Financial Sector Policy and the Poor: Selected Findings and Issues (World Bank Working Paper No. 43) Book

I haven't been able to find another book quite like this one, I'm so glad the author wrote this book! He exposes the unethical and shady ways that Salliemae dominates the market for student loans (paying universities to make them the primary lender, acquiring other companies, acquiring guarantors and getting the profit for payments made on defaulted loans, etc.). He also addresses how bad things are in the student loan world. Did you know that once you consolidate your loans, it is against the law to re-consolidate them with another lender for a lower rate? Free market principles have no hold in the student loan market, where universities, the department of education, and guarantors are in SallieMae's pocket.

Most frightening is that if you default on your loan, your life is basically over. You can't declare bankruptcy and discharge that debt, even if with private loans. If you don't pay, your wages can be garnished, your disability check or social security can be dipped into, and even your employment can be in jeopardy. In some cases, people have had their licenses to practice medicine taken away because they defaulted on student loans. Collections agencies have contacted borrower's employments to have their wages garnished or get them fired. Just how are they supposed to pay back on these loans if their employment is taken away? Sallie mae is more profitable when people default on their loans, and the author has brought to light incidents where Sallie Mae has allowed loans to go quietly into default for this reason. They don't want you to pay off your debt, they make FAR more money if you are paying them for life.

The bottom line is that all consumer protections have been taken away. When people are committing suicide or leaving the country to escape the stress of their ballooned debt that they've made good efforts to pay, it's time for a change. EVERYONE with student loans should read this book, if nothing else to realize how bad things can get if you get into a rough patch where you can't pay on your loans.

The author was slightly repetitive about some information, but the information he provided was valuable enough to overlook the weaknesses in his writing.