I read a post online from a vocational school graduate who said he graduated with $20,000 of student loan debt. He found a job working as a entry level technician with a salary of $14 per hour after graduation. He said with a salary of only $14 per hour he wasn't able to pay his monthly student loan payments and take care of himself and his family at the same time, so he let his student loan payments fall behind. He now has $40,000 of student loan debt.
When you don't make your student loan payments it doesn't go away, it only gets worse. Forget about bankruptcy, because that's not allowed with student loans. If you think you can stop making payments and carry on with life as usual, than think again. Stop making payments and your debt will grow, than the banks will take legal action and garnish your pay checks. The only way out of student loan debt is to pay it off or die
And if you think $14 per hour is a reasonable salary for today's technician, than think again. And also remember that many repair technicians in the transportation industries (cars, motorcycles, trucks, etc) are required to pay for and supply their own tools. To put it in perspective, Walmart Automotive Centers pay their employees a starting salary of $15 per hour to change tires and oil, and you don't need school or your own tools. The problem with the repair industry is most jobs are only available at a small family owned and operated business, and unfortunately, and far too often, the owner see's the repair shop as a way to make money at the expense of his repair technicians.
If your going to vocational school, or any school for that matter, make sure you can afford it. Be realistic about your entry level income after graduating when you sit down and calculate expenses. Don't get suckered into student loan debt and find yourself a slave to debt for the next 10 to 20 years. Be smart about it. The intentions of whoever concocted the government backed student loan scheme was to do just that; make you a debt slave so they get rich. I think it's usury and should be illegal, but your responsible for signing the dotted line.
