Grad Sells Diploma On eBay for $50,000 to Rid Student Loan Debt
Before I get into this, I would like to point out that while I’m certainly guilty of scrolling through some of Buzzfeed’s click-baity articles and they are fantastic at curating viral content (no one should be able to contest this considering Buzzfeed is set to make a $250 million investment deal with NBCUniversal, which would bring the company’s worth to $1.5 billion), some of their “content articles” are pretty ridiculous and credibility may be questionable.
Nevertheless while surfing the internets today- and by “internets” I mean Facebook, I came across a Buzzfeed piece headlined “This Woman Is Selling Her College Diploma On eBay For $50,000”
Naturally, anything with a headline containing the words “College Diploma” and “$50,000” is going to catch my eye.
I quickly read through the piece and encourage you to do the same before continuing here… it takes all but a couple of minutes and I promise that I’ll wait for you to get back.
Read it here: “This Woman Is Selling Her College Diploma On eBay For $50,000”
In short, 2011 FSU grad (go noles), Stephanie Ritter realized that her college degree in theater wasn’t helping her get a job she wanted. She was left with a job as an assistant and a debt of $40,000. She then posted a picture of her holding her degree on eBay and now wants to sell not only her diploma but also her “college experience” for $50,000. Enough to rid herself of student loan debt as well as some extra chunk change.
First of all, I would like to give my fellow nole, whom I do not know, a quick shout out:
Stephanie Ritter, if this gets around to you, you are hilarious. And by all means, I hope someone takes your $50,000 offer.
Second of all, Stephanie’s situation is not an uncommon one. And I’m not talking about grads selling their diploma and their college experience on eBay. I’m talking about college graduates failing to find a suitable job in the field in which they majored in, and being stuck with thousands of dollars in student loan debt.
Speaking with and helping college graduates with student loan debt all day opened my eyes to this a long time ago. But don’t take my word for it…just take a look at these statistics taken from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York revealing that only 27% of graduates actually end up in the field they majored in.
On top of that…
- 70% of all college seniors have found themselves in student loan debt upon their graduation date
- the national average of student loan debt for these college graduates rounds to $33,000 per student
- and according to an article just written by the Wall Street Journal, 7 million borrowers have fallen into default with their student loans
Pretty crazy, right?
But how did this all happen? The price of a college degree never used to be so outrageously high, and you shouldn’t need a $40,000 degree just to get a job as an assistant- and while I don’t know what she does on the job everyday, I’m sure Stephanie Ritter could maybe attest to that.
Most students coming into college have little to no experience with loans and haven’t got a clue how to responsibly handle finances. I have said it before and I will say it again; personal finance 101 should be a required class for all highschoolers to take. If the price of college isn’t going down anytime soon, then atleast these kids will have the first hint at what it means to have a 7.5% interest rate accruing daily.
It doesn’t help that college advisers and financial aid offices take no responsibility to warn students that when they sign the dotted line for their student loans, some may actually be signing a death sentence. (I say “death sentence” half kidding yet sadly I know I’m not too far off. One of the only ways graduates are able to rid themselves of student loan debt is by taking the loans to the grave with them.)
Colleges are handing out massive amounts of government backed loans for degrees in which students won’t find a job with.
As a result and not surprisingly, graduates aren’t getting jobs.
If grads do have jobs, most aren’t making enough to pay their loans.
They weren’t educated about loans when they took them out and therefore they don’t know the stipulations of a loan.
And since they don’t know the stipulations of the loans, they don’t know their options for getting help with their student loans after they graduate (other than the grim reaper)
So what are these underemployed graduates supposed to do with all these student loans?
Yes, you can always go the Stephanie Ritter route and sell your unused, overpriced diploma and college experience for $50k, but unfortunately the majority of college graduates won’t get lucky enough to have someone pay that off.
Near the end of the Buzzfeed article, Stephanie is asked what she will do if her eBay plan and Sugar Daddy scheme don’t work out.
She responds with, “If that falls through, honestly, [I will] just do that thing where I pay the minimum for 25 years and then the government feels so bad for you that they wipe it clean.”
“That thing” Stephanie is talking about is called Student Loan Forgiveness
“That thing” Stephanie is talking about is called student loan forgiveness which can be acquired through various Department of Education student loan repayment programs. Stephanie may or may not know the actual term for the “that thing”, but she knows something– for which I cannot say for so many graduates.
Student loan forgiveness is, as Stephanie said, the ability to have your loan balance wiped clean after “X” amount of years of making payments. The amount of years making payments differs from program to program. If she wanted to do this, she’s smart in making the minimum payment.
However, the minimum standard payment for most is usually around 1% of a student loan balance. In Stephanie’s case that would be around $400 per month. Anything less than that usually doesn’t begin to cover the interest accruing daily and she would see an increase in her loan balance, resulting in a higher minimum standard payment as time goes on.
A $400 per month student loan payment is equivalent to that of a brand new Mercedes.
Which would you rather be spending your money on- your student loans or a brand new car that I know I want but frankly, know nothing about?
The secret sauce is to consolidate on student loans and become eligible for student loan forgiveness. In the meantime, and if you can simultaneously, lower your student loan payment which in turn will not only free up extra disposable income each month, but also allow more of your student loan balance to be “forgiven” at the end of the forgiveness term.
Got questions? Let’s hear them! Let me know in the comments or give us a call toll-free at 877.433.7501 to speak to a student loan counselor today.
Source: “This Woman Is Selling Her College Diploma On eBay For $50,000”
Thomas says
One word: theater