College Debt: Barely Getting By

I returned to college as a single mother of two small boys. I had been working as a self-employed hairstylist. I wanted to earn a college degree because I felt it would enable me to provide a better life for my sons and myself. During my second year back in school I was diagnosed with cancer. I had no health insurance or paid sick leave. I was forced to borrow the maximum amount of money allowed just to support myself and my boys while I was not only completing school but missing work in order to have cancer treatment. In spite of the obstacles, I managed to graduate in 2001 with a BS in microbiology. I have been working for the public sector in the environmental field since then.

My sons have grown up to be contributing members of society. My oldest graduated from college in 2008, and he's currently serving in the Peace Corps. His student loans are not as high as mine but he still had to borrow money to get through school. My younger son is in the process of enlisting in the Navy. Hopefully student loans will not be an issue for him.

I now have a 6 year old daughter to support. I also still have cancer. I have to travel to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston for my medical care, a 12 hour drive one way. I have ever-increasing insurance premiums, high deductibles, and co-pays to contend with along with the normal costs of living life. Because I work in the public sector I do not have to worry about being denied coverage for the cancer, but my pay is low. My loans are currently in forbearance as the interest continues to accrue. I have absolutely no idea how I am going to manage to pay them back. I barely get by as it is. The stress is overwhelming at times. Sometimes I think my only answer is a miracle.

 

Comments

[livingplanet]

09:30 PM on 02/22/2010

RE: you cancer, have you explored FUDA Cancer Center in China? See

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuda_Cancer_Hospital-Guangzhou
http://www.orienttumor.com/en_asp_new/index.asp
http://www.fudahospital.com/en_asp_new/index.asp
http://www.ihcare.co.uk/index.php?id=437
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/china-s-elephant-man-4210/Overview03#tab-update

[cloudminder]

06:46 PM on 02/22/2010

i am glad they covered a "non traditional/ re-entry" student
to me, when universities and colleges and trade schools take advantage of head of household with kids by not giving them counseling and planning and reasonable tuition rates and job placement after graduation

well, that is really disgusting

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/

[cloudminder]

07:16 PM on 02/22/2010

# Operational Mediocrity- Daily Californian (2010)
# UC regents Schwarzenegger and Wachter – are they making a profit from university investments? (2010)
# Schwarzenegger vetoes whistleblower protections for UC workers (2010)
# UCLA consultant involved in accounting scandal (2010)
# More Scandals Uncovered at UC, Yee Requests State Audit (2010)
# UC Admits Misleading Public About Senior Executive Buyout Taker (2009)
# List of Salaries of UC Highest Paid Employees (2009)
# UC regents OK millions in incentive pay to top execs (2010)
# UC Boss Mark Yudof's Case Against Himself (2009)
# U.S. Senator Grassley Raises Concerns About Integrity of Finances at University of California System (2009)
# UC regents award huge pay increases to execs while furloughing staff (2009)
# Audit finds excessive expenses by CSU and UC Senior Administrator (2009)
# POGO praises U.S. Senator Grassley for raising concerns about integrity of finances at UC (2009)
# Yakuza Mob and UCLA Med Center on CBS "60 Minutes" by Lara Logan (2009)
# UC San Diego Data Security Hotline Swamped (2009)
# UC Irvine to fire whistleblower nurse?! (2009)
# New UC Davis Chancellor Linked to "Clout" Admissions Probe (2009)

[ALanza]

05:36 PM on 02/22/2010

Forbearance, which allows the payments to be temporarily suspended but the interest accrues, may not be the only (or the best) loan repayment option. If these are federal student loans, Ms. Galindo may be able to apply for Income-Based Repayment, where the payments would be capped at a reasonable amount depending on income. She also mentions that she works in the public sector, and so may be eligible for "public service forgiveness," where after 10 years of IBR payments, any remaining balance is forgiven. If her job does not qualify as public service, then the remaining balance could not be forgiven until after 25 years of payment. She should talk to the holder of her loan or visit http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp for more info.

Ms. Galindo's story illustrates a real problem in the federal student loan program, though - borrowers in need just don't know all their options, which really makes it hard for them to make smart repayment decisions.

[sgalindo]

05:57 PM on 02/22/2010

Thank you, My forebearance is up this month and I just found out about the income-based options. I plan to look into it.

[Julia Bailey]

12:52 PM on 02/22/2010

All the schools I have attended insisted that I had health insurance, either through my own means or I had to buy into their plan (for a fantastic deal). I thought this was the norm. It should be. You shouldn't be allowed to go to school without them providing health insurance.

[sgalindo]

01:35 PM on 02/22/2010

My school offered insurance that was very expensive and covered very little. It was not required to have insurance to entroll. I used the student health center until they failed to figure out I had cancer for months even though there was a large lump sticking out of my neck. One of my reasons for going back to school was to be able to find a decent job that provided affordable health insurance.
The bigger problem for me then was not getting paid sick leave (another reason for wanting more options in my career) - no work no pay. I had several operations and series of radiation treatments. I worked when I was sick as much as possible. I had two kids to support. I was desperate.

[Robin J]

04:29 PM on 02/22/2010

Texas State Schools have a GREAT student insurance option- for LESS THAN $100/SEMESTER the last year I used it in 2006. It covered everything, it was one of the few great things about school in Texas. In this case it was available. It was not mandatory that I am aware of, and not well advertised either- I knew about it because I looked for it.

With that said, this is not so much a student loan issue as a health care issue- her student loans primarily went to health care expenses- that is horrifying, and should not have had to happen.

Good luck, and I hope you continue to become more and more well.

[darcdante]

12:32 PM on 02/22/2010

It's a shame that we let thigns like this happen in our society. Hopefully enough stories like Sonia's will get published so people at least pay more attention to the growing problems in our higher education system. Where the debt comes easy, but at what future cost?