The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History-and How We Can Fight Back

Description

Reviews

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-09-01
Summary: "Brothers Keeper"

EXCELLENT BOOK!!!!!!Very well written, completely documents the abuses that the student loan industry and our government and our law makers have been engaged in. This book is A MUST READ for any parent that has a child that is about to enter college and for any student that is currently attending college or repaying student loans. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER!!!!!

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-31
Summary: "Sallie Mae has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau."

August 2010: student loan debt exceeds credit card debt. Sallie Mae has an F rating with the Better Business Bureau. Anything wrong with this picture? Oh, I'm sorry, it's all the borrower's fault, say perfectly-put-together people who should be down on their knees grateful for whatever opportunities they had that were denied other hardworking people. This book is impressive and essential reading. It is very well-written and well-researched. Listen to the audio book while you work if you don't have time to read it.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-06-29
Summary: "I knew it was bad, but not this bad"

This was a featured book at a local library so I grabbed it off the display. I'm a person who easily gets bored, but I found this book hard to put down. It reminds me of a Michael Moore documentary in that it is entertaining, slanted and informative. Once again, the little people get royally shafted.

Essentially, these educational loan companies have bought congressional votes by hiring relatives, paying for vacations and contributing to campaigns. They've used similar tactics to purchase university loyalty too. Over time, they've managed to get legislation passed that guaranteed them billions in profits. The school loans are backed by the federal government. Defaults are covered in multiple ways. The loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy court and income in any form such as social security checks can be seized. Consumer protection laws don't apply and the lending companies harass the borrower as well as relatives, employers, landlords etc. A borrower can re-mortgage her home as often as she likes, but not so with these loans. The borrower is often married to his original lender forcing him to bypass more attractive loan offers.

A long time ago, these lending companies functioned normally, so people who took school loans twenty years ago, may dispute the nature of the educational loan business. Over time, greed took over the educational scene. We all know that's true as college costs rose twice as much as the consumer price index. The educational loan companies took great advantage of the government's effort to helped the rich get richer.

It may be difficult for some people who have not encountered adversity to understand the position that other people fall into through no fault of their own. Not all people and not all companies are capable of dealing with all adversities.

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-06-09
Summary: "Serious Read"

This book talks about the student loan scam in US education.

As our sons / daughters will be going to colleges, we need to start thinking how best to navigate the entire student loan industry.

Author talks about the pitfalls, has some solid advice on how to avoid the student loan scams of the century and also what is being done to legislate the changes.

It is an eye-opener and the best advice is to avoid getting private loans and decide on the college which is kind on your wallet rather than the brand name.

Real stories of students whose lives have been destroyed by these collection agencies and are now leading miserable lives.

Also refer to the [...] website for real stories and help."

Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2009-11-11
Summary: "A real page-turner horror story."

If you take out a student loan in the US today, you are walking the edge of a volcano.

If you slip (and it doesn't take much to slip), you could end up little more than an indentured servant, owing 2x or 4x or more what you originally borrowed. Your wages, tax refunds, social security payments, even disability payments will be garnished from now until the end of time. Chances are slim you'll ever be able to pay it off, because the allowable fees and penalties on a student loan are impossibly huge. At the whim of the student loan companies, you can have your professional license yanked or be forced out of public employment. Did I mention debt collectors don't need to follow fair collection practices because it's a student loan? Oh and forget about discharging it through bankruptcy... it's a student loan... not allowed.

Every page of this book reveals jaw-dropping, horrifying facts of how the student loan industry put Congress in their pocket and began a massive wealth transfer (from student loan borrower to them) that has resulted in some student loan executives earning 500 million dollar salaries. The saddest part of this is not only the individuals who suffer due to this; it's all of society because we need a well-educated workforce to prosper, and the student loan industry is making that more and more impossible.

I highly recommend this book and think it would be a very good choice for a discussion group.