October 15, 2018

While Dee-1's, “SallieMae Back” video is a fun look at student loan debt, it also profiles huge problems facing people in different careers who are attempting to repay tens of thousands, and even hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. In the video he refers to the student loan servicer, “SallieMae,” who is responsible for collecting on student loans and tracking down borrowers who are in default. Colleges make it easy for students to borrow money while they are in college, and then turn over their huge amount of student loans to loan servicing providers that are responsible for collecting the debt. Students may die before their students are fully paid off!

The second video is a not so fun look at how one student amassed $90,000 in student loan debt.

After watching the videos, use the following 5 questions to guide your group discussion:

  1. Were you aware of the significant percentage of college costs that are being financed by student loans?
  2. While D-1 was able to make a Rap song and video to help earn the money to pay off his student loans, is this really an option that the average college graduate would have?
  3. Are you pursuing a career that will require additional education after your undergraduate degree (e.g., graduate school, law school, medical school)?
  4. While both videos are interesting, what strategies to avoid student loans are presented?
  5. Have each person in your group, go to the Project on Student Loan Debt website and identify the average student loan debt for each of their top 3 colleges.