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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

For-Profit College Grads Also Earn A Life Of Debt

The schools leave students more indebted than conventional colleges

Ronnie Franklin borrowed to pay his tuition at a for-profit college that advertised its success in preparing graduates for better jobs. The decision still haunts him.

Despite graduating from RETS Technical Center in Boston in 2000, he found himself so strapped for money that he and his two sons lived in a homeless shelter last year. Frustrated that his degree didn't lead to work in electronics, Franklin — now a $12-an-hour housepainter — decided to go to a community college this year. He can't qualify for a federal grant that would pay the cost because he has defaulted on $20,000 of his earlier U.S. student loans.

Students seeking to move up in life by getting a degree from a for-profit college are being trapped in a growing underclass of education debtors. Under U.S. law, their loan obligations can rarely be discharged in bankruptcy, making them more onerous than credit-card debt or sub-prime mortgages. Defaults can subject students to government confiscation of salaries, tax refunds, and Social Security payments — and disqualify them for aid to get more marketable degrees.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

tell schools your not in this country legally. then all expences are payed for by the citizens.

Anonymous said...

I heard on Mancow's radio this morning whereby a man graduated from a major US law school with a law degree. Soon after - he realized the job market to be so bad that he has tried to negotiate with the educational institution.

He asked to return his law degree in exchange for the institution to refund his tuition money.