| # | First Name | Last Name | Please provide a comment or personal story. |
|---|
| 401 | Carmella | de los Santos | I regret taking out student loan. these loans are preventing me from moving forward in my life. Like many others, i too, have to deal with several collection agents due to my original loan getting split up in different directions. in all the reshuffling I strongly believe that information has been duplicated. My loan amount has suddenly doubled. this is wrong! this student loan system needs fixing and a focus on passed graduates to assist 'cleaning up' this student loan mess is needed! |
| 402 | Marco | Scott | This is disgusting, I will not send my kids every to collage so they do not have to be in deep shit like I am... |
| 403 | Stephanie | Murray | Grads should not have to start their professional careers with a daunting amount of debt. |
| 404 | Brandy | Masch | I have way to many comments about student loans that I could probably write a novel with sequel. |
| 405 | Anonymous | Anonymous | . |
| 406 | Anonymous | Anonymous | nice to have the 6 month grace period, but it's not much grace if they are charging interest during this time |
| 407 | Anonymous | Anonymous | i want my interest taken away,,, i had a family tragedy and no matter what i have done to try and remedy my overdue status, i can never get caught up on my loan charges.... |
| 408 | Mary-Jane | Allen | Working families with children sometimes cannot afford to pay back big loans such as these, when they experiencing financial hardship they need to know that there is some sort of help they can get or at least if they need to they can file bankruptcy. I don't think it is fair to discriminate against former students as they are the only ones that cannot have a loan discharged through bankruptcy and to be honest for some people like my self hiding from collections agencies is my only hope right now until something changes. I have tried credit counselling too and the Ontario loan stopped all interest and was willing to work with me which was great but the Canadian student loan just wants their money with interest so I have to keep hiding from them until it's been 10 years since I left school so I can file for bankruptcy . Even if they were willing to work things out it would be a start but they are just greedy and want their money with interest. I just don't think that's right if you have someone willing to try to pay back the money but just needs a little room for reason. |
| 409 | Anonymous | Anonymous | The items mentioned above are small things to change but can make a significant difference in many Canadian lives and families. Thank You |
| 410 | Lisa | Hartjes | Make the people attempting to collect on student loan debts accountable for their actions. I was harassed by a supervisor from the bank of Nova Scotia and ended up having to hire a lawyer to get it to stop and to protect myself. |
| 411 | Sergio | Assaf | I am on arrears with my student loan thanks to a government mistake. I was unemployed receiving EI from the governmet but still was denied student interest relief when applied |
| 412 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Because of a screw up at the student loan centre, my loan went into arrears and affected my credit rating. After a 6 month process of calling the S.L. centre, filling out paper work, and stress, my loan is back on track. It is, however, ridiculous to me that our payback does not work on a scale system, like Australia. The amount paid back should reflect our income - jobs are not exactly plentiful these days, unless you want to sell your sould and work in the oil patch. To allow students to acrue this much debt, and to not subsidize tuition more generously is unbelievably miopic and selfish of the government. Not exactly a sound investment in the future. |
| 413 | Terri | Doi | I have $60,000.00 Student Loan debt, in addition, I took out two lines of credit to pay for the balance of what government student loans did not cover, this brings my student debt to $80,000.00. All of these payments are to different institutions, 5 to be exact, and they all have individual payments and high interest. Consolidation of this debt and a low interest rate would ellivate a lot of issues for me. Having this debt hinders the chance of getting a mortgage and starting to build equity. The proposed changes to the student loan system would help me significantly. Our generation is the generation with enormous amounts of student debt, we will soon be the carriers of the economy, if we cannot buy homes, and have no money to spend and put back into the economy, what will happen? |
| 414 | Ronna-Lee | Kerr | no comment |
| 415 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My bank loan charges less interest than my government loan. How does that make sense? |
| 416 | Dustin | Pingert | Due to lost documents, the lack of intrest relief, and poor investigation i was forced into repayment 2 years before i was done school and couldn't get it rectified, and due to that i still can't get the money from a bank to pay the loan off. |
| 417 | Dan | Hendry | I am 24 and constantly worrying about my future because of my student debt. After gaining formal education, everyone demands experience |
| 418 | Virginia | Merritt | When one considers what university graduates contribute to society, I think it is incumbent upon governments to provide interest and, in extreme cases, debt relief so that education is availble to all, and not just to those who are affluent enough to be able to afford it. Although it has been argued that graduates earn more, these earnings are often made irrelevant by student loan debts. (Signed...a mother of a debt-ridden graduate) |
| 419 | Shilo | Verhaegen | Don't discourage education! encourage it! |
| 420 | Kate | Loughlin | I have been to "hell and back" trying to come up with a solution to my student debt crisis (and, make no mistake, there IS a crisis of enormous proportions regarding student loan debt).
While I will try to be brief, this horrid "odyssey" started back in 1989, so clearly there's quite a bit of background.
I started university in 1989. Through a combination of student loans (both federal and provincial) and part time work, I was finally able to graduate with a degree in Sociology in 1998, the same year I was married. I made payments on both loans for a short time, but my marriage did not last and I was literally forced out of my home (another long story that is best told over coffee and, ultimately, irrelevant here). Having nowhere else to turn, I moved back to my city of origin, London, in May of 2002. My original intent was to return to school at Fanshawe that September to be a Paramedic. This could not, financially speaking, be accomplished without additional assistance so I applied for OSAP. Because of the magnitude of my loans (tens of thousands of dollars!), I was not approved and had to withdraw from the program. At the time, I was waiting tables at a local restaurant in order to "get by" and my loans quickly fell into default, despite my continued contact with the "lovely" people at the various collection agencies.
In November of that year, I declared bankruptcy. I was fully aware that my student loans would not be absolved in the bankruptcy, and after speaking with the collection agencies holding my loans, I believed I had no other alternative. I had spoken to the National Student Loan Centre on several occasions, with several different people, informing them of my intention to declare--IF, and ONLY IF, my status for certain student loan programs such as interest relief and loan forgiveness would not be adversely affected. I was told, again, by several different people on several different occasions, that this would not be the case. I was even sent forms for interest relief and loan forgiveness, which I filled out and sent the same week that I made my declaration of bankruptcy.
After I had made my declaration, I was informed that my status HAD been affected--I had been placed in a "holding" status, so my loans would remain in a state of non-payment, but would continue to accrue interest until I had been discharged. As well, my loan forgiveness and interest relief applications were rendered null and void. Had I been given the correct information by this so-called "government agency" known as the NSLC, I would NOT have declared bankruptcy as it would have been more to my benefit to pursue interest relief and loan forgiveness. However, the deed was done.
It took me almost four years to pay the $1500 trustee fee. During this time, my income was sporadic as I had much difficulty finding a job (and I was looking for ANYTHING--in fact, I was even told that Tim Horton's, a company that will hire almost anyone, would not hire me because I was "overqualified". Is it right that I should have to lie about my education on a resume in order to get a minimum wage paying job? I digress....). I needed to alternately rely on Employment Insurance and Social Assistance, and was nearly evicted (thankfully my landlady had a heart of gold and we were able to make satisfactory arrangements).
I was FINALLY offered a job at London Health Sciences Centre, as a casual clerk in the Cancer Centre, in June of 2005. I paid the remainder of my Trustee fee the following January, and immediately sent letters to all the collection agencies that may have held my loans (they had been flipped from agency to agency...this is quite "normal" when it comes to student loans). I received letters from NCO and Alliance One for my Canada Student Loan and Ontario Student loan, respectively. I was immediately able to make arrangements with NCO and payments started in March of 2006. Alliance One, however, refused to acknowledge my letters, refused to provide me with the details of my loan (since there had been so many agency turnovers, I wanted to make sure that this was the "correct" agency...this is also fairly standard in the loan repayment biz--people end up making payments to the prior collection agency, only to discover that their payments have not been transferred to the 'new' agency....please visit John LeBlanc's website at www.cfwgroup.ca and log on to the Student Loans forum to verify this...in fact, you need only do a search on "student loan horror stories" in order to find out how much we, the debtors, are abused and lied to by agencies representing our "government" despite the various checks that are in place to prevent just that). Alliance One, however, obviously received my letters, as I started getting statements demanding full payment immediately (I had received exactly NONE prior to my original letter). They also refused to tell me the interest rate and the method of accruement (i.e. compounded daily, monthly, etc.). I sent them six letters in six months. My last correspondence from them was in December of 2006, during which time they told me to pay the full amount by December 23rd (Merry Christmas), or they would take me to court. I have not heard from them since and live every day in fear that someone will come knocking on my door to deliver me a notice of wage garnisheement (NCO, to their credit, provided me with everything I asked for immediately, hence the reason I was able to quickly enter into repayment with them).
In August of last year, my CSL repayments were transferred to Social Development Canada. I contacted them immediately and was told that, as far as Canada Student Loans were concerned, they were now being taken care of by Revenue Canada. The original repayment amount (based upon my variable income as a casual worker) continued uninterrupted, despite the fact that NCO "lost" one of my post dated cheques (I had to put a stop payment on this at my own expense....again, "lost" cheques being standard in the industry--until you send another set, upon which time they miraculously "find" the originals, which they also cash--double payments without consent, really, and no recourse available to the debtor).
Today, I received my monthly statement from Social Development Canada. Where they had previously listed my minimum payment as that which we had negotiated, this new statement for March has indicated that they have increased my monthly payment by $150. My income has not changed, yet they expect more money. I have never been late, nor missed a payment. Yet they still demand more money. All calls made to the numbers provided go into an endless voicemail loop.
To summarize, this is how things stand: Social Development Canada is demanding that I make higher minimum payments, and Alliance One is ignoring me. I live on a very strict budget. I am not a spender, and do not make enough to save (I have one paltry $100 RRSP that I cannot add to because I don't have enough money). I do not live beyond my means, nor do I spend money frivolously. I rent my apartment, I walk 35 minutes to work, and I rarely go out to socialize. I cannot leave my job at the hospital. I cannot find part time work. I will be 37 years old this year. In the best scenario, my loans will be paid by the time I am 45 years old, too late to start a family (would you, as an educated and responsible human being, bring a child into this world if you were unsure of how you were going to provide it with basic needs such as food and clothing??).
All I want from life--all I have ever wanted--is a house of my own, a car (it doesn't even need to be new) and a dog. I can have none of these things with the student loan situation the way it is now. And, just to top it all off...I don't even USE my education (except to write long winded letters to MPs, it seems). The position I hold at the hospital is a position that literally ANYONE with a modicum of common sense can do. I am the only clerk in my area with a degree....everyone else took courses at Medix. I can't increase my education, and yet I'm limited by it (I'm overqualified for low paying jobs, and underqualified for everything else).
I am at the end of my rope. While I'll admit that I am a helluva lot better off than a lot of former students I am also, in very many ways, worse off. I see no bright future, my dreams of social contribution and betterment are crushed to dust. I see no happy ending, I see nothing but despair and drudgery and a lifetime of working myself to the bone for NOTHING. I'm worn out, financially, emotionally, spiritually. Clearly, I am an incredibly intelligent articulate woman who could have been ANYTHING I chose. I chose to get an education. I did not choose to be paying for it forever. And now, it seems as if I'm being abandoned by the very government that is supposed to help me realize those dreams. Because I have student loan debt I am nothing. Nothing but frustrated and pleading words on a page. No future. No hope. I pray that you never know the feeling of waking up every single morning of your life and thinking "this is all for nothing".
If education is a right afforded to all Canadians, how can this happen? How can the educated stay poor?
What possible reason is there for me to stay in a country that clearly thinks of me as nothing but a burden because my student loans have gone into default? I do not want to leave. We do live in one of the greatest nations on Earth. I do not want to give up what little I have, I am PROUD that I was born in a country so free. Yet, at this moment I would rather live homeless in another country than continue the economic persecution that I now endure. That may seem dramatic, but I can only speak my truth; I would rather wake up every morning cold, shivering, and hungry but with HOPE than tired, angry and spiritually devastated, knowing that my life is over. Over before it has even truly begun. |
| 421 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Glad to participate. As a student I understand the burden of financial pressure. |
| 422 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I can only hope that our government listens, and lets our future kids (who will run this country)get an education in order to do so.Without a heavy debt and all the menageries and errors& mistakes- which seem to go along with "Canada & National Student Loan Programs" for the rest of their lives.My family members{5} have been through literal Hell with these people and total a debt to Student Loans program a grand total of $160,000.xx & 1 is still in univ.This is outrageous to say the least, and the "interest relief- gets tossed to the wayside -with lost paperwork 7 mistakes made by the institutions.
bottom line -
may the ones who run the program should go back and get an education!! |
| 423 | trisha | macintyre | i made payments on my loans,they lost records of the payments,so it kept delaying the interest relief i was trying to get on..in the end i made pymts for almost a year..and i was on interest relief and they never did refunded because of them loosing the info..and it doesnt seem to matter how much i paid it all went towards interest..i hate student loans ..so im not payin on them at all right now.. |
| 424 | Belinda | Watts | Laws need to be changed now!! |
| 425 | Trevor | Smith | Back in the 80's, I took a computer course of which I needed a student loan, of which also included a bursary. Student Loans couldn't pay for the whole course, so I had to cut back on some of the training. Because of this, they ( student Loans) made me pay back the bursary as well as the student loan. How is this fair??? I thought the bursary was your's to keep? |
| 426 | Leona | Roberton | The students today are our future, if post education is becoming so expensive and students are going into debt before completing their education, what's the motivation for post secondary education. There are too many students who do not continue with their education because they are getting in to too much debt. |
| 427 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My student loans were defaulted while I was still a student. I have been paying interest at TWELVE PERCENT for over 10 years. Some action needs to be taken to get the student loan issues under control. |
| 428 | Nick | Greenwood | Mitt is good. |
| 429 | Anonymous | Anonymous | We also need to reduce the 10 year limit on bankruptcy. |
| 430 | Jeff | Grattan | Students don't take on this debt for the fun of it, they do it to better their lives, and therefore the betterment of their community. Why are they being taken advantage of for doing this? We are not looking for a handout, just fairness. |
| 431 | Tina | Kirshenbaum | I could write a book concerning the bureaucratic and ridiculous oversights of Student Loans BC and Canada. I am thankful I had the opportunity to return to University. I have paid my loans. I was able to access Loans Remission before it was cancelled; however the interest rate paid on loans is ridiculous. I wonder does the Canadian Government want an educated citizenry who can be healthy participants in the economy. Or do they want educated street people. At the rates owed and cost of education and loans, I wonder how someone gets through the ordeal without managing to be a financial cripple for many years. There has got to be a more appropriate solution! |
| 432 | Reagan | Conley | In just over a year that I have had a loan in collections, I have had 5 or 6 different people handling my account. I have never missed a payment and want to get this cleared up as soon as possible. I have been called repeatedly and threatened with legal action. |
| 433 | Cal | Chow | Please correct government mistakes and fascist undertakings in respect to students and citizens rights as in the constitution and other accords. |
| 434 | Anonymous | Anonymous | People who borrow and stay in Canada should only pay 3% interest, and if you leave to work outside the country after getting a student loan you should pay 7-8% interest |
| 435 | Anonymous | Anonymous | Interest rate should be Prime! This would be fair |
| 436 | Alicia | Cerisano | I am disabled. I collect Canada Pension. I will never be able to work again. I did not qualify for loan forgiveness (as they said I wasn't disabled enough. (same department, hrdc deemed me disabled in regard to CPPD. I owe so much now. Interest accruing, threatening phone calls. I make less than a thousand dollars a month and I have two kids. I'm stuck. It will be ten years next year, I will claim bankruptcy on my loans. I have been harrassed for ten years, I'm so glad it's almost over. The collections agency, has at one time served me papers and I had a court date. It was postponed. If I could I would sue them all for harrassement. I'm very sick, what a way to spend the last ten years of my life. |
| 437 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I found out that RBC reported me to the credit bureau (which I only know about because I receive Credit Alerts with my RBC Visa card). So even though they knew I was in the process of having the NSLSC approve me for Interest Relief, they demanded money. The NSLSC kept stringing me along, for months and months. THEN, the NSLSC ALSO reported me to the credit bureau. Unbelievable!! THEY made the process take as long as it did, then THEY have the nerve to report me, as though somehow I was just choosing not to pay. In Canada, I'm going through this kind of nonsense. I'm considering going back to school, but guess what. If you've defaulted on a student loan, you don't qualify for future loans, unless you write to a specific address and explain the situation and someone agrees to give you a break. You try and get ahead honestly, and make something of yourself, only to be slapped in the face by numerous government and financial institutions. |
| 438 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My husband and I are currently dealing with his Federal student loan. It has been in collections for a number of years and we have finally been in a position to really pay it down in the last couple of years. We also have paid off his Ontario student loan in the last couple of years as well. We have faithfully made our payment every month but now are trying to deal with a charge of interest approximately 120% over what the actual charge should have been. This occured in October of '06. We still cannot find the person we can talk to about this. We have talked to several people with no result. We have written a letter when requested; went to a local representative for HRDC (which we will be visiting again as soon as we can to try that angle again); have made several phone calls both to the collection agency and HRDC directly, and still nothing. It makes you definitely feel as though you have no where to turn for help. |
| 439 | Anonymous | Anonymous | 5 years after graduating,I have finally found part time work that is related to my degree. i still cannot afford to even make payments that cover the interest alone. During the years of sketchy employment, I ended up filing for bankruptcy but of course, there is not releif from the overwhelming student debt. I am widowed and getting close to retirement age and have very little hope for my future with this debt hanging over me. |
| 440 | Steve | LaPorte | Needs to change. |
| 441 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My story is a long one. Basically I sustained injury (slipped disc) from day work. They screwed around on my canada millenium study grant and cut off my disabilites (mental and overweighty) for having a student loan. Worry about rent and food makes it hard to concintrate on school in the first place. I did not do so well in the work place and had some bad expeirnce, I found out just how stressful my chosen profession could be. I also had seen how outsourcing had ruined the IT field (boy did it happen fast). This failure had spurned on some bad depression.
My life was in a rut for three or four years. I did get my provincial student loan forgiven. I thought I could get my federal loan forgiven (fat chance).
There definition is of permenat disability is a functional limitiation that is excpected to remain with the person for the rest of their life and restricts their ability to work.
While they interpret restricts and prohibits.
They told me on the phone that if I could even work half an hour a week I would not get forgiven of my loan. Other government agency know the difference between the words.
I did not have money to pay my loan (disabled people don't get much money). I got a letter in the mail saying my loan would go over to collections. ONE of the student loan worker told me it would NOT. Then three weeks later I got a letter saying it did. Then a worker told me it would be RECALLED as soon as I made a payment. NOPE not true. They might as well call it the National Student Loan Servicing Center. The only Service they provide is metaphorical sexual nature.
They won't recall my loan (belive me I have tried). I have found a way I could make a 500 a year payment to them (my situation in life is a little bit more improved) and they won't recall my loan. Even on signed promises to pay. What gives?
five hundread a year won't even cover the intrest. They serviced me so much that I am loose as a moose. |
| 442 | Anonymous | Anonymous | My girlfriend has struggled to deal with overwhelming student debt. This has negatively impacted our relationship. I also have a daughter who is considering post-secondary education. I would like to see a much more effecient student loan system. this petition expresses the needs very well. |
| 443 | Danielle | Giroux | This is very important to the students in Canada |
| 444 | Jacqueline | Seffelaar | If the government and society is complaining so much about people on welfare or who are homeless and jobless, why are they making it so difficult for people to have an education that would help provide jobs to support the economy and the people in our country? If student loans were more readily accessable for those who need it, and treat students and others trying to make a contribution to society through educating themselves with respect, fairness and dignity, wouldn't that help solve a lot of the world's problems? |
| 445 | deirdrie | ellis | we need to get this under controll it is not ok for our government to treat us like this. |
| 446 | Marie | Spanner | I think that students need a break. Life's tough enough as it is! |
| 447 | Kristi | Waud | I think we shouldn't have to pay to go to school |
| 448 | Anonymous | Anonymous | I became a single father of two pre-teen boys shortly after graduating from the chemical sciences program at BCIT in 1990. Single mothers were forgiven their student loans obligations due to their familial obligations. Does the government think single dads have life any easier? My boys were seven and nine years of age at the time. My loan WAS 14K, now over 30K.
I'll gladly pay it off when I win the lotto!
Sincerely,
LabRat |
| 449 | Beverly | Sheppard | my student loan went into default 9 years ago after I was mislead into believing my loan was under the interest relief program, after finding out my documents had been lost and overdue interest had been accruing which had to be paid and which i couldn't afford to pay, before i could reapply for interest relief. I have been dealing with numerous collection agencies who refuse my payments, reneg on payment arrangements made, call my work, my husband's work, family etc. I just want to pay my debt but don't know who I owe it to or how much I even owe. |
| 450 | Bryan | Smith | Students loans are just plain usury. |
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