# Graduating Class of 2015 most debt-burdened in history

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graduating-class-of-2015-most-debt-burdened-in-history/720731>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 24, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graduating-class-of-2015-most-debt-burdened-in-history/720731 "2015-05-24T17:31:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [May 25, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/graduating-class-of-2015-most-debt-burdened-in-history/720731/21 "2015-05-25T16:32:18Z")

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> [@even\_sven](#):
>
> What plans you are eligible for depend on when you took out your first loan (the more generous ones are more recent), but I’m pretty sure every borrower is eligible for some income based plan.
> 
> [snip]
> 
> Of course, slower repayment plans will accrue more interest. I think all are forgiven after 25 years of payments, with the forgiven amount being taxable. Government employees and those working for non-profits are eligible for a non-taxed forgiveness after 10 years.

That was pretty much the case 20 years ago when I finished grad school, but again, only for Federally guaranteed loans. I opted for graduated repayment because I ran the numbers and realized that although I certainly couldn’t afford a straight 10-year repayment schedule on my salary, if I picked income-contingent, I’d never make a dent in the principal either. (And I don’t think the 25-year writeoff existed then.)

But again, these plans only apply to Federally guaranteed loans. The Feds were very helpful in working with me when I incurred large medical expenses not covered by insurance - I had a couple of brief hardship forbearances. I hear the private lenders are not so accommodating.

And I was working the whole time (yes, I was a liberal arts person for both undergrad and grad school, but haven’t been job-hunting for more than a couple of weeks at a stretch since I graduated college in 1989 - I’ve always been a full-time worker, a full-time student, or some combination of the two. And all my loans are paid off now.)

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