College Debt and Gifted Students: Loan Wolves
How government post-secondary loans affects highly to profoundly gifted students
I don’t know about you, but I quit reading — a long time ago — all the “fine print” before I agreed to most ridiculously long and confusing jargony rules from big companies and small.
When I first watched this documentary in late 2022, I was shocked and appalled by what I learned about those taking out student loans simply didn’t know what they were signing up for … and how it was by design. Most of those who were money savvy spotted the issues, but far too many who are ion the position of needing a college loan, don’t have that kind of background. No matter how smart they are!
Here’s a short version of on how we got to this place.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/06/this-is-how-student-loan-debt-became-a-1point7-trillion-crisis.html
Some Reasons Why Some People Just Don’t Get What’s Changed (and how it’s caused so many huge problems for people wanting to go to college)
I was born in 1949 and started school in a community where the families were all headed by fathers able to take advantage of the GI Bill to earn college and professional degrees. Even though many of them, including my father, had been poor during the Great Depression, these were all families rapidly moving up in social class and socioeconomic standing. With government-backed loans, they bought houses and got good jobs with their college educations. Between now and 1998, students could feasibly work and pay for their higher ed costs on their own. Not anymore!
A two-sentence statement in a 1998 higher education bill changed everything. The government itself doesn’t run the loan programs. They give those to private loan companies. The loans use compound interest, not simple interest. People who pay monthly according to their ability to pay still see their principle amount keep compounding. Many students were offered a 10 year loan removal if they trained and worked in a critical field like nursing or teaching. Only 98% of those people who took that route were given the loan forgiveness. In the meantime, their loans would go from amounts like $35,000 to $150,000 even though they’d paid what they were required to pay every month of those ten years.
The Student Loan changes that made discharging one’s loan through bankruptcy not possible was basically the only hardship issue that faced those requirements. Did you know that all of these “poor choices” qualify for bankruptcy?
· Unpaid taxes
· Business debts
· Bad checks
· Car accident claims
· Credit cards
· Gambling debts
· Excessive shopping
· Collection agency
And no, student loans, going for the promised American Dream, don’t qualify.
When student loans couldn’t qualify for bankruptcy, colleges saw no downside to raising their prices. Even when they themselves granted the loans, they know the students have to keep paying and couldn’t get out of it no matter what. So!
An introduction to the 90 minute documentary in only 7 minutes.
LOAN WOLVES, linked below, is a feature documentary that follows Blake Zeff as he travels the country to uncover the effects of student loan debt and investigates WHO quietly snuck through two lines in the 1998 education bill, making student loans the only debt in America that can never be forgiven or erased through bankruptcy, contributing to the largest student loan debt crisis in history. Using personal stories and humor, Zeff ultimately uncovers and confronts the unimaginable culprit that set everything in motion. “This is an unforgettable and revealing documentary about the secrets underlying America’s democracy and featuring interviews with the nation’s most powerful politicians including Representative Ayanna Pressley, Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Chuck Schumer.”
Here’s the full documentary of Loan Wolves.
Interview with Blake Zeff after the documentary was released:
Here is a link to a YouTube video of Blake being interviewed at Casden Institute, the film school at USC (University of Southern California).
A Summary of why I’m so interested in this topic
In my most recent book, Losing Our Minds: Too Many Gifted Children Left Behind (Oct. 2024) the narrative paragraphs within this longitudinal study book include, when available, several non-table items about current job and career status, how postsecondary schooling was paid for, if the former student still carries any debt, the person’s general age range when the information was gathered, the person’s current living arrangements, relationship status, and how the now-adult gifted subjects feel about the progress they have made in their lives so far. I thought it important to show who had to take out loans, why they took them out, and how it is a significant burden for some parents and many subjects. The federal loan forgiveness plan wasn’t in play during the interviews with my gifted subjects and it still keeps getting blocked and changed. Starting one’s career while owing large student loan sums is not an issue for families who have current or generational wealth because they graduate without debt and all their earnings are available for building a business, purchasing a home, and affording what many see as normal adult rites of passage.
I want to include a post from a fellow Substack writer, Heather Cox Richardson, who writes Letters From An American and is a Professor of American History, because she specifically addresses education in this post. The subject of education in this country … and many other parts of the world … is a deep and broad subject. The truth is that not everyone wants a good education for everyone. It serves some people’s needs for control and personal profit. This has been the case throughout the history of the world. Here is her post from December 4, 2024:
My current published books about the gifted:
The Five Levels of Gifted Children Grown Up: What They Tell Us (2023). https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-Children-Grown-Up/dp/B0C9SHFRLH or https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-5-levels-of-gifted-children-grown-up-phd-deborah-l-ruf/1143719859?ean=9798988323709. This is an 18-year longitudinal study follow-up about the original gifted child subjects in 5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options (2005, 2009).
Keys to Successfully Parenting the Gifted Child (2023). On Amazon, Keys to Successfully Parenting Gifted Children (2022, 2023) Print and ebook. The Nook version is also now on B&N. This is a short book 80 pages including pictures — that is a great starter for parents just wanting some answers … fast! The content was originally from a PowerPoint I created for the parents of gifted children presentations around the country. The contents zero in on some of the most important things about raising gifted children that parents want to know.
Losing Our Minds: Too Many Gifted Children Left Behind (Oct. 2024). The book provides a detailed analysis of the different levels of giftedness, the concept of "good fit" in educational settings, and the impact of various school environments on gifted children. It also includes personal stories and experiences of gifted children and adults, highlighting the challenges they face in finding appropriate educational and social environments. Available now on both Amazon and B&N. It is not the old purple book from 2005. Also, the Kindle and Nook versions are formatted so readers can click back and forth easily and find their place again. Follow this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DL3BSC9X or this link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/losing-our-minds-deborah-ruf/1146410968?ean=2940185888872
5 Levels of Gifted: School Issues and Educational Options in 2009. Here are links to the 5 Levels of Gifted book on Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/5-levels-of-gifted-deborah-ruf/1126358834 and Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Levels-Gifted-School-Educational-Options/dp/0910707987 or directly from the publisher: https://www.giftedunlimitedllc.com/store/p12/5_Levels_of_Gifted.html
Environmental, Familial, and Personal Factors That Affect the Self-Actualization of Highly Gifted Adults: Case Studies (D. Ruf, 1998) doctoral dissertation. Free PDF https://dabrowskicenter.org/ruf
Dr. Ruf is available for the following services.
Click for details and to schedule:
One-Hour Test Interpretation
Gifted Child Test Interpretation & Guidance
20-Minute Consultation
45-Minute Consultation
One-Hour Consultation
Podcast Interview