Getting A Grip On Soaring Student Loan Debt

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As part of WBUR’s series on the rising costs of college, and the ways student loans are affecting graduates, we talk with an expert on loan management.

Guests:

  • Michael Ryan, vice president of borrower services at American Student Assistance
  • Monica Brady-Myerov, WBUR reporter
  • anonymous

    Can you ask the guests about what to do after you have defaulted? I’ve been making payment via wage garnishment for the past five years but am concerned about fees and the fact that 25% of my income is taken. I want to pay what I owe but think that I’m currently getting screwed.

  • Derek

    Sometimes there is a disconnect between what parents want for their children and what they can afford. My parents encouraged me to go to any number of expensive private 4-year institutions, tell me “we’ll figure out how to pay for it later.”

    Well, I opted to go to UMass instead and I’ve never regretted it, especially when it comes to my student debt-burden, which is well below most of my friends.

  • John

    I thought that the point of Radio Boston was to discuss local issues not to rebroadcast stories from Morning Edition and then have a couple calls on the topic. A full 15-20 min of questions with the student loan expert would be more valuable. Mention on Radio Boston that the story is archived on wbur.org and maybe play some excerpts to introduce the topic but I’m going to stop listening if significant amounts of the show are repeated content.

  • anonymous

    Isn’t such massive student loan debt ensuring that the backwards momentum engendered by the financial crisis continues, moving the “American Dream” even further out of reach? Social commentators tracking my generation note how we’re waiting longer and longer to settle into those trappings of adulthood – get through a good college, get a good job, then a house, a spouse and the 2.5 kids, ideally by the time you hit your early to mid-thirties – but for a great number of us, the price of admission to that lifestyle is often tied up in student loan bills for a decade or so.

    For this generation, it seems that the American Dream is a moving target and we chase it to our detriment if we don’t first come to grips with the new financial realities. So where has the system broken? Was it ever as whole as we thought?

  • http://www.wbur.org Meghna Chakrabarti

    John,

    You’re clearly a close listener and seem to have a producer’s brain. Thanks for your comment. I see your point about rebroadcasting stories from Morning Edition. However, since not everyone may have heard a story in the morning, we’re always looking for the best way to be able to tell them the full story on Radio Boston (which might be through a rebroadcast) while not boring those who did hear pieces earlier.

    That said, your comment caught my eye because after the program aired today, we discussed exactly your idea (and even before seeing your comment) of enriching a bigger conversation with smaller excerpts. There are many times where that will be the better way to serve listeners. So, John, I encourage you… don’t give up on us just yet. When it comes to things worth talking about on Radio Boston, we’re aiming for an embarrassment of riches.

  • John

    Thanks for the response. I know the show is still new and just wanted to offer my suggestion.

  • http://www.wbur.org Meghna Chakrabarti

    John,

    No problem. Thanks for your keen ears! And please do keep sending in those suggestions. By the way, I really did mean it when I said seems like you listen like a producer. Lesson? Never, ever underestimate the WBUR audience. Not that I would, of course!

  • med student

    I will be 400,000 or more in debt when I finish residency. I am in my first year of med school–loans are 71,000 without interest.

  • Scott

    At MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, we’ve established a fund to encourage graduates to go into public service careers and award two $10K prizes every year to recent alums to help them retire the debt they incurred while earning their MCP degree. Seems like a good model for addressing this problem…

Hosts Meghna Chakrabarti and Anthony Brooks introduce us to newsmakers, big thinkers and artists and bring us stories of relevance to Bostonians here and around the region. Live every weekday at 3.

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