decade.
The minimum payment on my student loan is $400 per month and that’s only one of them, my husband is currently out of work, + 2 kids, + 2 dogs, etc. etc.
I have an awesome job and struggle to make those payments, so I can see how “healthy white woman” is still buggered.
I stand by my statement. I have to fill out sheets every year accounting for my expenses per month so I can justify the payments I’m making… I do like the occasional meal here and there and sometimes I can’t quite find all the clothes I need at frenchy’s and haven’t had a raise in a while, so yeah, you’re not getting more from me……
they take my income tax return against my student loan every year, never a cheque, just a letter saying it’s gone….
they call once or twice a month… so much I’ve stopped answering my land line….
I think that qualifies as heckling. I mean, do they think I’m just sitting on 25K that I ‘could’ hand over but would rather fuck with them instead???? I’m not coming by that kinda green overnight… so leave me be. you’re getting your payments as agreed upon every month..so fuck off.
You could always join the Navy and start working on your alcohol intake, they don’t call them pukers for nothing!!
“Also, my impression is that school guidance counsellors do poorly at their supposed job of helping high school students understand the after-HS world”
High school counsellors don’t do poorly… They don’t do ANYTIHNG.
I also have no interest on going back to school; I’m enjoying life as is right now (I’ve travelled a LOT). When ever I do manage to go back to college/university/ whatever I’ll probably be the cougar sittin in the back of the class 😀
lorilulu, dido. … “and that’s only one of them” is too true.
I pay as much in loans as I do rent.
can’t wait until they’re cleared so I can start actually using a savings account for
……wait for it…..
SAVING.
Hey zZz, I was under the impression that they were taking my income tax return/GST/child tax/whatever because I just wasn’t making the minimum payment but 2 years ago I got a big raise and decided to bite the bullet and give them what they wanted, but they still send me those letters saying my $4,300 is gone to Department of Education….that really pisses me off! Especially when all my friends are planning their trips down south with their income tax returns. I’m not saying I shouldn’t have to pay it back, but give a girl a break ffs, drop the interest off my student loan!!!!! PLEAAASSSSE
I’m confused now. why are they doing that? did you miss payments or are you not making the minimum payments they set out after you graduated or something? I just pay what we agreed upon and they don’t call me at all.
People sitting in a class of 250 taking psych., anthro, etc. , with every uni. between here and the end of civilization doing the same, have an extremely hard time getting work unless their first name happens to be “Doctor” and their last name happens to be “Phil”. People sitting in a classroom of 15 learning specialized work get hired. Co-incidence?
I’m sick of the “anthro. /Psy./Eng. etc. all find work” bullshit served out by the Profs. Learn to recognize a University’s cash cow when you see it. If you don’t finish your first term with an A+++++ average, it isn’t going to happen. Get Out Of Humanities, or end up in a permanent headset career.
Well I’ve gotten different stories from different departments one said that the garnish of my GST or income tax return or whatever would be lifted in Oct. of 08, when that didn’t happen I called again and was told that they were allowed to continue to take that money until the loan has been paid back in full…so I’m confused too, I don’t know wtf they’re doing. It wasn’t this hard to get the loan….why do they make it so hard to pay back???
I concur. can’t get anywhere with them. I have so many names and numbers from their departments….
I wanted to put the cheque towards the high interest credit cards a couple years back but they just took er.
fuck letting him save on interest so we can get ours quicker… just take what we can get now and let him squirm.
what a pain in the ass.
Gee I wish my creditors would allow me not to pay when I cry poor. You borrowed it, you repay it.
With interest rates as low as they are now, if you have the option to consolidate student loans and credit card debt to a line of credit or another loan or something it might be a good idea. I know you lose the tax break for interest paid on student loans, but I crunched the numbers for my situation and I am saving money by moving my student loan to a line of credit.
Miles, that might be viable…. I’ll have a look at er.
and a big ol’ fuck you to Bro.
we ARE paying it back…. as agreed upon. they just like to bug the shit outta us for no sweet fucking reason. we AGREED 400 a month… so leave it be and take the 400 every month no sweat… but don’t take the entire 4300 income tax cheque. that’s almost the year’s payments in one month… so I’m effectively paying twice the agreed amount per year.
12*400 = 4800 NOT 11*400 + 4300 = 8700
I agree the loan will be paid quicker but that’s hardly ethical.
I’m happy to pay it back with time under the arrangement decided but sometimes I’d rather prioritize my debts in a way that makes more sense.
doi
“fuck letting him save on interest so we can get ours quicker”
Credit card debt should be avoided like the plague. I wouldn’t recommend a credit card unless you are paying it OFF (not just down) EVERY month.
…and you already know that. Breaking the agreement is the worst, but it’s a crying shame that they won’t let you pay off the highest-interest loans first. So short-sighted.
Seriously though zZz…I don’t understand WHY they are bugging you and taking your tax return money. It’s none of my business, I know, so don’t say anything you don’t want to, but what are they calling you for if you are paying on time? Why are they taxing your income tax cheque if you are not behind on your payments? Are your loans through the new Canada student loan centre or from when Royal Bank or CIBC were handling them?
I just find it unbelievable that they can take MORE than your agreed upon repayment plan.
Miles, they also just recently started taking my child tax benefit, and I had always heard people say that was the one thing they couldn’t touch. ???? They do what they want…I can’t stop them!!??
I can’t speak for ZzZ, but I found out after making 3 years of payments that all of those payments only went to part of my loan, and the other part was only getting money when income tax time rolled around….I was dumbfounded….I only applied for a loan at one spot, why didn’t anyone tell me I’d have to pay it back to two different places?? It’s a big ass scam, some people get hit harder than others, I guess.
http://www.canadastudentdebt.ca/default.as…
yeah lorilulu. we got porked in the bunghole big time…
am with no dogma on the credit cards… have that under control now, but took way longer than it had to because of the fucking student loan guys bending me over.
i feel your pain
im a 25 year old women getting through my degree alone too. i have no help from my parents, only student loans and the 2 jobs i work just to pay my rent.
for the past 2 years (since moving to halifax) i have been scraping by, barely paying my rent, using the school foodbank and generally being in a state of depression over the fact that im living paycheque to paycheque with no room for unexpected purchases (art school supplies, getting sick etc..) My student loan was paying my tuition but only giving me $300-400 for the rest of the semester to live off of (not even one months rent) Because I also have to work while going to school, I can only take 12 credits (which costs the same as 15!) each semester which reflects in my loan.
i dont qualify for a bank loan because i have no assets and theres only so many times they will increase the limit on my credit card when i have zero dollars to pay on it every month. My school guidance counsellor suggested i start coming to school part time (which ill admit it took me a long time to agree to – this meant that i would be living here for an extra year just to finish my degree.. all that rent $) In turn, my student loan would be the same because my need was still just as great, but the cost of my tuition would be much lower, giving me an extra $1000 a semester to get by on.
I took her advice and enrolled part time. When my student loan got here she informed me that she gave me the wrong advice and because Im a Newfoundland student, I wont even get the grant portion of my loan anymore. Im even worse off than I was last year and now I have to do this fucking dance for another god damn year!
Student loans make me wanna choke someone. I skip my classes so I can pick up extra shifts to pay for the classes that Im skipping.
And to think I wanted to get my Masters…. how the fuck would I even imagine paying for that?