Student Loan - Loans and Debt Consolidation

SHOULD PARENTS SIGN FOR COLLEGE LOANS CHIPPEWA HERALD

Should parents sign for college loans?

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Many families are making plans to pack up the belongings of their recent high-school graduates and move them off to college. The experience of life on campus is exciting and provides many opportunities for growth.

If that doesn t happen, parents may be shocked to learn that they indeed will be the ones re-paying that loan. Defaults have a serious impact on the parent s credit scores.

It is not unusual for parents to have several student loans to repay for more than one child. These loans may come due at a point in their lives when it s going to be extremely difficult for them as they re trying to save for their own retirements.

Four-year and six-year degree programs are no longer a guarantee of a job. In fact, geographical location, competition from other candidates and a sour economy means graduates are faced with few prospects for employment. It s disheartening when they realize that those loans, so easy to sign for, are now coming due.

Recently, Minnesota Public Radio posed the question to listeners: would you go deeply into debt for a college education? Noting that graduates from Minnesota colleges and universities in 2008 carried an average student debt of more than $25,000, they asked for honest feedback.

Some of the responses from recent graduates: I am sitting on $50,000 in debt from undergraduate and graduate studies. I have 18 months left on m...[more]