The Student Loan Experience: Recent Episodes
Paolo
A space where people share their student loan stories, struggles, and successes. Got student loans or thinking about getting a degree without going in insane amount of debt? Tune in!
Renee has 15 years experience serving diverse groups of clients as a license mental health therapist. She mentioned that the minimum payment she has to make is $1,500+ a month and worries about if that would even make a dent on the principal balance overtime. She talked about the failure of the public student loan forgiveness program and how many of her friends who worked in a low-paying position for 10 years got denied. Listen to the episode to hear her message to the younger generation.
Cristian is a father of (almost) 2. He attended a private institution for being an academic where he received many job opportunities. Although he says he's a trade type of person but admits that it does take a toll in your body. He talked about the importance of parents teaching their children about money and emphasize that people are now learning that college may not be the only option for becoming successful.
Joe is an author of multiple books, including a dark comedy, UIC (University Industrial Complex). He talked about being misled from department chairs from career opportunities with his degree. He discussed about the struggle of being an adjunct instructor at a community college with a massive student loan debt. You can check out his books, art portfolio, and other info at joeovelman.com If you need to talk someone, call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 or @800273TALK.
Daphne is a a co-founder of StartNoo, an online platform dedicated to reduce the student loan debt crisis in America. She partners with colleges and universities and provide work-based learning for students where they receive tuition assistance. She talked about the source of the student loan crisis: the rising cost of education. She also emphasizes the accountability (or lack of) of educational institutions in terms of students getting a job in their field of study. Check our her business at StartNoo.com
Joshua Cohen is an attorney that specializes and dedicated to student loan issues since 2008. He is incredibly passionate about helping those navigate legal issues having to do with student loans such as defaulting, discharging through bankruptcy, and other problems that arise from the complexity of this issue. Furthermore, he aims to educate fellow lawyers in how to help those with student loans issues. He authored a book titled “The Student Loan Lawyer's Guide to Understanding Student Loans in Plain English". If you’ like a consultation or have any questions, definitely reach out to him at thestudentloanlawyer.com
Elaine is an educator who resides in Seattle Washington. She talks about the uncertainty of substitute teaching while trying to pay off her student loans. She shares her experience going through bankruptcy at age 30, defaulting on her student loans, and getting misinformation from a lawyer regarding student loans. She shares practical advise including not being afraid to take a gap year of exploration.
Tony is a mechanic in a school district (which means great benefits and a pension!). He talks about his journey becoming a mechanic debt free through the community college route. He discusses the growing demand and salary for careers in the trades industry due to the over pushing the education pendulum towards a university education. Listen to his message to educators and our younger generation.
Marcus is a veteran, attorney, father, husband, and a son – and he also hates debt! He had a medical emergency that changed his outlook on debt, particularly student loan debt. He discusses the importance of parents being open to their children about money and finances and gives practical advice to do so. His Youtube channel and other social media “DebtFree Dad” focuses on financial literacy and he shares his journey on his goals to attack his loans. https://www.youtube.com/c/DebtFreeDad
Stephanie originally accumulated ~$105,000 for an undergraduate degree. She then continued her education with her masters and PhD that her worked paid through tuition assistance. However, the interest continued to grow on the original undergrad degree to between $186,000 to $220,000. Stephanie is unsure about what the actual current student loan talks about the struggle of keeping track of the different loan providers. Stephanie shares her advice to our young folks to take advantage of the technology we have nowadays to that allows endless opportunities to generate income.
In this episode, Christopher Sanchez talks about his own journey accruing student loans and how his life experience made him passionate about advocating for college affordability, immigration rights, and consumer protection. Some of the legislations he is involved with include SB 62: Garment Worker Protection Act and AB 539: Fair Access to Credit Act.
Melody shares with us how she paid off her student loans in 4 years, her plans now that she’s debt free, and practical advice for those who feel hopeless in paying off their student loans. She talks about minimalism and her current goal of achieving early retirement yet still living a balanced life. She discusses about the benefits of having a community who are supportive of your goals – one really good one is the #debtfreecommunity Facebook group page.
Victor is a special education teacher, talks about the low wages of teachers, particularly in the beginning, and wanting to pursue an even higher education but don't want to accumulate more student loans. He shares his journey and emphasize that emergencies do happen to everyone – and sometimes student loans are necessary to cover those expenses. He talks about the public loan forgiveness for teachers – that many folks may not know about, specifically for math, science, and special education teachers which forgives $17,500 for working 5 years in an underprivileged school. It’s $5,000 for every other teacher. To learn more, check out this link: https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/teacher
In this episode, we feature Alan Collinge – founder of StudentLoanJustice.org, the oldest and largest citizen’s group nation fighting for student loan justice. This grassroot organization is fighting for cancellation of federally owned student loans by executive action and the return of bankruptcy to all student loans. Alan talks about actionable steps folks can do to advocate for themselves and influence policymakers. Check out the website to see what else you can do. He also authored a book, The Student Loan Scam, which has a very high rating on Amazon – this book can be found online.
Andrea is a PhD candidate who started her higher education journey in community college then transferred to UCLA. She covers the negative stigma of community college, the benefits of choosing this route, and how much money she saved. As a counselor for 6-8 graders, she educates both her students AND their parents earlier on on the different options of financial aid as well as the various routes they can take after high school graduation.
We chatted with Dr. Sepulveda who shares different methods she pursues to gain extra income in addition of being a physical therapist. She also talks about how every financial situation is different and there's different approach when it comes to paying off student loans and investing. She talks about the importance conducting career research and gaining practical experience to explore different career fields.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Russak, who's a physical therapist. After accumulating over $300,000 student loans, he decided to attack these loans head on and picked up multiple side hustles. He shares his journey in paying off these loans and now has a strong mission to help allied health professionals learn about personal finance. Check out his blog at moneymobilizer.com and Instagram at @moneymobilizer
In this episode, Christine talks about the impact of having parents who instilled strong foundation in personal finance, practicality, and delayed gratification early in life. Furthermore, she was the youngest in the family which so she was able to learn from her older siblings' mistakes. These influences and values allowed her to attack her student loans and completely pay it off in a short time frame. Listen to her journey!
Darby, from Nashville, is very passionate about student loans. She is very close to her mom and both share the struggle of having student loan debt.
In this episode, our guest, Cari, who is a mother of six and a grandmother, consolidated her $10,000~ loan with her former spouse's $8,000~ student loan. After 24 years of accruing interests, that $18,000~ loan grew to over $120,000~ and counting! She discusses how her student loan situation has impacted her mental health and her life.
In this episode, Alison cautions us with private career institutions who do a great job marketing their programs but could be costly. She is a mother of four beautiful children and still has the dream of becoming a nurse.
Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. House of Reps from New York's 14th district gave a speech in early December 2021 about the inequities of student loans for first generation college students and African Americans. She talked about the young generation delaying their milestones.
Dr. Tessa Nguyen who shares with us her educational and career journey becoming an Audiologist and her plans for paying for her student loans.
Dr. Cristina Arellano shares her educational, career, and student loan journey being a first generation college student.
Tune in our conversation with a colleague in my master's program who's pursuing his PhD in higher education.
Here on the first episode, I give you the purpose of this podcast. I'll be giving a bit of my background, education, how I accumulated student loans, and give you insights of what NOT to do.