Nicole Ferko Puts Off Plans To Become A Nun To Pay Off Student Loans: Report

Ten years is a long time. It's one-eighth of an average American's life.

It is also the amount of time that Nicole Ferko, 32, had to wait before pursuing her dream of becoming a nun.

Aspiring priests and nuns are not allowed to carry debt, according to the Today Show. Burdened with $60,000 in student loans, Ferko spent 10 years paying off her debt, accumulating another $20,000 in credit card debt that she eventually paid off.

Ferko is now in training, but she won't become a nun until she is 39 years old.

Have you been forced to change your life plans because of student debt? Email us at [e-mail]

Student loan debt has caused many people to derail life plans and as the debt market balloons, the problem is also threatening the nation's economic recovery.

Total outstanding student loan debt now exceeds $1 trillion, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the average borrower $12,800 in debt.

The top 1 percent of student borrowers owe more than $150,000 in loans, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. It would take a salary of at least $207,000 per year in order to pay off $150,000 in 10 years, according to the FinAid calculator.

More than one-quarter of student loan borrowers are behind on their student loans, according to the New York Fed.

Student loan debt is nearly possible to erase. People who declare bankruptcy cannot get student loan debt forgiven unless they can prove that their student loans are an "undue hardship."

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Comments

[Lifeisdone]

09:02 PM on 05/05/2012

Why do nuns need degrees? They don't do anything!

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

03:53 AM on 05/06/2012

Not true.

While you may not see many nun or sisters staffing the floors of Catholic hospitals, they do run them as CEO's, CFO's and other critical positions. Same as with other sectors such as education, charity non-profits and so forth. Therefore these religous women and men need the exact same education, skills and qualities that lay persons have.

http://www.gazettechicago.com/index/2012/05/mercy-health-system-joins-trinity-promises-continued-quality-care/

[unimatrix0]

10:06 PM on 05/04/2012

I think there is more to this. There was an article on HP a few months ago about how the Obama admin. closed a loop hole that let some student loans be forgiven if you worked for non-profits for so many years. Problem was religions use to be included, so tax payers were funding the education of many churches' employees. Since she could have taken advantage of this up until this year, but could not have debt and be a nun, I think what really prevented her from taking her vows early was credit card debt. And since she did not become a nun, that meant she had to pay the student loans back too. It makes for a great story, but I wonder why the church does not have a fund to pay off people's debts if they are so short handed with preists and nuns. Now that the US gov. won't be paying off religious workers student loans, it will probably get worse.

[MissIndependentLady]

10:06 AM on 05/04/2012

I did a little research on the requirements of becoming a nun, because I wasn't sure if you NEEDED a degree or not, and what I found out is that you do. Couldn't this woman have gone to community college? She could have saved herself a lot of trouble.

[hann3835]

04:55 PM on 05/04/2012

Actually, it depends on the specific order the person wants to join. Many orders will educate the sister/nun after taking vows or while in formation to take vows. It just depends on the personal circumstances of the woman.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

04:01 AM on 05/06/2012

Ages ago most all orders would pay for any education sisters or brothers required to serve the order's mission (nursing, education, etc..), but times have changed.

For one thing college/university education is very expensive. Also various local laws/rules require those holding certain positions have a post graduate degree as well. Teaching comes to mind.

On the other side both sisters and bothers have seen a dramatic drop in new members to their orders. As such they do not have the money coming in they used to in the past. In most instances sisters or brothers aren't paid directly by their employer (dedicated servants is the term used at Catholic hospitals here in NYC), but the funds go to the order. So again if there are less nuns out there working .....

As for attending a community college, well that would depend upon potential postulate's career goals. Religous person or not you still want to be the "best you can be", and that often requires the best education possible. I mean you wouldn't want a nurse that had poor training/education just because she was a nun would you?

[MissIndependentLady]

07:28 AM on 05/06/2012

Are you assuming that all people who go to community college are receiving poor training/education?

[imofanopinion]

12:22 PM on 05/03/2012

yeah yeah another case of 'Oh crap - they ARE going to make me pay for something I bought (in this case an education)' Used to be people I new that went to college would say that they were not worried about their loans as there were so many often cases got lost and were never paid. they wanted to gamble that they would be one of them but most of all people were allowed decades to pay off the loan.

Sorry but I do not find the desire to become a nun a reason to not have to pay this bill. Now if the church wants to cover her bills fine even better many of them can afford to do - maybe it will show just how much they want her ;-)

[bronwinn1021]

12:37 PM on 05/03/2012

sounds like another case of some one trying to dissapear behind semminary or convent walls to ditch something, but dont worry the church has seen this before. we all know her plan is to get her debt paid wait a while then dump the church.

[lisa1369]

09:08 AM on 05/03/2012

this information is wrong. I was discerning the call to become a nun myself and met with two different vocational directors. I also have student loan debt and specifically asked how that would be resolved. the order assumes the responsibility for paying the debt. if you choose to leave the novitiate before professing final vows, you reassume the debt. don't know where the Today Show got their information, but you would think they could afford fact checkers.

[hann3835]

04:57 PM on 05/04/2012

It also depends on the order. But most orders will help to raise the money to pay it off.

[patrick klocek]

12:31 AM on 05/07/2012

And if she simply took her vows first and THEN expressed a desire to study, the order might very well have foot the bil for the whole deal ... except the contraceptives that everybody NEEDS.

I come from a family that has a long tradition of joining holy orders. My uncles were all quite well educated and travelled to world in the service of their orders.

[Michael Morrison]

04:27 AM on 05/03/2012

She'll be all ready for that Vow of Poverty!

[bronwinn1021]

03:43 PM on 05/03/2012

HA!
V.O.P. IN her ed hardy tee shirt.

[Bones Rhodes]

10:57 PM on 05/02/2012

"It would take a salary of at least $207,000 per year in order to pay off $150,000 in 10 years, according to the FinAid calculator."

ONLY if you are paying it back at the minimum payment: there are tons of folks out there living on 20 to 30K a year. Live on the bare necessities and pay off those loans - then go about your life unburdened by them UNLESS the interest rates on your loans are low enough to make it attractive to keep your money fluid and pay them slowly.

[nightfly4257]

07:37 PM on 05/02/2012

Doesn't the Vatican offer scholarships? What if she defaults on the loan, all she has to do is go to confession and all will be right.

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

04:14 AM on 05/06/2012

Rome does not get involved at that level with religous orders. For one thing it could be seen as leading to the Church picking favourites.

[J0E1]

05:28 PM on 05/02/2012

If her life dream was to become a nun, what the heck was she doing racking up $60k in student loans?!  She couldn't get a BA in Theology from a state school?

[SOSTED]

05:12 PM on 05/02/2012

CAN YOU SAY "ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY " .....???

[morelandgr]

03:48 PM on 05/02/2012

She wants to be a nun, and according to the article, "Aspiring priests and nuns are not allowed to carry debt". Doesn't sounds like this is a new rule.

"Student loan debt is nearly possible to erase". No, its not.

Its a loan. You asked for it, you got it. Now you have to pay it off, its not free money.

[lawa]

07:14 PM on 05/02/2012

know what they say about paybacks

[Ainsi sera groigne qui]

04:18 AM on 05/06/2012

Those seeking to enter holy orders have been advised for hundreds of years that they cannot arrive with legal "entanglements". If one has problems they must be sorted.

When it comes to debts it wasn't that long ago in the UK and much of the EU states one could be thrown into jail and or have one's property seized to pay off debts. No order is going to risk their property being taken to pay off debts it did not run up.

[lawa]

01:56 PM on 05/06/2012

home foreclosures is the result of greedy manipulations by financial institutions here in america. now those too big to fail banks have properties without income. so, they find other ways to screw us

[bronwinn1021]

02:11 PM on 05/02/2012

To bad she didnt put her effort into being a nun first, the church would have paid for her schooling in any field she wanted (nursing,teaching,social work etc.). now with school loans and credit card bills she is compromised. She is just not the material they are looking ,she s not a wise investment for the church.

[Ben Fabian]

09:01 PM on 05/02/2012

That's not how God's kingdom works. He uses the unworthy, the broken, the down and out and the forsaken.

[DSkull]

09:08 PM on 05/02/2012

Don't disqualify yourself just yet. That's all of us.

[bronwinn1021]

11:30 AM on 05/03/2012

Sorry bf,
this Is how it works.
often the poor,broken and forsaken. Who better?
But never ever the unworthy.
Just not a wise investment.

[Austin Legend]

01:33 PM on 05/02/2012

Please tell me why you are using "The Today Show" as a credible reference on what it takes to be a nun??

[goncrazi]

03:24 PM on 05/02/2012

Maybe because The Today Show is who investigated the story on studen loans and used her personal experience as an example. She had to have given them the personal information about her debt and possibly explained why she had to wait to become a nun. Whether it was The Today Show or HP - they are correct so what does it matter?

[tk000]

01:11 PM on 05/02/2012

Actually, I know many students whose parents could have paid for their college and didn't. I've also seen parents who take out their own loans to put their child through college. The idea that parents should pay for a college education is nice, but many believe that a college education should be the choice and the burden of the student.

[barbara jay]

05:10 PM on 09/09/2012

As you've noticed, different parents have different perspectives. Mine would have been scandalized, not to mention embarrassed, if I had done anything short of going straight to college after high school, full time, as they expected, but I couldn't have done it if too much of the burden had been placed on me. I did end up taking a leave after my sophomore year and working (and yes, they were scandalized and embarrassed and quite relieved when I went back to college and graduated). I won't be able to offer my daughter anywhere near the same level of support, so we'll have to deal with college issues in other ways.

[tk000]

10:41 AM on 09/20/2012

I remember going to the financial aid office when I had to look into getting my first (and only) private loan. It was infuriating. Legally, they could not tell me what loan providers would give me the best rate. They had no ability whatsoever to suggest any bank to me. In addition, they told me the system was set up in such a way that parents are expected to put forth a certain amount of their income to my education. To me, it was insane. What does it matter how much money my parents have if they don't give me a cent? How can they help me with financial aid if they can't discuss the pros and cons of loans from different providers. I have a lot of debt, but to be honest, I'm happy I have what I have. I know a few who have more than I and haven't graduated  yet.

[travelingblogger]

01:10 PM on 05/02/2012

God was telling her that she didn't need to become a nun. Why would anyone want to become a nun?? It's the most misogynistic occupation in the world today. No respect, no rights, no equality. Nothing.

[bronwinn1021]

01:41 PM on 05/02/2012

Wrong!
dont speak for God,
or for Nuns.

[juswondrin]

02:45 PM on 05/02/2012

travelingblogger......so....you're an ex-nun, then? That's the only way you'd possibly know that becoming a nun is the "most misognistic occupation in the world today. No respect,...etc."

So......God told you .....just you?.....all about His decision for this young woman?

Wow.....God actually talked to .......you. How special.......