tarheel91 said:
richardhutnik said:
I had student loan debt I paid down to around $32K shoot up over $50K (this is more than I originally borrowed) when I ended up losing my job with IBM in 2004. Work has been sporatic then, with the last full-time job I had was in 2007. This is with a Masters in Information Systems. I suggest anyone here who doubts the info I posted to go and see if you can find better numbers.
The field I got into on Masters level was said to have large demand prior to 2000. I followed every convention, and went with what was supposed to be a "sure thing". Well, it isn't.
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The fact that your anecdotal evidence lines up with this "study" doesn't confirm it. The fact of the matter is, from a statistics standpoint, the government's study is better. At least there are documented procedures and data that we can see. I'm not saying it's right, but it's better that a study based on "unpublished data" with no explained procedures.
Want to see what I'm talking about? I'll sample this forum, and so far I see no one has defaulted on their loans. Thus, I'll conclude that the government's numbers are far over the real number based on my "unpublished data."
The example is extreme, but if you don't have to tell anyone how you performed a study, it's very easy to manipulate it to say whatever you want. Hell, if you don't have to publish anything, why not make everything up and report numbers that say what you want to?
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The numbers aren't gone into much, or published, because those who have a stake in it don't want to let it know the default rate is higher than they are saying. If the truth gets out, they are going to be set up for problems.
Anyhow, here is an extension of this thread, by Student Loan Justice, on why the system needs to be reformed:
http://media.causes.com/ribbon/905871
