{"id":6666,"date":"2021-05-04T09:48:18","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T13:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=6666"},"modified":"2025-08-24T11:08:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:08:12","slug":"trends-in-student-loans-how-it-affects-borrowers-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2021\/05\/04\/trends-in-student-loans-how-it-affects-borrowers-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Trends in Student Loans: How It Affects Borrowers Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>The idea that money doesn\u2019t grow on trees is far from new. But the fact that this also applies to both private and public sources of loan money seems to go over some people\u2019s heads. Just like all other people and companies, banks, schools and even the government have limited amounts of money. So, when they dole it out to college students looking for financial aid, they can only give so much to so many people. And this is why most lenders use a first-come first-served system. The earliest applicants get the best chance at getting all of the money they need. But when they start to run out of money to give, they have to give less to everyone else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This is why the amount you borrow is just as important as the amount you can pay for yourself. Any person who dips into the pot is taking that money away from someone else \u2013 not out of cruelty, but just because of the way the system is set up. So, the morally right thing to do with your student loans is to, well, use them like you\u2019re supposed to. Use them on tuition, living costs and transportation to and from school. And even more important, only borrow what you absolutely need in order to pay for those things.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If you think that this moral contract sounds like common sense, you\u2019re not alone. This has been the unspoken code of borrower ethics for decades. If you need money for school, you use it for school. But recent trends suggest that more and more students are redirecting that loan money into personal purchases (vacations, clothes, etc.). Even worse, some are borrowing more than they need in order to finance personal purchases while still covering all of their responsible expenses (like school). In one scenario, you substitute clothes for tuition. In the other you sacrifice neither. In both scenarios, you are taking money away from someone else who needs it more. And because loan money isn\u2019t traceable, regardless of where it comes from, there\u2019s no way to police how it\u2019s being spent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Surya Amundsen, 18, Waterville Senior High School.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Surya Amundsen is a current senior at <\/span>Waterville Senior High School and a future university student. She didn\u2019t express concern about what this could mean for her own loan situation. She was concerned for what it could mean for some of her other low-income classmates. \u201cThere are plenty of students with significant financial need \u2013 they cannot feasibly pay for college without aid. And the government can only loan out finite sums of money. So it is important that (those) who will receive it will actually use it toward its intended purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Hazel Dow, 17, Waterville Senior High School.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s called a student loan for a reason,\u201d Hazel Dow, a junior at the same high school, said. \u201cIt\u2019s meant to be spent on education expenses and making a better future for oneself.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Strangely enough, both young women also acknowledged the temptation to fund a lifestyle using loans. For example, it could be one using, say, earnings from a part time job. \u201cJust thinking about financing a life of luxury with student loans is tempting. I mean, the money is right there!\u201d Hazel said. \u201cThe chance of getting caught is pretty slim. So yes, it\u2019s very tempting.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But after they had separated urge from action? Well, the sympathy seemed to dissipate. \u201cThis use, or misuse, of student loan money is not fair to other students,\u201d Hazel said. \u201cOne student\u2019s moral misconduct shouldn\u2019t result in a loss of opportunity for another.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Clearly, from the perspective of a borrower, there\u2019s a moral divide between longing to be irresponsible and actually choosing to be. There are enough economic and social walls between people and education. And as for the consensus among future borrowers? Let the haves and their wants not impact the have-nots and their needs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The idea that money doesn\u2019t grow on trees is far from new. But the fact that this also applies to both private and public sources of loan money seems to go over some people\u2019s heads. Just like all other people and companies, banks, schools and even the government have limited amounts of money. So, when […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":228,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/228"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6666"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8261,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6666\/revisions\/8261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}