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by jiggy2011 5149 days ago
I'm not sure how college debt works in the USA but in the UK you don't have to payback the debt unless you are earning over a certain paycheck (£15k p/a or so I believe). So if you end up unemployed you don't have to worry about it.

Also the debt is written off after a certain number of years and the monthly payment is always calculated at a relatively modest amount compared to your earnings and deducted straight from your paycheck.

It's not counted as debt for the purposes of getting a loan or mortgage either, so essentially it's not something you really have to worry about as you will never get getting a court summons or baliffs through your door unless you have deliberately defrauded them.

How is it in the USA? Are you constantly chased for the debt regardless of your circumstances?
2 comments
hnal943 5149 days ago
You can put student loans on "hardship deferral" in the circumstance where you cannot pay them, but they do not go away and are not bankruptable.
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cantankerous 5149 days ago
How is it in the USA? Are you constantly chased for the debt regardless of your circumstances?

There are some exceptions, but generally student loans are something that you're stuck with. That's to say, you can't just shed them in bankruptcy proceedings.

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jiggy2011 5149 days ago
I think it's the same in the UK regards bankruptcy but what happens if you become temporarily unemployed or can only get employment that is very low paid? Is it basically "fuck you, pay me"?
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cantankerous 5149 days ago
On paper yes, but you can't draw blood from a stone. Loans can be adjusted if you can't make payments like any other loan, but your credit will be duly impacted by your inability to meet your obligations. The US doesn't have anything like what you mentioned the UK having for students in general. I think there exist some similar setups for people in particular professions, like teaching, for example, but even then I don't think their benefits are as good as the ones you laid out, but I'm no expert on how all of that works.
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droithomme 5149 days ago
When you don't pay student loans, depending on where you live, you can have your drivers license and any employment or professional licenses revoked. There is also talk of revoking passports.
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