Pay as You Earn Program #nomorestudentdebt! #week3o
As of 2013, there are 37,000,000 million Americans who have some kind of student loan debt. Although the Pay As You Earn program began in 2012, only 1.6 million Americans have signed up for the program. This number is relatively small considering there is 37,000,000 people who have some kind of debt to pay off.
Both photos courtesy of Google Images
During my time as a college student so far, the most difficult part has been how to manage working enough to pay all of my bills, while also finishing my class work in a timely manner. Many students start out by thinking, well i will take a few semesters off so i can work and make money. No! This will only postpone graduating and you having the career you are striving for. I am here to say do not take any time off. If anything take summer classes. Knock it all out so you can get to where you want to ultimately be.
This program has recently expanded by President Obama signing a memorandum. This policy says that after 20 years of paying student loans, the rest of your loans are forgiven and will go away for good. It also says that if you work for the government, or a non-profit organization, than your loans are forgiven after 10 years of paying. The policy also caps a person’s monthly student loan bill at 10% of their income. This program has hardly been promoted and many do not even know it exists, which is why we must spread the word!
Here is the P.L.S.F site that will tell you everything you need to know about loans, grants, interest rates, and tips on how to manage your money the best way possible.
brittanybeagan08 
I absolutely love the relevance of this issue. It’s something that not only we have to do deal with, but also our children and so on and so forth. Also, the statistics give credibility to what you’re saying. Very nice!
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I’m really happy your wrote about this topic. I’ve heard about this program but never took the time to look into it. I assumed that it was a hokes so I never bothered. it’s nice to know that the deadlines are indeed correct.
Taking time off definitely does prolong graduation, however graduating without a plan on how to use your degree (IMO) is pointless. I am advocate for students taking time off from school, because I did, and it helped me tremendously!
Prior to taking a break from school, I was attending for all the wrong reasons. I attended simply because it was the next step, pressure from my family, and of course to keep up with my friends. After a couple of years I found myself extremely unhappy. I had a ton of debt, I was miserable, and I was drained from working towards a goal that brought ME no satisfaction not to mention I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had enough! I told my mother I was going to take a break from school. She was heartbroken. And it was one of the toughest things I’ve had to do. But soon enough my life started to change. I worked and sought out internship opportunities that truly interested me. Without the pressure of the internships being for school credit, or any specific purpose I was truly able to focus abd discover what I wanted to do with my life. I found the value in having a degree as it was a way to help break into my field. I was having fun without the pressure of work and classes and an internship and my personal life and when I say pressure, I really mean stress. During the same time, I was able to pay off a lot debt and create a stable and balanced life that ensured when I did I go back to school I could actually focus. I saved money so that during the semesters I didn’t have to work as much during the semester. It sucks when I look at how much money was in my savings account to what it is now but I feel satisfied when I remember that I was able to attend all the meetings to clubs I was involved with, connect with other students and professors. Simply because this time around I had the time and means to do so. That time has allowed me to start my own network with other classmates and professors. That networks helped me land an internship in Canes France this summer (my first semester back in two and a half years)! Now all my classes are relevant to my career, I truly see the value in them now, I’m no longer just going to class any more. This time around school is fun! I almost don’t want it to end. When I was working, trying to balance it all it definitely was not. But everyone’s life is different. Pretty much, I said all this to say: yes you need to get out in the real world to make money, BUT once you get in the real world, if your not happy with your career, earning money will be tough (pssst, you’ll have no motivation…like me). I definitely advocate for taking away from studies when necessary. On the flip side, if your sure about what you want to do after graduation then more power to you!
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