Americans reveal their never-ending student debt and their hopelessness will break your heart
The Twitter thread was started by a writer whose $70,000 debt remains the same despite paying $60,000 over 11 years.
Student debt has become a vicious cycle from which Americans, especially millennials, just can't seem to escape. Even as Republicans mock the idea of writing off student debt, a twitter thread started by a professor threw light into the gravity of the issue and how much the new generation has been burdened by the burgeoning debt. Writer and professor Lacy M. Johnson started a thread detailing her own personal struggle to pay back her student debt of $70,000 that she availed to complete her Ph.D. in creative writing. Despite paying over $60,000 across 11 years, her debt remains at $70,000.
She tweeted: When I left grad school in 2008, I owed $70k in federal student loans. (A poor choice I wouldn’t make again.) For the past 11 years, I’ve been making payments (except for a period of underemployment), totaling about $60,000 in payments. Guess how much I still owe. $70,000. Her followers then tweeted their own struggles with paying back their student loans. The thread reveals many similar stories and shows student loans for what they are — a deal with the capitalistic devil.
One user wrote: Have two bachelor's and a law degree. Actual tuition was in the neighborhood of $100k for all three. I owe close to $200k now. It’ll never be paid off unless I win the lottery. Another Twitter user compared it to slavery: It’s a new form of legalized indentured servitude. Not to one employer, but to a whole “employment” class. A way to solidify an emerging “caste” hierarchy, in which the permanently indebted are entrapped. Pernicious and predatory. Twitter users who left the US after taking into account the rising costs of education and healthcare also chimed in on the matter. One user wrote: I settled in the UK for the same reason, plus acceptance and rights for LGBTQ. Sadly Uni tuition went up exponentially under the heartless Tories but the #NHS is a national treasure. America is a massive pyramid scheme crushing the bottom levels to serve the tip.
One user from Canada was baffled by the capitalistic greed in the US health and education sectors: I just don't understand America. Health and education are supposed to be an investment in society, not a way for rich corporations to keep poor people in their place. Whatever happened to throwing off the yoke of the class system? Another responded by pointing out the problem of America romanticizing Capitalism: Because of Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand.
Rich people realized that the best way to control a population is to keep them uneducated, indebted, and by dangling their very lives in front of their faces like a carrot on a stick.
— Jacob Giddens (@JacobGiddens) December 12, 2019
Rich people realized that the best way to control a population is to keep them uneducated, indebted, and by dangling their very lives in front of their faces like a carrot on a stick.
— Jacob Giddens (@JacobGiddens) December 12, 2019
Remember: you are not alone. This is happening to millions of people, & is the result of bad policies designed for a rigged system.
— DirectorMatt (@TimeTravlrMatt) December 12, 2019
Students are not moral failures for getting an education.
Policies can be rewritten and systems can change.
Do not despair & never give up.
Same. Borrowed $97K, been paying for 13 years. Checked yesterday. I still owe $146K. pic.twitter.com/BErfwPCALX
— Jaime Barclay (@jaimebarclay) December 12, 2019
Started out owing $120k. 7 years, never missed a payment, got it all the way down to $137k!
— ba (@saturnineba) December 12, 2019
It is truly INSANE. I can’t believe that any of this is legal.
— Selena Coppock (@SelenaCoppock) December 12, 2019
I will vote for whoever can cancel our student debt.
— Bonita Apple-U Bum (@ennasuite) December 12, 2019
Very similar situation. I'm a first-generation college student. I have paid off my undergrad loans but still working on law school loans. I've paid nearly $150k ($120k that was interest) just to AES.
— Kelly Phillips Erb (@taxgirl) December 12, 2019
Ironically, my daughter is about to start college...
I had a similar experience. I've been paying on a $40K student loan since Feb. 2014, I have not missed a single payment. I'm in the PAYE program. I now owe $41K. How is that even possible? My husband's been paying off $12K since 1999. He owes $10K now. 20 yrs later.
— Breezy Salazar (@BreezySalazar) December 13, 2019
My daughter is in the same boat! She’s been with her boyfriend for 10 years and can’t marry him because their combined income would increase her payments to $1500 a month. It. Is. Criminal.
— GW (@merrill2n) December 12, 2019
When I finished earning my Masters I had about $90,000 in student loans. I've done income-based repayment for about 6 years now. I currently owe $110,000.
— Konal Dobson (@kdobson23) December 12, 2019
Schools and the loan system have just become a racket.
— Im🍑 & #removetRumpNOW #fbr 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 (@Betsy_Manning) December 12, 2019
We’re supposed to be able to get a well paying job and have a good life after school, not be indebted forever.
My art college in 1987 was $4500 a year.
It’s now at $45,000!😡
Believe me, it wasn’t worth $4500!
I graduated from law school in 1978 at the age of 27. I don't remember the sum total of my loans (7 years worth) but I remember making my last payment at age 39, some 12 years later. I cannot imagine doing it in today's world. This has to change.
— CK (@civitoroz) December 12, 2019
Only took on loans for law school. Graduated in 2005 with $72k. Last time I looked, I had paid it down to a whopping $65k.
— Aaron Huff (@aaronhuff) December 13, 2019
My mother took out $15000 in loans, she now owes over 40k, and the school closed and sold their debts.
— Jess Hback 🎄 (@rittapokie) December 12, 2019
I graduated with $210K in student loans. My first loan was in 2001. My last in 2012.
— Karmababy (@Karmathebeagle) December 13, 2019
I got a great job. I’ve repaid $120k. I still own $260K today. 😡
I’m back in school for one more degree. It’s for $50K. I know I’ll die in debt so I just decided to do it and be happy.
I had mine down to about $26, i was unable to continue payments and now its $50k.. i am glad they can add thousands of fees to a federally back loan that never goes away.
— Grandpa Rufus ™ (@Grandpa_Rufus) December 12, 2019
I left grad school with over $250k in debt so I'm gonna defer as long as possible then pay $50 a month until I die...
— 👑 Queen of All Trades 👑 (@Alana_Reina23) December 13, 2019
I feel ya. Went to business college, had a bill of $19K. I now owe $33K even though I spent years paying $300 a month. I'm done paying. They can take my taxes, but I refuse to set up another payment plan and get screwed over again.
— Dream (@Dreamer1865) December 13, 2019
I still have 65k of student debt loan from grad school and I've been paying back every month for 17 years. I also didn't qualify for the debt forgiveness program even though I was supposed to BECAUSE NO ONE DID THE PROGRAM IS A LIE.
— Carley Moore Snacks Please (@CarleyMoore2) December 12, 2019
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