Graduate student in a bind, seeking help

Submitted by Throwaway61057 t3_10p355a in personalfinance

Hello all. I’m a U.S. citizen living abroad while filling out my masters degree. Pretty soon I need to take action as my student loans company for my undergraduate loans is charging me 500 dollars a month for my student loan payment and will not let me defer as they will only defer for US graduate schools. What can I do? I’m only in my first semester and this has already caused me to lose over 2000 dollars of savings this semester and I have 4 more to go. I have considered just not paying them but I don’t know the repercussions of that and I’m refinancing will only lower the cost a little bit without providing any more financial aid. My options for jobs are limited due to language proficiency and visa status meaning I cannot feasibly make enough for both rent and this 500 dollar payment and my savings are hemorrhaging while I need to remain here for two years and hopefully pivot into a career here. Would taking out a graduate loan to use to pay for my undergraduate loans be a good idea? Any advice is appreciated, I’m a humanities person so I really have no clue what to do

0

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

BouncyEgg t1_j6i1ebp wrote

What’s the long term realistic plan here?

If you can’t have a job because of language proficiency, what is the purpose of continuing a foreign masters program?

3

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6i2dpa wrote

Never said I CANT speak the language, I meant my current language proficiency is not good enough for high paying side job. I can speak the language just not at the highest level yet

−2

expertestateattorney t1_j6i50il wrote

Pretty much sums up so many students. Let's go to college, never looking ahead at the cost.

1

Emily4571962 t1_j6idzwb wrote

It’s been a couple of decades since I had a student loan, but they used to offer a forbearance as an option — interest kept accruing but payments were paused. If that still exists as a thing, you might want to run the numbers on whether that’s reasonable for you.

1

SolutionLeading t1_j6ih874 wrote

Not paying the loans will cause your servicer to begin reporting late payments, and eventually your loans will go into default. You will still owe the money, but your credit score will be absolutely trashed for around 7 years. A low credit score will make it very difficult for you in the US to refinance loans, buy a car, qualify for an apartment, get a credit card or personal loan, or buy a house.

You could call your servicer and ask about other deferment options, such as in cases of hardship. When you refinance the loans, you could look for some that offer forbearance for foreign grad schools. Idk if they exist but it’s worth a try.

You could take out a grad loan but you might run into the same problem where repayment starts immediately instead of being deferred. You’d have to research your options carefully.

Is this a degree you can get in the US instead? You would be able to defer your loans if it’s a US grad school, right?

1

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6kxr1m wrote

I would be able to defer but equivalent degrees in the US are like 4-5 times the cost overall

1

Nickyweg t1_j6i1dws wrote

Who is the loan servicer?

Side note, what is the degree in? All my friends with humanities undergrads really seem to regret it.

Why did you want to get a foreign degree opposed to a domestic one?

−2

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6i2len wrote

Discover

Japanese language and East Asian cultural studies

I’m aiming to live in Japan, it’s very difficult to land a career if you are not physically in Japan, and graduate programs are much cheaper here than in the states

−5

NoFilterNoLimits t1_j6i36p4 wrote

Can you find a side job there teaching English? That typically doesn’t actually require you to be proficient in the language your students speak, oddly. I’ve had many US students support themselves for a year or two in Asia by teaching English as a foreign language

4

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6klvwr wrote

I’m going to look into it, currently have a job lined up at a ramen place but it doesn’t pay well

1

Nickyweg t1_j6i35gt wrote

You can’t just stop paying it, especially if you need more school money from them down the line.

It sounds like you may have just jumped into this without much research. Do you have anybody at home that can float you the money?

It’s going to be hard for an American bank to justify loaning you money to fix this situation.

2

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6kfahg wrote

This same company would maybe let me refinance right now with a co-signer as my credit is really good right now

1

Nickyweg t1_j6kixjy wrote

Don’t risk ruining somebody else’s credit unless you’re positive you can pay it

1

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6klsll wrote

The big problem right now is just the current amount I have to pay per month, 500 is pretty insane for me to be able to cover with the conversion rate and a part time job, but knocking it down will make it easier for me to deal with

1

Throwaway61057 OP t1_j6kevv2 wrote

I figured that’s not really a super good option yeah. If I go for another graduate loan it would be from somewhere else, I have a company in my home state that does graduate education loans. I had done a lot of research into it but made the oversight that my loan company while they advertise that they offer deferment for if you go back tk school it has a hidden asterisk that I only found out after through a phone call that it’s for US schools

0