42 Tennessee Nurses Suspended For Defaulting On Student Loans

42 Tennessee nurses have had their licenses suspended for defaulting on student loans, according to the Chattanooga Times.

A disciplinary action report released this month by the Tennessee Department of Health revealed that the October suspensions mark a renewed effort to uphold a statute passed in 1999, which states that license penalties can be implemented in the event of defaults on loans. According to the Times, the suspensions come after an 18-month effort to track down and work out payment plans with hundreds of health professionals.

According to Tennessee Student Assistant Corporation staff attorney Peter Abernathy, the relatively high number of suspensions represent a regulatory backlog. He told the Times that "going forward, when [the state boards] are taking action on these on a month-to-month basis, the number will drop dramatically...down to a small handful."

Officials hope that an implementation of the old law will prompt nurses to be more vigilant about repayment, and perhaps push the default rate down -- Abernathy told the Jackson Sun that increased enforcement of the statute "is helpful in the sense that it motivates people to repay their student loans."

So far, 20 of the nurses have joined repayment plans and subsequently been reinstated. What do you think of this news? Have your student loans ever interfered with your job? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

Comments

[splash of reality]

02:52 AM on 01/21/2011

Less income will certainly encourage them not to default on student loans.

[WaterCloset]

07:20 PM on 01/20/2011

After nursing school, the army or air force (haven't decided) will own me for the next 5-6 years.

[MrUnlimited]

03:49 AM on 01/21/2011

But at least you'll be debt free...something that can't be said about the average recent college graduate.

[Mark Montgomery]

05:31 PM on 01/20/2011

They had to do this because all the "Vinnies" up in NY/NJ just got arrested and can no longer do the dirty work. Fuget about it!

[Num1Christy]

10:54 AM on 01/20/2011

It is sad to me that so many people are advocating for this type of behavior. Since when is it ok to not pay your bills? It called being an adult, sure it sucks, but responsibilities don't just go away bc you turn the phone off.

[AllieGoogle]

11:07 AM on 01/20/2011

Especially because once pushed, at least half of them came up with a way to pay.

[metropolitan]

01:36 PM on 01/20/2011

because nurses can't pay if they can't get a job. no one is saying you should not pay your bills, what they are saying is that taking away their licenses is also taking away their ability to pay. make sense now? the problem is the punishment does more to make the situation difficult for the debtor. you can come up with a better system that can incite repayment without taking away their way of making a living.
also remember that most professions don't need a license. meaning the ones getting the real punishment are just few and far between --such as nurses. so the law is only limited in it's ability.

[Num1Christy]

01:47 PM on 01/20/2011

Those nurses had jobs and still weren't paying their government loan bills. If they were unemployed and couldn't make the payment, that's a completely different scenario. When their licenses were taken away from them, all the sudden 1/2 of them amazingly enough managed to start making payments again. Seems pretty effective to me.

[Jessica Suarez]

03:31 PM on 01/20/2011

There is a huge shortage of nurses, so I'm sure they were either working, or could get a job if they wanted to. This is one career where if you aren't working it is by choice. And paying back what you borrowed is the the right thing to do. This is not only a legal, but also a moral obligation. And nurses of all people should have a high moral standard.

[Macready]

08:56 AM on 01/20/2011

this is so wrong . . if they can't work how can they repay the loans . . unbelievably stupid

[AllieGoogle]

09:30 AM on 01/20/2011

It's no different than those arrested for being in child support arrears or who's car is booted/towed/impounded. They suddenly find the money.

-So far, 20 of the nurses have joined repayment plans and subsequently been reinstated. -

[kisimick]

09:37 AM on 01/20/2011

What part of the state trying to work out plans did you miss? They chose not to repay the loans or even make the attempt to work out the payments....so you want to do something for the nurses who do not pay, but nothing for those who are taking responsibility and are current on their loans? Typical lib mentality...reward bad behavior.

[AllieGoogle]

06:47 AM on 01/20/2011

To those whining about 'the bank' doing this

Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation History

TSAC was created by the Tennessee General Assembly in 1974 as a non-profit corporation with the merging of the Tennessee Educational Loan Corporation and the Tennessee Tuition Grant Program.

The Tennessee Student Assistance Corporation is Tennessee's designated federal guaranty agency* responsible for the administration of post secondary educational loan programs authorized by the Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, and further authorized by Tennessee Code Annotated Section 49-4-404. TSAC also administers other state and federal student assistance programs as authorized. TSAC is administered by a seventeen member Board of Directors. Its daily operation is managed by an Executive Director (CEO) and an administrative staff of 45. In addition, there are two FFEL Program service representatives located on-site.

TSAC administrative offices are located at 404 James Robertson Parkway, Suite 1510, Nashville, TN. 37243-0820.

*A non-profit corporation designated by the US Department of Education to administer the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP).

[defaultprevention]

01:14 AM on 01/20/2011

Is this legal? As the founder of http://www.defaultprevention.com I have never heard of this being allowed in relationship to employment. If this is legal then I would think the ramifications are huge with relationship to employee and employer relations in many industry sectors. If there is precedence out there I would like to view this.

[nfatt1]

01:22 AM on 01/20/2011

The politicians in Tennessee don't care if it is legal or not.

[AllieGoogle]

06:34 AM on 01/20/2011

Evidently - the law has been around since 1999.

[Acert]

12:01 AM on 01/20/2011

Suspending their licenses just makes it harder for them to repay their student loans. This is the height of stupidity from the banking industry and their lobby.

[nfatt1]

01:23 AM on 01/20/2011

No, i really believe the stupidity go go way higher.

[AllieGoogle]

06:35 AM on 01/20/2011

Nope - read the story - more than half have already made payment arrangements.

This is no diff than the parent who loses their license or gets arrested for being in arrears on child support or the person who's car is booted/towed. They suddenly come up with the money.

[2Sacrifice]

10:57 PM on 01/19/2011

Honor is undervalued. One's word should be a bond. Default and bankruptcy is a disgrace.

[Ichiro51]

01:14 AM on 01/20/2011

No, bankruptcy is embedded in the Constitution as a right that we the people have. And default is a contractual matter - it has NOTHING to do with honor or morality. NOTHING.

[AllieGoogle]

06:38 AM on 01/20/2011

And people who thought like this is why they had to change the bankruptcy laws.

[maxfax]

08:26 PM on 01/19/2011

Now they can apply for unemployment.

[Allen Alexander]

07:46 PM on 01/19/2011

Economic Slavery. First implemented under Reagan. This should be highly illegal because of conflict of interest. The Nurses can be forced into slavery in order to keep a job at all. It will drive down salaries because they can't quit and have to pay the loans they can't afford.

[AllieGoogle]

06:39 AM on 01/20/2011

*snortlaff*

If you don't want to be held to your financial obligations, don't borrow money from other people. That's debt - not slavery.

[Ichiro51]

01:09 PM on 01/20/2011

Or become a bank.

[kisimick]

09:41 AM on 01/20/2011

They borrowed the $$ to get a nursing degree...they can quit anytime they want to and go work in another field....just pay the loans back. Your dislike of reagan is apparent.....you make a claim with zero evidence to back it up.

[healthanalyst]

09:06 PM on 01/20/2011

Study economic history, its right there.

[Lisa Shields]

03:09 PM on 01/19/2011

The custom of defaulting on student loans is far from new.
When I took a small one (long repaid) 30 years ago, people were skipping out on the debt pretty regularly. They've been able to take tax refunds to pay toward student loans for years. If you default, or your spouse, forget about getting a mortgage.

It sounds severe...but it DOES get attention PDQ...

[TeeSC]

05:43 PM on 01/19/2011

Yes, I agree with you in principle.  Garnish their wages... whatever.  But to yank their license.  No, I don't agree with that at all. 

[AllieGoogle]

06:40 AM on 01/20/2011

Read the article - they already tried all that. This was last ditch effort. And it's no diff than when they yank the driver's license or professional license of someone behind in child support. Pay your bills - especially if your professional license can be suspended for not doing so.

[sfbbmom]

01:53 PM on 01/19/2011

How are they going to repay if unemployed? The better way is to take a cut from each paycheck.

[TeeSC]

05:43 PM on 01/19/2011

Seems pretty sensible to me. 

[nfatt1]

01:24 AM on 01/20/2011

Thats why they wont do it.

[AllieGoogle]

06:41 AM on 01/20/2011

Read the article - they tried everything else. And - they are already getting more - many made arrangements finally.

[Num1Christy]

01:15 PM on 01/19/2011

They deserved it. Cars get repossessed, house's get foreclosed on. You borrow it, you pay it back or give it back.

[nfatt1]

01:26 AM on 01/20/2011

If the bank owes you money and won't pay up , will Tennessee revoke their charter ?

[AllieGoogle]

06:41 AM on 01/20/2011

The FDIC will pay it

[Ichiro51]

01:36 AM on 01/20/2011

Wrong. How about gambling or other frivolous debts put on a credit card? Unsecured and dischargeable.

[AllieGoogle]

06:42 AM on 01/20/2011

Right. He's talking about secured debt - house / car - in this case a professional license.

[Joe hill 541886]

12:24 PM on 01/19/2011

The prostitute should have no obligation to the pimp, The slave master has no moral right to a slave and the same could be said of the lender to the borrower.