XPost: alt.anarchism, talk.politics.libertarian, alt.society.liberalism   
   XPost: alt.politics.radical-left, alt.society.anarchy   
   From: etaa123@etaoin.com   
      
   Get servitude with your degree.... the rich still don't have   
   enough of your money.   
      
      #[1]Student loans: Holding transcripts hostage - latimes.com   
      
   Holding transcripts hostage   
      
   Colleges' withholding of transcripts of graduates who've fallen behind on   
   loan payments makes it even less likely that the student can get a job and   
   resume loan payments.   
      
      
      By Dave Lindorff   
      
      May 2, 2012   
      
      Students traditionally have a soft spot for their alma maters. But as   
      growing numbers of students run up debt in the high five and even six   
      figures to pay for college, that may change. Especially when they   
      discover their old school is actively blocking them from getting a job   
      or going on to a higher degree.   
      
      That's what increasing numbers of students are finding when they try to   
      obtain an official transcript to send to potential employers or   
      graduate admissions offices.   
      
      It turns out many colleges and universities refuse to issue these   
      critical documents if students are in default on student loans, or in   
      many cases, even if they just fall one or two months behind.   
      
      This is happening at a time when recent grads are finding it   
      particularly hard to find work, not just in their chosen fields, but   
      anywhere. About half of recent college degree-holders were unemployed   
      or underemployed last year, according to an Associated Press study   
      released last week. And the federal [175]Consumer Financial Protection   
      Bureau estimates student loan debt has passed $1 trillion, an amount   
      greater than all outstanding credit card debt. The Department of   
      Education put the default rate at 8.8% of student borrowers as of   
      September 2010.   
      
      It's no accident that colleges are using the withholding of official   
      transcripts to punish students behind in their loan payments. It turns   
      out the federal government encourages the practice. Schools are not   
      required by law to withhold transcripts, but a spokeswoman at the   
      Department of Education confirmed that the department "encourages" them   
      to use the draconian tactic, saying that the policy "has resulted in   
      numerous loan repayments."   
      
      It is a strange position for colleges to take, however, since the   
      schools themselves are not owed any money. Student loan funds come from   
      private banks or the federal government. For federal Perkins loans,   
      schools get a pool of federal money to apply to students' financial   
      aid, and if students don't pay, that pool gets smaller. But the   
      creditor is still the government, not the college. And in the case of   
      so-called Stafford loans, schools are not on the hook in any way; they   
      are simply acting as collection agencies, and in fact may get paid for   
      their efforts at collection.   
      
      In Southern California, USC's website makes it clear that unmet loan   
      obligations can prevent students from getting transcripts. As for the   
      University of California, Kate Jeffery, director of student financial   
      support for the system, says transcripts are withheld in the case of   
      delinquent Perkins loans. She concedes it's a difficult issue but says   
      that "it's the only tool we have to make them pay."   
      
      Schools don't keep transcript extortion a secret, but for many students   
      who miss the fine print, it's a cruel surprise. A music major — and   
      summa cum laude grad — at Philadelphia's Temple University was making   
      payments on his $62,000 student debt after graduation while working as   
      an adjunct professor for Temple. Laid off after three years, he was   
      unable to find work, fell far behind in his payments and went into   
      default. He decided to try to return to school to earn a doctorate and   
      better his chances of getting teaching work. He was accepted at another   
      university and offered free tuition and a $26,000-a-year stipend for   
      five years. That would allow him to clear his default and defer his   
      loans until graduation. The problem: The grad school program requires   
      an official transcript of his Temple work, and Temple so far has said   
      no.   
      
      He asked that his name not be used because he's afraid it would only   
      make it harder to get help from Temple. "With these policies," he told   
      me, Temple is "helping to crush" students who will "end up with debt   
      that they can never repay."   
      
      Andrew Ross, an [176]NYU professor who helped spark the Occupy Student   
      Debt movement in November, says of the no-transcript tactic: "It's   
      worse than indentured servitude. With indentured servitude, you had to   
      pay in order to work, but then at least you got to work. When   
      universities withhold these transcripts, students who have been   
      indentured by loans are being denied even the ability to work or to   
      finish their education so they can repay their indenture."   
      
      The Obama administration, which has made much of trying to ease the   
      student debt burden, could with a simple directive reverse the   
      Education Department's recommendation that schools withhold   
      transcripts. It's past time to do just that.   
      
      Dave Lindorff is founding editor of the online newspaper   
      
      [177]ThisCantBeHappening!   
      
   References   
      
      Visible links   
      1. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-lindorff-   
   student-loan-default-20120502,0,1718690.story   
    175. http://www.latimes.com/topic/economy-business-finance/u.s.-consumer-   
   financial-protection-bureau-ORGOV00000233.topic   
    176. http://www.latimes.com/topic/education/colleges-universities/new-   
   york-university-OREDU0000130.topic   
    177. http://thiscantbehappening.net/   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)