Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Please educate and enlighten me, wise C-D'ers: what is with all these people that continue to get numerous Associate's Degree's (two-year degree's) one after the other so that they can stay in school and not have to start paying back their school loans?
And how is it that they get extra money? What I mean is, some students are talking about how they receive more school loan money that is needed to pay their tuition and books, they actually go shopping with this money. ?
I recently began taking classes and going back to school. (I was a housewife/full-time mom for many years, kids are older now so it was time...) and I am not exaggerating when I say that it's almost every day I meet someone new at school who is on their second or third associates degree because they wanted to keep receiving school loan money without having to begin paying it back. Or they change programs so that they can stay in school longer.
I spoke with one of my instructors about it tonight in class. She explained that the reason they do not go on and get a 4-year B.S. degree (instead of multiple two-year degrees) is because once you have your 4-year degree, you cannot receive school loans for a two year degree. They know this, so they never go on. They just repeat two-year degrees.
???
And why is this OK and who pays for this? I'm guessing taxpayers...
And why not go on, get your 4-year degree, and then just keep going on and get your master's, etc. Why just keep returning for two-year degrees that you're not even going to use?
Especially with the increasing rates and just overall expense... and as far as I know bankruptcy doesn't wipe out school loans. What are these people doing to themselves in the long-run? What are they costing tax-payers?
This is befuddling to me. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts.
I don't get it either. However, in the end, they are the ones stuck with the debt, and you can ask my mom about that... they are taking student loan payments out of her social security checks! (She is 70 years old!)
I screwed up a bit with student loans and the pell grant because of program changes and changing my major but it wasn't intentional and I am not happy with the debt I will have upon graduation.
I haven't known anyone personally who did what you describe but remember, everyone has a lifetime max they can borrow and they'll hit theirs and be worse off for it with multiple associate degrees, most likely! They probably don't want to move on to a 4 year university because of the increased tuition costs as well, but again I don't understand an endless acquisition of associate degrees.
As far as "extra money" goes, you get what you get based on what year of school you are in. You are able to borrow X amount as a freshman/sophomore, then X as a junior/senior, and more if you are an independent student. The thing is, "independent" students can be someone with 2 kids and high rent, or someone with no kids and living with a significant other who pays all the bills. So, whether or not they have shopping money as a result depends on what else they have to pay for. I can see a younger student, living with someone else, having "extra" $$ galore in this situation but on the other hand, I took out student loans as an older student, mom of three, so I wouldn't have to work full time while in school full time, and could stick to part time work. The loan funds made it so that I could reasonably count on having rent and utilities paid and keep my transportation going as well as being able to pay tuition and books... not "shopping money" for me, so it depends on the person and their situation really.
Thanks Sally - that was some good insight. It does make sense in your situation - take out extra money so you don't have to work while in school since you have kids.
I didn't know that they would take school loan money out of your SS - interesting.
Please educate and enlighten me, wise C-D'ers: what is with all these people that continue to get numerous Associate's Degree's (two-year degree's) one after the other so that they can stay in school and not have to start paying back their school loans?
And how is it that they get extra money? What I mean is, some students are talking about how they receive more school loan money that is needed to pay their tuition and books, they actually go shopping with this money. ?
I recently began taking classes and going back to school. (I was a housewife/full-time mom for many years, kids are older now so it was time...) and I am not exaggerating when I say that it's almost every day I meet someone new at school who is on their second or third associates degree because they wanted to keep receiving school loan money without having to begin paying it back. Or they change programs so that they can stay in school longer.
I spoke with one of my instructors about it tonight in class. She explained that the reason they do not go on and get a 4-year B.S. degree (instead of multiple two-year degrees) is because once you have your 4-year degree, you cannot receive school loans for a two year degree. They know this, so they never go on. They just repeat two-year degrees.
???
And why is this OK and who pays for this? I'm guessing taxpayers...
And why not go on, get your 4-year degree, and then just keep going on and get your master's, etc. Why just keep returning for two-year degrees that you're not even going to use?
Especially with the increasing rates and just overall expense... and as far as I know bankruptcy doesn't wipe out school loans. What are these people doing to themselves in the long-run? What are they costing tax-payers?
This is befuddling to me. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts.
They are building up mountains of debt that they won't have the ability to pay back. It doesn't cost taxpayers anything. It's a loan. In spite of all the people that can't pay back their loans, the government and private banks still collect a nice profit on them somehow. Plus, the loans help keep the school afloat. It's sad that people are allowed to take out loans for repeat degrees like that. Surely the school can see that they are only getting themselves into trouble and ruining their futures by doing it, and yet the school wants the tuition money so they allow it.
They will also eventually hit a wall. Federal-backed student loans have a lifetime cap (and it is not very high). Other students loans depend on your credit and often cannot be deferred while in school.
That's not true about the 4-yr degree. You can't qualify for grants after you have a 4-yr degree but you can qualify for loans if your income is low enough. I have a 4-yr degree and am attending a 2-yr school now to get the extra education I need for a career change. What you described is apparently quite common though, as I had to fight very hard for my school's approval to take out loans. My school has a rule that they deny financial aid to students who have more than $15k in loans, because so many were taking out excess loans and going into default on them.
I could be wrong, but I think it might be up to the school whether or not you can receive loans for an associates after completing a bachelors. As stated, you can't receive grants. The community colleges where I live will not award loans to those with a bachelors degree. Schools also have the power to stop awarding financial aid after so many credits are earned. Another thing schools can do is put a cap on the number of associates degrees that can be earned. The school where I earned my BA and AAS has a cap of two associates and two bachelors.
Please educate and enlighten me, wise C-D'ers: what is with all these people that continue to get numerous Associate's Degree's (two-year degree's) one after the other so that they can stay in school and not have to start paying back their school loans?
And how is it that they get extra money? What I mean is, some students are talking about how they receive more school loan money that is needed to pay their tuition and books, they actually go shopping with this money. ?
I recently began taking classes and going back to school. (I was a housewife/full-time mom for many years, kids are older now so it was time...) and I am not exaggerating when I say that it's almost every day I meet someone new at school who is on their second or third associates degree because they wanted to keep receiving school loan money without having to begin paying it back. Or they change programs so that they can stay in school longer.
I spoke with one of my instructors about it tonight in class. She explained that the reason they do not go on and get a 4-year B.S. degree (instead of multiple two-year degrees) is because once you have your 4-year degree, you cannot receive school loans for a two year degree. They know this, so they never go on. They just repeat two-year degrees.
???
And why is this OK and who pays for this? I'm guessing taxpayers...
And why not go on, get your 4-year degree, and then just keep going on and get your master's, etc. Why just keep returning for two-year degrees that you're not even going to use?
Especially with the increasing rates and just overall expense... and as far as I know bankruptcy doesn't wipe out school loans. What are these people doing to themselves in the long-run? What are they costing tax-payers?
This is befuddling to me. I'd like to hear other people's thoughts.
There are limits on how many credits/years someone can get federal loans and grants for. This includes two year programs.
There may not be limits for private loans but that would not be the taxpayers business.
why do you even give a ****,you pay the same taxes either way.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
