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Thread ID: 85152	2007-12-01 18:58:00	Student Loan Issue	bk T (215)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
616920	2007-12-04 05:03:00	Student loans suck, they suck the money from you, they suck the life out of you and they suck the govt deficit by approx $8 million per year! i disagree - they allow you to pursue a career that is high paying and you will be much better off ten years down the road (unless you're an arts student, then you're very likely to be wasting your time/money unless you have a well thought out plan that actually matches up with the real world)	motorbyclist (188)
616921	2007-12-04 06:07:00	65 I think is the age u can apply for Super. Thru WINZ. It'd be about 400 and something a fortnight for a single person. Might be more for a married couple. It'll be on the WINZ site somewhere. As repayments are based on income, not assets, and taking the above income of $400/fortnight, the income of a single retired person would be below the Student Loan repayment threshold, and so they wouldn't be paying anything back. With the interest-free scenario applying, the net effect is that the student loan will remain static until that person passes away, and as stated above will be written off. If the income surpassed the threshold, then 10% of the income over the threshold would be deducted for loan repayments.	Lizard (2409)
616922	2007-12-04 06:38:00	As repayments are based on income, not assets, and taking the above income of $400/fortnight, the income of a single retired person would be below the Student Loan repayment threshold, and so they wouldn't be paying anything back. With the interest-free scenario applying, the net effect is that the student loan will remain static until that person passes away, and as stated above will be written off. If the income surpassed the threshold, then 10% of the income over the threshold would be deducted for loan repayments. Do you think I could take out a student loan at 75 ? Tom	Thomas01 (317)
616923	2007-12-04 08:57:00	Quote from Motorbyclist dunno bout aussie, but here in NZ the govt. pays approx 80% of the fees, and the loans are interest free if you stay in NZ so my engineering degree will cost me a bit more than $20000, whereas for an international student the same course would cost over $100000. basically this means that if i really work for it i'll have paid off the loan within two or three years Sorry to disappoint you - I was a staff member till my retirement at a New Zealand University, and I can assure you that you are in for a surprise New Zealand Student loans are only interest free during your time as a full time student - Once you hit the work force they attract interest, (unless some politician has had a change of heart since I retired to Australia.) And when it comes to asking a bank for a loan for a mortgage, they take into account all your liabilities when calculating how much they will lend, and a large student loan, particularly if both partners have them will inhibit the amount a bank will lend you. OK if you are a Doctor or Dentist, not so good if you are an Engineer (until you have registration), or an Accountant or Lawyer, bad news if you are a BA or BSc School teacher with a large student loan	KenESmith (6287)
616924	2007-12-04 11:46:00	Sorry to disappoint you - I was a staff member till my retirement at a New Zealand University, and I can assure you that you are in for a surprise New Zealand Student loans are only interest free during your time as a full time student - Once you hit the work force they attract interest, (unless some politician has had a change of heart since I retired to Australia.) LOL - the irony obviously you weren't paying attention last election when labour effectively bribed the entire 18-25 demographic interest free unless you live overseas for more than 183 days without applying for an exemption:p and that includes up to $150 a week for living costs, and on top of that some many people are eligible for $180 a week student allowance benefit which doesn't need to be paid back. And when it comes to asking a bank for a loan for a mortgage, they take into account all your liabilities when calculating how much they will lend, and a large student loan, particularly if both partners have them will inhibit the amount a bank will lend you. OK if you are a Doctor or Dentist, not so good if you are an Engineer (until you have registration), or an Accountant or Lawyer, bad news if you are a BA or BSc School teacher with a large student loan absolutely right for the BA:lol:, but over here the govt now pays you to do your teaching degree (all course fees plus $10k living expenses) so all graduates have to worry about is the BSc fresh graduate engineers are meant to be able to fetch about 50k depending on their specialisation (or so they tell us), and talking to older friends and industry people the money is closer to 80k if you jump the ditch to aussie - which negates the interest on the loan but i dunno about cost of living of course having house prices soar doesn't help, but ultimately i'm sure we can all agree that you're better off having done the degree and gotten a decent career than working at mcdonalds or as a mechanic/tradesperson? sure free uni would be good, but alot of taxpayers are too short sighted to see that people on higher incomes will eventually pay it all back through higher income tax and paying more total gst when they spend their extra income, plus there is a dire need for more skilled workers in NZ that need to stay in NZ (thus the interest write off only applies if you stay local)	motorbyclist (188)
616925	2007-12-04 21:11:00	The student loan issue always brings up the doctor, lawyer, engineer, BA degrees but never seems to mention the other end of the spectrum. Was talking to my early-20s hairdresser a couple of years back. She had done two courses and her loan was over $20,000 - and it isn't the most highly paid job in the world. She was very skilled and will always have work but may never gain the skills to run her own business. Having worked in a school and knowing how many low achieving 16 year olds take off to a hairdressing course on their 16th birthday (or ealier in some cases) I was interested in how many had passed her course. Answer was not many. To do the first course cost around $9,000. A fair proportion of the students passed only 3 or 4 unit standards on things like stacking shelves, washing hair, etc One of her classmates had progressed from this to solo mum with 4 kids. *** My youngest daughter did a 6 month photography course 5 years ago instead of 7th form (repeating some earlier subjects). We were offered a student loan as a matter of course (and they were quite surprised when I turned it down and wrote a cheque instead). She passed with flying colours and has done well with it - 2 of her wedding photos won silver awards in the Kodak awards a year ago. Others took the loan and dropped out within weeks. Only half the class made it to the end. What became of them? (The kid is now doing a Business degree (with loan), has a B average and is on overseas on the exchange program. This one is value for money.) *** One of our tenants was doing a political science degree with a student loan paying his rent and living costs. He got to the end and then progressed to a nursing degree to get work. I hate to think how big his loan is now but he and his partner broke up and moved out so I can't ask. *** Then there was the story in the paper of the islander student who had part of her loan tithed to the church...	Mercury (1316)
616926	2007-12-04 23:21:00	well unless we go back to free tertiary education what can we do? (and wtf would a political science degree lead to?)	motorbyclist (188)
616927	2007-12-04 23:35:00	well unless we go back to free tertiary education what can we do? I'm in favour of the free model but can't see it happening. Too many things have changed and there are far more private institutions than there were back then (not necessarily all good or all bad) (and wtf would a political science degree lead to?) Exactly.	Mercury (1316)
616928	2007-12-04 23:41:00	I just finished paying mine off this year, they just gave me a different tax code and a back account to deposit any extra monies on my own will. Worked out ok when I found out I had been overpaying for 3 years. Hello new computer!:D	rob_on_guitar (4196)
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