{"id":316655,"date":"2021-08-06T07:35:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T04:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T07:35:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T04:35:00","slug":"why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"#: Why some student-loan balances grow \u2014 even if you\u2019re making diligent payments"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af3ae4ceed06\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af3ae4ceed06\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments\/#This_weeks_Extra_Credit_column_looks_at_one_unforgiving_feature_of_student_debt_%E2%80%98I_forgave_myself_for_not_understanding_how_the_interest_was_going_to_compound_and_affect_me\" >This week\u2019s Extra Credit column looks at one unforgiving feature of student debt: \u2018I forgave myself for not understanding how the interest was going to compound and affect me\u2019<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-4' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments\/#Brandon_Hartensteins_student_loan_balance_is_more_than_double_what_he_borrowed_even_though_hes_switched_jobs_to_be_able_to_make_higher_payments\" >Brandon Hartenstein&#8217;s student loan balance is more than double what he borrowed even though he&#8217;s switched jobs to be able to make higher payments.<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-some-student-loan-balances-grow-even-if-youre-making-diligent-payments\/#Jillian_Berman\" >Jillian Berman<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#: Why some student-loan balances grow \u2014 even if you\u2019re making diligent payments<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"article__subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"This_weeks_Extra_Credit_column_looks_at_one_unforgiving_feature_of_student_debt_%E2%80%98I_forgave_myself_for_not_understanding_how_the_interest_was_going_to_compound_and_affect_me\"><\/span>\n  This week\u2019s Extra Credit column looks at one unforgiving feature of student debt: \u2018I forgave myself for not understanding how the interest was going to compound and affect me\u2019<br \/>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"column column--full article__content\">\n<div class=\"article__side\">\n<div class=\"container--sticky not-active\">\n<div id=\"cx-next\" data-nosnippet>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"js-article__body\" class=\"article__body article-wrap at16-col16 barrons-article-wrap\" itemprop=\"articleBody\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000364909\">\n<div class=\"barrons-article-ad-wrapper\">\n<div data-track=\"barrons-article-ad-wrap\" class=\"barrons-article-ad sticky_item\">\n<div class=\"barrons-main-article-ad-target sticky_target body_ad\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-layout=\"\n                inline\" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetArticleReader\n              \n              inline\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetArticleReader\n              article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"media-object-article-reader\">\n<div class=\"audioplayer\" data-sbid=\"WP-MKTW-0000364909\" role=\"region\" aria-label=\"Listen to Article\" tabindex=\"-1\" id=\"articlereader\" data-show-title=\"false\" data-theme=\"wsj-article-reader\" data-show-header=\"false\" data-show-subscribe=\"false\" data-ads-enabled=\"true\" data-save-publication=\"false\">\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Since Brandon Hartenstein graduated with his master\u2019s degree in 2010, his student debt has ballooned from roughly $50,000 to about $110,000, despite switching careers to earn a higher salary so he could put more money towards his bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> Over the past several years reporting on student debt, I\u2019ve heard from countless borrowers like Hartenstein, who are diligently making payments on their loans only to see the balances grow. There\u2019s a phrase for this phenomenon: negative amortization.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"paywall\">\n       The way most of us envision paying down a debt is through amortization \u2014 or where the balance reduces as you make payments. But often with student debt, the interest is so high and the borrower\u2019s income so low, that payments only cover the interest, causing the balance to increase even as borrowers send money to their student-loan company every month.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just my inbox that indicates this experience is relatively common; the data backs it up too. Of borrowers who had outstanding student debt in 2009, more than 25% had a larger balance by 2019, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/phenomenalworld.org\/analysis\/crisis-of-non-repayment\" class=\"icon none\">according to an analysis<\/a> by economist Marshall Steinbaum published last year by the Jain Family Institute. Roughly 10% of borrowers saw their debt grow four times its 2009 levels by 2019.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>How is student loan interest affecting your balance?  We want to know. Email jberman@marketwatch.com.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>In this week\u2019s Extra Credit \u2014 MarketWatch\u2019s weekly look at the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> through the lens of debt \u2014 we\u2019ll explore how we got here. But first, let\u2019s get back to Hartenstein.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hartenstein decided to pursue a master\u2019s of <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a> degree in counseling because it seemed like a field that fit with his interests and that would provide him with a satisfying career he could grow into. He also looked around at the job market in 2008, when he was graduating from college, and, like many, thought it would make sense to spend more time in school.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just felt like nothing was going to change when I walked off the stage with my bachelor\u2019s,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"wrap\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetMediaIllustration\n            wrap\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetMediaIllustration\n            article__inset--wrap\n  \"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"\n        media-object-image\n        enlarge-image\n        img-wrap\n        article__inset__image\n      \" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:158.68544600938966%;\" data-subtype=\"photo\" class=\"image-container  responsive-media article__inset__image__image\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=300&amp;size=0.6302314130969966 300w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=639&amp;size=0.6302314130969966 639w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=639&amp;size=0.6302314130969966&amp;pixel_ratio=1.5 958w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=639&amp;size=0.6302314130969966&amp;pixel_ratio=2 1278w, https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=639&amp;size=0.6302314130969966&amp;pixel_ratio=3 1917w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) 100vw, (max-width: 979px) 300px, (max-width: 1299px) 300px, 300px\" src=\"https:\/\/images.mktw.net\/im-381089?width=639&amp;height=1014\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/div><figcaption class=\"wsj-article-caption article__inset__image__caption\" itemprop=\"caption\">\n<h4 class=\"wsj-article-caption-content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Brandon_Hartensteins_student_loan_balance_is_more_than_double_what_he_borrowed_even_though_hes_switched_jobs_to_be_able_to_make_higher_payments\"><\/span>Brandon Hartenstein&#8217;s student loan balance is more than double what he borrowed even though he&#8217;s switched jobs to be able to make higher payments.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>      <span class=\"wsj-article-credit article__inset__image__caption__credit\" itemprop=\"creator\"><br \/>\n            Courtesy of Brandon Hartenstein<br \/>\n          <\/span><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>       But even with the graduate degree, Hartenstein was only earning about $15 an hour after leaving school. <\/p>\n<p>Squeezed for funds to afford his student-loan payments, Hartenstein decided to put his loans into forbearance, a status that pauses payments, but where interest accrues \u2014 in his case at around 8%. Eventually he found the courage to check his balance and was shocked to discover how much it had grown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div id=\"cx-membership-tile\"><\/div>\n<p>Hartenstein switched to a payment plan that allowed him to repay the loan as a percentage of his income, but his salary was so low that the payments didn\u2019t cover more than interest. <\/p>\n<p>Frustrated with his lack of progress on the student-loan payments, Hartenstein decided to give up his career in mental-health counseling in hopes of earning more money. He started working full-time in real estate \u2014 and had done since the age of 19, but up until that point had just been a side job. Despite his higher salary, the student-loan balance continued to grow.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hartenstein\u2019s predicament is the result of a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> of choices by policymakers both about the amount student-loan borrowers are charged in interest and the structure of repayment plans that can make the interest difficult to tackle. Let\u2019s dig into how we got here.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Student-loan interest rates:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Right now, the rates on new student loans are set based on the May 10-year Treasury auction plus a spread, which is larger for graduate students and parents. That means the cost to borrow a student loan is influenced by the current interest rate environment. Federal student-loan interest rates are fixed over the lifetime of the loan, so if borrowers took out their debt during a higher interest rate environment, they\u2019ll be paying a higher rate.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The government has set interest rates this way <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2013\/06\/13\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-student-loan-rate-hike\/\" class=\"icon none\">since 2013<\/a>, but borrowers who took out their loans before then have a rate lawmakers determined in <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/files.eric.ed.gov\/fulltext\/ED540303.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">a different way<\/a>. Though they vary, lawmakers\u2019 historical <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roaches to student-loan interest rates have one thing in common, said Bob Shireman, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a progressive think tank.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is basically a political decision made by Congress based on whatever seems to make sense at the time and what works for the cost estimates,\u201d said Shireman, who has worked on student-loan policy in various capacities on Capitol Hill and in the White House since the late 1980s.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        Federal student-loan interest rates are fixed over the lifetime of the loan, so if borrowers took out their debt during a higher interest rate environment, they\u2019ll be paying a higher rate.\u00a0<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Lawmakers may expand a program \u2014 say, loans for graduate school or undergraduate loans where students are charged interest while in college \u2014 so they can afford to pay for something else within whatever budget constraint they\u2019re given, Shireman said. <\/p>\n<p> Before 2010, when Congress cut commercial middlemen out of the student-loan program, interest rates were also, at times, influenced by private lenders who warned they would stop lending to students if they didn\u2019t receive a high enough subsidy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>A repayment program designed to allow balances to grow<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just high interest rates that keep some student-loan balances growing, it\u2019s also the way policymakers designed some of the government\u2019s repayment plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 1992, Congress expanded the loan program to include all students regardless of income. As part of the change, loans made to this new group of borrowers with higher incomes would accrue interest while students were in school. Previously, when student loans were limited to low-income borrowers, the government subsidized the interest while they were in college.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt that moment Congress made the decision that negative amortization \u2014 so a growing loan size \u2014 while people are in school is okay,\u201d Shireman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        Just 32 borrowers have been able to access cancellation through the income-driven repayment program and 2 million borrowers have been paying on their debt for more than 20 years<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       That comfort with negative amortization continued when, during the same period, Congress created a program that allowed borrowers the opportunity to repay their debt as a percentage of their income for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> Lawmakers assumed that a growing balance in a borrower\u2019s early years of repayment, while their income was still low, would eventually shrink as their income grew, Shireman said. Letting the interest build early on allowed the government to recoup the bulk of the funds it lent to these borrowers who were ultimately successful in the labor market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For borrowers whose incomes stayed perpetually low, there was an escape hatch \u2014 debt cancellation after 20 or 25 years of payments. \u201cThe theory was \u2026that this is just a phantom loan amount, it\u2019s not real, it\u2019s not going to be repaid so we should not worry about it,\u201d Shireman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fast forward 20 years and the reality of the program looks much different. Just 32 borrowers have been able to access cancellation through the income-driven repayment program and 2 million borrowers have been paying on their debt for more than 20 years, according to an analysis published earlier this year by the National Consumer Law Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        Advocates and borrowers have said student-loan servicers have actually made it more difficult for borrowers to stay on track towards having their debt cancelled.\u00a0<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       Advocates and borrowers have said student-loan servicers \u2014 the companies that manage the repayment process on behalf of the government \u2014 have actually made it more difficult for borrowers to stay on track towards having their debt cancelled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> \u201cIt\u2019s created these situations that are awful for people,\u201d Shireman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of this was just a choice about the design of the program,\u201d Shireman added. Theoretically, you could design an income-driven repayment program that caps the amount the debt builds, he said. But that\u2019s not what happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>How much you pay is hard to predict:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Federal student loans have other features that allow the interest to build in ways that are different from other debt products \u2014 and can make their total cost hard to predict.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Unlike most private loans, federal student loans offer borrowers the right to defer their payments, put their debt into forbearance and to switch among many repayment plans.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While those benefits provide borrowers with insurance against a low income, they also create opportunities for the interest to build. When a borrower with an unsubsidized loan exits the six month grace period between when they leave school and start making payments, the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/understand-aid\/types\/loans\/interest-rates#capitalization\" class=\"icon none\">unpaid interest capitalizes<\/a> \u2014 or is added to the principal of the loan. That means borrowers become responsible for interest on interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The same thing happens when a period of deferment on an unsubsidized loan ends, forbearance on any kind of loan ends, borrowers leave certain repayment plans, and more.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Those components combined with programs like income-driven repayment, mean that as John Brooks and Adam Levitin, professors at Georgetown University Law Center, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.law.georgetown.edu\/georgetown-law-journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/26\/2020\/11\/Brooks_Levitin_Redesigning-Education-Finance-How-Student-Loans-Outgrew-the-Debt-Paradigm.pdf\" class=\"icon none\">write<\/a> \u201cit is not an exaggeration to say that a student borrower cannot know,\u201d before they borrow, based on projections, \u201chow much the borrowing will ultimately cost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        \u2018I forgave myself for not understanding how the interest was going to compound and affect me.\u2019<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <small><br \/>\n          <span class=\"inset-author article__inset__pullquote__author\">\u2014 Brandon Hartenstein, student loan borrower<\/span><br \/>\n        <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       That was the case for Hartenstein and only recently has he stopped blaming himself for not predicting how much the loan would grow over time. That realization has helped him come to terms with the idea that his master\u2019s degree could still be a valid investment, even if he isn\u2019t using it directly for his job.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> \u201cI forgave myself for not understanding how the interest was going to compound and affect me,\u201d Hartenstein said. He felt comfortable with the idea of spending $50,000 for a degree from a reputable program in a field he was passionate about. But $100,000? \u201cno, that wasn\u2019t where I was at, at the time,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Policy choices that make getting an education a high stakes endeavor<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The policies that have allowed balances to grow have implications for the borrowers holding the debt, like Hartenstein. But it also sends mixed signals about the purpose of the student-loan program, said Persis Yu, the director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Policymakers and educators often frame federal student loans as a tool of economic mobility because they provide an opportunity for students to attend college that might otherwise not have been able to afford it. But as Yu notes, \u201cit\u2019s expensive debt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<div data-layout=\"inline\n                \" data-layout-mobile=\"\" class=\"\n          media-object\n          type-InsetPullQuote\n            inline\n    scope-web|mobileapps\n  article__inset\n          article__inset--type-InsetPullQuote\n            article__inset--inline\n  \"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wsj-article-pullquote article__inset__pullquote \">\n<p class=\"pullquote-content article__inset__pullquote__quote\">\n        <span class=\"l-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--left\">\u201c<\/span><br \/>\n        \u2018Is it really a tool of access if it\u2019s really expensive?\u2019<br \/>\n        <span class=\"r-qt article__inset__pullquote__mark--right\">\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>        <small><br \/>\n          <span class=\"inset-author article__inset__pullquote__author\">\u2014 Persis Yu,  director of the Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project at the National Consumer Law Center.<\/span><br \/>\n        <\/small><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>       \u201cIs it really a tool of access if it\u2019s really expensive?\u201d she said. \u201cThat gets to the heart of the question about student-loan debt. The way that we\u2019ve structured student loans makes the stakes so high if you fail,\u201d particularly for low-income borrowers, she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> As for Hartenstein, he\u2019s making minimal contributions to his 401(k) and avoiding vacations and \u201clittle extras,\u201d like new dress shirts until his debt is paid off. He\u2019s not in favor of completely wiping student-loan borrowers\u2019 debt away through some kind of mass-cancellation program. But he wonders why there aren\u2019t \u201chealthy conversations taking place about the legitimacy of interest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hartenstein says when he discusses his situation with people who don\u2019t have student loans, \u201cthey\u2019re always shocked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have no idea that that sort of interest is applied and compounded the way that it is on student loans,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"byline article__byline\">\n<p>    <span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"author mobile-scrim hasMenu\" data-scrim='{\"type\":\"author\",\"header\":\"Jillian Berman\",\"subhead\":\"The Wall Street Journal\",\"list\":[{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"bio\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/marketwatch.com\/author\/jillian-berman\",\"text\":\"Biography\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"twitter\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JillianBerman\",\"text\":\"@JillianBerman\"},{\"type\":\"link\",\"icon\":\"email\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/mailto:jberman@marketwatch.com\",\"text\":\"jberman@marketwatch.com\"}]}' itemscope itemprop=\"author\" itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/Person\">\n                <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/marketwatch.com\/author\/jillian-berman\"><\/p>\n<h4 itemprop=\"name\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Jillian_Berman\"><\/span>Jillian Berman<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p><\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/news\/story.asp?guid=%7B20C05575-04D4-B545-7591-6D2B074CE2B2%7D&#038;siteid=rss&#038;rss=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#: Why some student-loan balances grow \u2014 even if you\u2019re making diligent payments&#8221; This week\u2019s Extra Credit column looks at one unforgiving feature of student debt: \u2018I forgave myself for not understanding how the interest was going to compound and affect me\u2019 Since Brandon Hartenstein graduated with his master\u2019s degree in 2010, his student debt&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316656,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-316655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}