Tuesday, April 10, 2007

TV

I'll be on PBS's NewsHour tonight at 6:28 pm to discuss the student loan scandals.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anya! i just saw you on PBS! my name is John, and i'm currently being sued by Louisiana State University (and lenders) for refusing to make payments on my student loans. i've already appeared in court several times to argue my case, but the state of Louisiana is trampling on my rights. i'm refusing to pay for many reasons -- some include being wrongly tossed out of grad school, having my right to due process stomped on, pointing out that LSU is running a student loan scam, etc. i am not kidding about this and would really like to chat with you. please email me at jbrannanmusic@gmail.com i'm also on facebook and myspace (myspace/j_brannan). looking forward to hearing from you!

:-)

please keep bringing attention to how student loans are being run.

Anonymous said...

I saw you on the NEWSHOUR, and although I only barely know your work from NPR, I said 'wow, she's lovely'. Sorry to seem shallow. I looked at some of your work, and then said 'wow, she's bright'. Go get 'em on the loan scandal. I'll be following your progress! Maybe you'll be asked on to Washington Week, and I can enjoy you being bright and lovely at once. Just a dorky 40ish guy from Idaho....

G said...

i watched you on PBS on SBS here in Australia. Great stuff. Meaningless for me but interesting.

Anonymous said...

I saw you on SBS Australia too, you're totally hot. Here in australia we have government loans that are interest free. They are indexed each year to CPI and you dont have to start paying them back until the first year you earn over 39,000 Australian Dollars. Still, things are getting worse, the Howard government practically shut down student unions, and in the 70s the commonwealth paid for many students eduction outright if they were above a certain percentile in high school tests. Not sure what it was, but I think it was pretty liberal. Plenty of the politicians that now put spanners in the works of our tertiary system are themselves the benficiaries of scholarships in the 70s. Its just greed.

Anonymous said...

I saw this (on PBS) ... It was a great presentation and presence on TV ...

My big issue is how the rules changed in 1997 (or so) regarding the rules covering private entities that the loans get sold to when they go into collections.

The amount of fees that collectors can attach ... the way the interest structures changed - this has all been very underhanded. Student Loans were very different in the early 90's - they were seen as a kind of alternative to the grants that were disappearing. They were not meant to be big profit machines for private lending and collection entities as they are today. Aw ... my nostalgia is waxing ... cable tv didn't have commercials and student loans weren't predatory traps set for the hopeful poor by greedy institutions and corrupt bureaucrats. We have practically been tricked into accepting a new form of indentured servitude. Debt is like a vacuum in the pockets of the workers - filling the coffers of rich bankers, collectors and investors. Student debt is class war on crystal meth. Signs of the times - I guess.

Anonymous said...

just finished your book. loved it!

watchdog said...

Hi Anya! My name is marty and I actually work with student loan borrowers to help them consolidate their federal stafford loans... I LOVE reading your blog and keeping up on relevant news about our federal loans. I saw the newshour segment that you appeared on and thought that it was a very very informative article... I now understand the unique relationships between fin advisors at schools and the respective lenders they choose to fund student loans. I also think someone should look into kickbacks to fin advisors who advise students to borrow MORE money than is required for the semester... The more money a student borrowers from a lender the more money the lender makes in interest (obviously). Keep up the good work!