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Alan Collinge

The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History and How We Can Fight Back Paperback – February 1, 2010

by Alan Collinge (Author)

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The Student Loan Scam is an exposé of the predatory nature of the $85-billion student loan industry. In this in-depth exploration, Collinge argues that student loans have become the most profitable, uncompetitive, and oppressive type of debt in American history.

This has occurred in large part due to federal legislation passed since the mid-1990s that removed standard consumer protections from student loans-and allowed for massive penalties and draconian wealth-extraction mechanisms to collect this inflated debt. High school graduates can no longer put themselves through college for a few thousand dollars in loan debt. Today, the average undergraduate borrower leaves school with more than $20,000 in student loans, and for graduate students the average is a whopping $42,000. For the past twenty years, college tuition has increased at more than double the rate of inflation, with the cost largely shifting to student debt.

Collinge covers the history of student loans, the rise of Sallie Mae, and how universities have profited at the expense of students. The book includes candid and compelling stories from people across the country about how both nonprofit and for-profit student loan companies, aided by poor legislation, have shattered their lives-and livelihoods. With nearly 5 million defaulted loans, this crisis is growing to epic proportions.

The Student Loan Scam takes an unflinching look at this unprecedented and pressing problem, while exposing the powerful organizations and individuals who caused it to happen. Ultimately, Collinge argues for the return of standard consumer protections for student loans, among other pragmatic solutions, in this clarion call for social action.

Print length

184 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Beacon Press
Publication date

February 1, 2010
Dimensions

5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

9780807042311
ISBN-13

978-0807042311
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Alan Collinge has lived through the national student debt crisis, and he has an astonishing tale to tell. Read and be outraged."
—Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation Debt

"Alan Collinge has been to student loan hell and has managed to survive to tell about the experience. Turning his personal nightmare into a cause for activism, Collinge has emerged as one of the most effective critics of the student loan industry and its patrons in Washington. Readers will be as outraged as he is with what passes for federal student loan policy."—Barmak Nassirian, Associate Executive Director, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)

"Students and parents planning to borrow money to finance a college or technical school education should read Alan Collinge's warnings and advice before they sign any loan papers."—David Cay Johnston, author of Free Lunch and Perfectly Legal

"If you plan on borrowing money for college, spend a few extra dollars and buy a copy of The Student Loan Scam. Relevant and deeply timely, this book's excellent advice could very well save you thousands of dollars and spare you a ton of grief."—Lynn O'Shaughnessy, author of The College Solution: A Guide for Everyone Looking for the Right School at the Right Price

"Think credit-card debt is a problem? Take a look at the lives ruined through the corporate thug tactics, usurious fees and vicious harassment employed by some of the nation's largest student-loan providers in this shocking exposé from Collinge, founder of StudentLoanJustice.org. The author had a manageable $38,000 in loans-until he missed a single payment . . . and his debt mushroomed to more than $100,000. The author reveals that since lenders make far more money from defaulted loans than they do from borrowers in good standing, they go to extraordinary-and illegal-lengths to force borrowers into default. There are currently more than five million defaulted loans on record, and incredibly, student loans are the only type of loan in U.S. history to be nondischargable in bankruptcy. The author exposes the engineers (and profiteers) of this predatory system and urges Congress to restore standard consumer protections to student loans, concluding with a call to arms for progressive changes, refinancing rights and a plethora of practical advice for borrowers. Comprehensive and stirring, this extraordinary book is whistle-blowing at its finest.—Publishers Weekly, starred review

About the Author

Alan Michael Collinge is Founder of StudentLoanJustice.Org, a grassroots organization, and political action committee. He holds B.S., M.S., and Eng. Degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.

Since Founding StudentLoanJustice.Org in March, 2005 as a result of his own personal experiences with college loans, Collinge has been featured on 60 Minutes, and also in print media including Fortune Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Phoenix, The Village Voice, Inside Higher Ed, and others. He has published editorials in the Los Angeles Times, Baltimore Sun, Denver Post, and many other outlets.

Prior to founding StudentLoanJustice.Org, Collinge was Associate Scientist of Aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology, and also was regional project director for a government loan program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0807042315
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Beacon Press (February 1, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 184 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780807042311
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807042311
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,285,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #302 in Credit Ratings & Repair (Books)
- #523 in Graduate School Guides
- #1,328 in College & University Student Life (Books)

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70 ratings

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If this book doesn't open your eyes to what Students Loans are capable of then you will be a slave

Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

5/5 Rating

This book will open your eyes to the detriment of what Student Loans are capable of doing to your life. This book has been the single best resource to enlighten me on what Student Loans are, how they originated, who they were for, whom created them and the downsides of if you ever default.

I personally never took student loans that serious when I was in college or when I got out. Although I had accumulated a small amount. When I was in college I always remembered my friends and their trips to the Financial Aid office and how they would come back happy and ready to go on shopping sprees or pay overdue bills - not realizing that money will have to be paid back. Deep down I always knew that it's not best to take that money as nothing in life is free. Thank God I did. When I graduated I didn't owe that much.. an amount that could've been paid in a year.. I dragged it out to almost 8 years. Only if I knew what I know now.. I would've paid it all off the first year.

The story of how Senior Management in Sallie Mae and the Politicians who lobbied for it will almost turn your stomach. The name of the Student Loan game is DEFAULT. Once you default then the Student Loan companies are free to charge you EXORBITANT FEES and interest and whatever else they can throw at you and the thing is it's ALL LEGAL. To read how the system takes advantage of those in dire situations will make you shake your head.

All I can think of are my friends who are still paying student loans 20+ years after graduation. Not realizing they could've paid it off within 3-5 years.

This book is eye opener and one you will NEVER forget. I'm very thankful I paid my student loans off and is wise enough to not entertain anymore student loans or loans period for that matter.

Learning of the history and how it all started with GI Bill and the Higher Education Act of 1965 to what it's become now.. A MULTI BILLION dollar industry that is going absolutely NO WHERE. President Biden will NOT forgive student loans so people should not even entertain that thought. This is too much of a money maker.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book if you want to be enlightened by the TRUE exploitation of student loans.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Legalized Loan Sharking Courtesy of Congress

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2008

Verified Purchase

My daughter is in her senior year in high school and I am trying to learn as much about the various mechanisms available to finance her education as I can. I was really stunned to read about all the problems with student loans and how Congress has given the banks and loan guaranty organizations a free ticket to extract as much money from students as possible.

Some of the actions of our government include making student loans the only loans available that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy, allowing the loan companies and guarantee companies to own the collection agencies, which provides to them an incentive to allow (and push) the student to default, being able to attach Social Security retirement and disability income for repayment, allowing interest rates to be as high as 29.9% and a host of other goodies.

The stories in this book will cause you to cringe. The author does name names and lets you know who has been a friend to student's and their families and who has been bought by the loan companies PACs. In addition, you will learn about the various pitfalls and tricks used by the loan companies to increase the profit margin on these loans.

While the writing is a little redundant, it generally is a well written book that contains crucial information for anyone who has a student loan or for the families of anyone considering taking out a loan. Read this book and learn the pitfalls that are waiting for you!

64 people found this helpful

Helpful

R. L. Underhill

then I finally realized I was stupid in my thinking being a Business Major and started ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2015

Verified Purchase

I graduated with a 4 year degree. It took me 9 years to get through 4 years of University. One class at a time. I worked full time and raised 2 babies. I started out taking Student Loans, then I finally realized I was stupid in my thinking being a Business Major and started paying cash for one class at a time. I graduated with about $12K in loans.

Don't take any class you can't pay for in a short amount of time. Pay that off first then sign up for the next class. No-body needs to graduate in 4 years. It's took me 9 years one class at a time. My wife did the same thing and got her MBA. Both our student loans are long sense paid off.

My Daughter on the other hand took student loans for her MBA. Her student loan bill is over $102K. She moved back in with us because she couldn't make basically two house payments. But, thank God she was promoted with her MBA to a position that pay's $80K to start. On the other hand, her Husband has 3 Masters degree's and is unemployed. So, she's paying his student loans as well. God only knows what his loan payments are.

The rule is, pay as you go. You'll thank yourself later.

Seek a trade school. It's better to have a trade than a degree in something stupid. Skilled tradesman are in demand. I did both.

15 people found this helpful

Helpful