How would you feel if the person you spent years dating shared the news with you that their parents want them to repay a $220,000 loan they took out for them to go to college?
This 28-year-old man has spent the last seven years with his 27-year-old girlfriend, but now he’s ready to end their relationship over her massive amount of student loan debt that he only recently found out about.
It was over this past weekend that his girlfriend disclosed to him that her parents took out a $220,000 Parents PLUS loan for her undergraduate degree, which was in music management.
A Parents PLUS loan is a federal education loan that parents can take out for their kids in order to pay for college when other financial aid options don’t cover the costs.
His girlfriend graduated four years ago, and her parents just told her that she has to pay off that $220,000 without their help. The problem is, his girlfriend’s parents said this to her after the new legislation went into place, and it prevented debt from being consolidated.
“So, they cannot sign up for an income-driven plan, and she has to start making $1400 payments each month starting July 1. We live in a very HCOL area, and I do not make enough money to support the two of us while paying rent,” he explained.
“We had a conversation tonight, and it ended with me basically saying that I needed to think things over. However, I genuinely cannot fathom $220k ever getting paid off with her salary of $60k on top of car payments, other debts, etc.”
“I feel bad because her parents really dealt her a bad hand, but I’m also trying to look out for my personal future…”
They were just making plans to move in with one another when this news came out of nowhere. He grew up poor and has been working seven days a week since he was 12 to get himself and his parents out of poverty, and he’s afraid to get sent back there if he’s saddled with his girlfriend’s debt.
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His girlfriend still lives at home with her parents and adores them, so she won’t fight them on having to repay a loan taken out for her education in her mom and dad’s names, meaning she’s going to have to cough up $1,400 a month for the next 25 years.
He’s left wondering if it’s wrong of him to want to dump his girlfriend in light of her student loan debt.
I don’t blame him for wanting to cut his losses to ensure his financial stability. Spending close to a quarter of a million dollars on college is insanity, and I feel bad for his girlfriend that her parents didn’t help her make more affordable choices for her education.
I think his concerns are valid. $1,400 is an enormous amount of money to have to invest in debt every month, and it absolutely will negatively impact his own future if he chooses to stay with her.
Sometimes, love just is not enough.
What do you think?
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By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
