Borrowers flooded the Department of Education and lenders with phone calls as they rushed to beat the deadline to consolidate student loans before interest rates rise.
The variable interest rate on federal student loans will rise nearly 2 percentage points after midnight Thursday. Some borrowers could save thousands of dollars over the lives of their loans by consolidating at the lower rate.
The unusually sharp increase has prompted a wave of last-minute inquiries, causing back-ups for banks' 800 numbers and at the Department of Education's Direct Loan Servicing Center, where at least some calls weren't getting through Wednesday.
Department spokeswoman Susan Aspey encouraged borrowers to file electronically -- the department added nine Internet servers for extra traffic -- or to call at off-peak times. The center will remain open until midnight Pacific time Thursday.
Borrowers can generally apply for consolidation loans online, but the process can be tricky and they often end up phoning lenders with inquiries.
"The volume is tremendous," said Jennifer Darwin, a spokeswoman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia Corp., which said call volume was up 51 percent compared to a year ago.
A spokeswoman for Charlotte-based Bank of America said callers should expect to be on hold an hour or more, even though the bank has added staff to field calls.
Other companies said their preparations worked. Mark Brenner, president of San Diego-based College Loan Corp., said 97 percent of calls were being answered within 30 seconds.
At Collegiate Funding Services in Fredericksburg, Virginia, executive vice president Clark McGhee also said most queries were being answered, thanks to extra staff and overtime, despite several times the usual volume. Pennsylvania's Higher Education Assistance Agency had managers answering calls, which were at more than twice the usual volume.
Some lenders bombarded students with reminders encouraging them to consolidate, but it didn't prevent a last-second rush.
"You'd be surprised how many students out there have no idea what interest rates have been doing and what it means for them," said Matthew Steingraber, vice president of marketing at Academic Financial Services in Tampa, Florida, where volume is about 50 percent higher than normal.
Moreover, individual borrowers are not the only ones who face the consequences of the loan default. The federal government recovers around 80% of the total defaulted amount of student loans, losing billions of dollars each year. The latest data from the U.S. Department of Education indicates that student loan default rates have been rising. Official 2011 default rate is 10%. ("Comparison of FY 2011 2-Year Official Cohort Default Rates to Prior Two Official Calculations"). The New York Federal Reserve reported that as of March 31, 2013 outstanding student debt surpassed credit card debt and was approaching the $1 trillion mark (Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit). If student loan default rates stay unchanged, the federal government will lose $200,000,000,000 of taxpayers’ money over the next few decades because of student loan defaults. Below is the chart representing the outstanding credit card and student loan debt over the last ten years (Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit).
Buddhism and Christianity were each founded by one person, and then eventually grew into two of the largest religions in the world. Each religion had different reasons
This paper is a comparison between two very different religions. Specifically Christianity and Buddhism. Coming from opposite sides of the globe these two religions could not be any farther apart in any aspect. I will discuss who Christ is for Christians and who Buddha is for Buddhists. I will also get into the aspects of charity, love, and compassion in both religions and I will be looking at the individual self and how christians see resurrection where the buddhists feel about the afterlife. One thing to keep in mind is that the two religions are very different but they seem to have a very similar underlying pattern. Both believe that there was a savior of their people, Buddha and Christ, and both believe that there is something good that happens to us when our time is done here on earth. This is a very generalized summarization but in order to go in to depth I need to explain the two religions more to fully convey this theory.
Today two thirds of college students need to take out loans to pay their tuition. Inflation on college tuition has more t...
While a bipartisan bill passed last August reversed the interest rate hike on federally subsidized Stafford student loans, reducing the rate from 6.8% to 3.4%, the rate change only affects future student loans and does not address the $1 trillion student debt that is currently weighing on college graduates throughout the country (Matthews). Additionally, government subsidies have the perverse effect of encouraging colleges to increase tuition to capture mor...
The article, of the extreme student debt crisis, written by James B Steele and Lance Williams, is a disturbing truth fact. The student loan industry is not there to help the students get ahead. Its only goal is to line the pockets of private investors, banks and the federal government.
In the context of how the system works, the only conclusion to accurately draw is that the odds are effectively stacked up against the college student of average means, especially considering the rise of lending organizations like Sallie Mae and the fall of Consumer protections (Collinge 4-5). Since the advent of the GI Bill and the understanding of the common virtue of education in the post-WWII era of the U.S. the message behind the collegiate experience has gone full circle. Since the 1970’s, with the continual amendments to the Higher Education act, lending companies have only become more powerful, enacting “draconian collection” strategies while simultaneously subtracting seemingly all consumer protections including bankruptcy protections, statues of limitations and refinancing rights (Collinge 4.) All of these factors make the modern student loan complex “an inescapable and profitable...
Being raised as a Christian I never gave a thought to any of the other religions. Before visiting or learning about Buddhism I was sure Christianity had nothing in common with Buddhism. Christians believe that the only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ, who is the son of God, and the Buddhists believe that the only way to overcome the desire of the body is through the eightfold path which is the way to Nirvana. While Buddhists believe that suffering is brought about by our desires and humanity needs to overcome that by fighting to get rid of the craving of the body. Christians believe suffering is real and the only way to overcome that is to trust in God and through forgiveness we learn how to deal with our desire. In Christianity we believe that everything happens for a reason, mostly good ones. There is no other way to get rid of our desires. We pray and trust God to get us through whatever is happening.
(Kantrowitz, Mark) In 2012 students who lived in Texas and attended TJC owed $11,308 in tuition in fees for student loans. (US News Education) That price has risen and in four short years it is now $16,307. That is five thousand dollars more than previously. Five thousand in only four years in mind boggling. If a student wanted to pay off that amount in ten years, it would be $167.36 a month, versus in 2012 it would have been $116.05. Many students and their families live paycheck to paycheck, and they do not have that money to spare each month. The increase in price will hurt more than it would help.
Although we can see that the two beliefs of Christianity and Pure Land Buddhism have similar beliefs, we also can see that they do differ in some major areas. I think that it is obvious to see that the Nestorians who brought Christianity to China and Japan had an influence on the Buddhist people during the sixth and seventh century. The religions have their major differences but we can see that throughout the scriptures that the main Idea of unseen faith is the central idea to the religion. Some may say that they are two very different religions but I would differ saying they have very much in common.
...ed instruction to teach use of speech-generating devices to students with autism in social game routines. Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 27(1), 26-39. doi: 10.3109/07434618.2010.546810
As Graduation comes near we all like to believe that our careers begin debt free behind that glass door, and we turn the knob and all our hard work will have paid off. When in fact, the glass door shatter and the student faced with the reality of paying back student loans. There is little dispute today that the number of students who have student loan debt has increased.
students who graduate with debt from student loans are not able to stay on time with their
Employees had to be efficient since time for BillCutterz.com equates to money so the more calls employee made the money they make.
The war of gender equality has been in existence throughout history and it is only until recently that it is being taken seriously. It was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that women have pushed to make their rights on the same level as men. Through the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities, Feminism was formed around this time and those involved with it have changed history since they first started. Feminism has been through three waves, each with their own set of goals and ideas they had wished to accomplish throughout those times. In spite of this, there are those who oppose their views and feel as if the feminists have accomplished nothing. Even if discrimination of women still exists, feminists have come close to accomplishing their goal of equal rights between genders through the passing of women’s suffrage, equal education opportunities, and equal pay.