You’ll never guess how I spent my evening. Actually you probably will since I’m posting this on StudentLoanTax.org! My friend Brandi is a grad student. She has several more semesters in her future before she will be qualified for her future profession. Tonight we took a look at her student loan situation. She needs to borrow more money than expected for the fall so she wants to plan ahead. Brandi is doing everything a responsible student should do. And then we did some math…Ouch!

When Brandi’s started grad school her undergraduate loans were deferred for payment. Some of those loans are subsidized and some aren’t so the meter is still running on the unsubsidized portions. Not including this interest she owes roughly $30,000. That’s just for her undergraduate degree. Her graduate degree is going to add up to about $22k in loans. This is when she took a deep breath. $52k.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says her chosen profession has a median average of $34,820. That’s not the first year average! That median salary includes the big money makers. Her starting salary will probably be more like $30k. The job outlook is good – it shows a general upward trend for growth. The potential earnings are bad – it shows a general downward trend that isn’t keeping up with inflation. Even if Brandi had no other bills, and that’s just not realistic, and spent every after-tax dollar she makes her first year, not even half of her tuition loans would be paid off.

Luckily her current school participates in the FFELP plan and her loan amounts have been increased due to her financial needs. Luckily the bank managing the FFELP loans has some really good incentives. As long as she makes her first 30 payments on time, she will receive a 3% cash rebate on the remaining principle. If she participates in their automatic payment program she can save a third of a percent in interest. That might not sound like a lot, but that’s $200 she doesn’t have to pay back. Any savings in her situation is a definite plus!

So why would Congress want to take these incentives away from Brandi? What could they possibly get out of costing her money? They get short-term political gain in exchange for her long-term financial worries. If our elected officials think that’s what we the people want or need it is time to give them their own education.

We are opposed to the proposed student loan legislation and middle-class families should be too! The government is taking money out of YOUR POCKET.

It only takes one minute to make a difference: call your senators, send your senators an e-mail, download a letter to fax to your senators, become part of our petition and help your friends find out the truth about the proposed student loan legislation.