Student loans, I'M PISSED OFF!!!!!!

[inlinefour]

Bloody labour! I worked like a mongeral, extra hours more shifts. Payed just under 28k in just less than two years, kept living like a student. I worked hard, had no life cause I could not afford one, went without, just to pay my student loan?????
INTEREST FREE????? WTF!!!!!!! Give me the damn money back! I could have my 2005 CBR600RR and still have a several grand left. I'm totally pisses off. This is just why the student loan thing is a joke. Had I still had the loan, I'd NEVER pay the damn thing, if it was not going to gather interest! :mad:

[Jantar]

Bloody labour! I worked like a mongeral, extra hours more shifts. Payed just under 28k in just less than two years, kept living like a student. I worked hard, had no life cause I could not afford one, went without, just to pay my student loan?????
INTEREST FREE????? WTF!!!!!!! Give me the damn money back! I could have my 2005 CBR600RR and still have a several grand left. I'm totally pisses off. This is just why the student loan thing is a joke. Had I still had the loan, I'd NEVER pay the damn thing, if it was not going to gather interest! :mad:

I like the idea of interest free student loans. When I retire from work in around 15 years time I'm going back to University to complete my PHD. I hadn't intended taking on a student loan so late in life, but with these new rules I'd be mad not to.

But then again, maybe that possibility is one very good reason to ensure Labour DOESN'T get back in.

[laRIKin]

They promise things to help the students last time and they did not come though.
So at the estimated cost it is going to be to the country I will believe it when I see it.
We would go from surplus to deficit in one foul swoop.
Remember they will promise the sky and the moon to get back in to power.

[Coyote]

Getting a degree of what ever you call it is almost like a bad decision in life as it will lead you to a job that pays enough to pay off your loan. Pilot, that sounds like a good idea, you can make $100,000+ a year!!! Then once you have enrolled to learn to fly, you start racking up a $200,000 debt

[mikey]

woooooooohoooooooooooooooo new bike for me next year if the poliPRICKSans ever get it made law!

[inlinefour]

woooooooohoooooooooooooooo new bike for me next year if the poliPRICKSans ever get it made law!

can i have your old bike as a consilation? :devil2:

[John]

some people, yea I'm pissed off we didnt have racial based crimes anymore i mean fUCK - get the picture, seriously I dont give a fuck either way we get fucked in the ass by the government nothing changes, I think you will find the living standard of most students has gotten to be rather bad to... but they spend all there money on weed and pissups so whatever :\ I really have no taste for fucken governments that try make fucken MORE money off the fuel bastards.

[inlinefour]

I had 17 hour days as a student. Study for weekends and any spare time I spent with my family. I agree that any Govt just wants us to bend over, but you speak of only a fraction of students. There are plenty just there to get ahead John, not for the student culture...

[inlinefour]

I like the idea of interest free student loans. When I retire from work in around 15 years time I'm going back to University to complete my PHD. I hadn't intended taking on a student loan so late in life, but with these new rules I'd be mad not to.

But then again, maybe that possibility is one very good reason to ensure Labour DOESN'T get back in.

I used to vote Labour, I can't decide now which worthless doomed 3rd party to vote for now, just to throw a spanner in the works for the pricks :devil2:

[Coyote]

some people, yea I'm pissed off we didnt have racial based crimes anymore i mean fUCK - get the picture, seriously I dont give a fuck either way we get fucked in the ass by the government nothing changes, I think you will find the living standard of most students has gotten to be rather bad to... but they spend all there money on weed and pissups so whatever :\ I really have no taste for fucken governments that try make fucken MORE money off the fuel bastards.
Don't forget the AA just love raping you of your money

[Dafe]

The student loan interest free policy is all talk. It's not going to happen, It's just talk to get the students votes.
The Labour Govt estimated the removal of tax on student loan policies would cost the NZ taxpayers three hundred million dollars.
Last week, National Bank economists calculated that such a move would infact incur One Billion dollars to the NZ Tax payer and accordingly challenged the Labour figures. Labour has now replied stating that their figures may have been incorrect. Nothing more heard!

But rest easy, your paying of your loan was a wise move, because there will not be a zero percent policy from this labour party!

[SixPackBack]

There is a strong possibility that under mmp a party like nz first will get to decide who governs .......and that really stinks, lets hope that whoever gets in starts treating the 'brains trust of this country a lot better
EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE

[Coyote]

As always, nwhen they get into power, they'll just say something on the lines of "on seconds thoughts..."

[TwoSeven]

The current potential scam doing the rounds is people who dont need to, borrowing the $150/wk and putting it in an interest bearing account. Effectively, earning interest on their student loans :)

[Odin]

..... lets hope that whoever gets in starts treating the 'brains trust of this country a lot better

..you know who to vote for to get that !!

[oldrider]

Anything that is free is being paid for by some one else.
You want education you pay for it.
I want to ride my bike do you want to pay for that?
Labour is only interested in making history with a third term in office.
Do you want to pay for that.
What happened to the champions for the motorcyclist cause just after the election in 1999?? Cabinet Ministers shown riding their bikes!!! I can't remember their names now. One was from Napier I think. Things have sure gone backwards for us since then. Whats the solution? I don't know. I just hate bloody socialists that make rules for everyone except themselves and steal my money to pay for it. (Clark's cavalcade) Lefties are full of shit. Cheers (politically frustrated) John :no:

[Drunken Monkey]

EDUCATION SHOULD BE FREE

No, it shouldn't. It lowers the standards as people are so PC these days they can't handle 'failing', then all we get is a big bunch of qualified know-nothings with worthless 'degrees'.
Education should be elitest.
New Zealand should be a technocracy.

[froggyfrenchman]

wouldnt mind interest free, would b able to get better bike sooner!

[poorbastard]

Instead of interest free loans I just think every student should be able to go on the benefit. Why should some people( I know not all but some) be able to sit on their ass getting paid to do nothing whle others are trying to better their education so they can be employed in the future and have to borrow to live. Education should not be free as then students would not care if the passed or not they would be living off the government. They do have a student allowance but alot of students out there get no help from their parents.

[sAsLEX]

Getting a degree of what ever you call it is almost like a bad decision in life as it will lead you to a job that pays enough to pay off your loan. Pilot, that sounds like a good idea, you can make $100,000+ a year!!! Then once you have enrolled to learn to fly, you start racking up a $200,000 debt

well my loan is pretty small, in fact $0 dollars, moved out of home at 17 after 7th form, in third year of a BE in Computer Systems Engineering, I have road bike a off road bike and some other toys, oh and no loan! in fact drawing a salary at the moment to attend uni.
There are options out there to get degrees with out gettig a huge loan, hell uni is what only like 9 months of the year, the other three and you can earn a fair bit towards fees.
As for pilots, I know a fair few who are getting world class training with gaurenteed *sp employment after for free, getting to fly in all manner of conditions and craft that will teach them skills that will make them invaluable to civilian employers.


oh yeah "YAVN EHT NOIJ, YAVN EHT NOIJ!"

[TwoSeven]

I think parents should stop be tight fisted buggers and spend the 20 years that their kids are growing up saving for their education. That way the government would only have to deal with those of us that are less fortunate. :)

[John]

I had 17 hour days as a student. Study for weekends and any spare time I spent with my family. I agree that any Govt just wants us to bend over, but you speak of only a fraction of students. There are plenty just there to get ahead John, not for the student culture...

I'd love to be able to agree with you, but I actually have to quit my course because my loans are to big, I cant even afford to fill up my fuel tank (seriously), I'd hate to think how the aucklanders get on - so I think you see where I am comming from (other than stirring shit) - I just hate the way the government covers up their homo policys with cool breathtaking crap like this, its a blanket it is, we need to stop hiding and actually get what we want ... But I'm just one of many - I'm sure others get on fine :drinkup:

[inlinefour]

I'd love to be able to agree with you, but I actually have to quit my course because my loans are to big, I cant even afford to fill up my fuel tank (seriously), I'd hate to think how the aucklanders get on - so I think you see where I am comming from (other than stirring shit) - I just hate the way the government covers up their homo policys with cool breathtaking crap like this, its a blanket it is, we need to stop hiding and actually get what we want ... But I'm just one of many - I'm sure others get on fine :drinkup:

Don't quit, keep going. I thought of quitting also, bloody glad I did not now as I never have to worry about getting a job now. Most wards I visit offer me a job. Sell your bike since you can't afford to run it and use the funds to continue. Eventually you'll be able to afford better once finished. Sure my long days involved attending my course and then going straight to work (which I would have not been able to complete my Ba had I not had such an AWESOME boss : Peoples' Meats, N.P.). I really can't think of anything worse, not finishing the course and still having a loan, bugger that. Make the ultimate sacrifice lad, you'll understand why once your working again. Heck, I only had a crusty mountian bike when I started my Ba. To have toys, one has to work, sad but true :whistle:

[justsomeguy]

"YAVN EHT NOIJ, YAVN EHT NOIJ!"

Thats what I thought, so put my name down for the YRMA, got selected and went down to Officers Selection in Wellington and saw what a hard life you buggers lead........

I don't think a lot of us want to tough it out...... FULL RESPECT to those of you in the services though, you guys ...... :clap:

As for the student loans, I feel it's better to have them interest free only if you A. pass your papers
B. interest free for 2 years after your graduation
C. only for full time students

[Lou Girardin]

The student loan policy is fact. It will not be changed. Unless the Nats win.
And I hardly think that because some students had to pay interest, that all students should for evermore.
Charging students interest on loans was scandalous from the day it was introduced. Especially being introduced by people who had free education.
Whether it's 300 million or a billion, it's still a far better investment than the 100's of millions pissed down the drain in treaty settlements.

[justsomeguy]

my bike :( no... must never give up - only woman in my life need her love ;)... nah I will just continue the course in a couple of years no biggie :\ thanks for the words of wisdom though

hey John --- that is a biggie mate - PLEASE don't drop out - finish it now. Once you get used to not having homework you will never want to go back:no:

Also it's better to get it over with as early as possible.......... trust me. You don't want to be 20 something in Uni, when you could be a 20 something earning 50-60K a year, which you would with what you're studying.

[inlinefour]

hey John --- that is a biggie mate - PLEASE don't drop out - finish it now. Once you get used to not having homework you will never want to go back:no:

Also it's better to get it over with as early as possible.......... trust me. You don't want to be 20 something in Uni, when you could be a 20 something earning 50-60K a year, which you would with what you're studying.

I graduated at 30, wasted sooooooooo many years doing shit jobs for peanuts :weird:

[laRIKin]

Well I must say it good to see that most people can see though the BS.

It goes down with, was the car speeding? I did paint that. There are more,
but because its raining I'v been drinking and can not remember.

Maybe we should start a thread lies that PM's have said in the last 3 years.
And I do mean all parties and that would be interesting.
We the public forget so easily and quickly.

[Jantar]

The student loan policy is fact. It will not be changed. Unless the Nats win.
And I hardly think that because some students had to pay interest, that all students should for evermore.
Charging students interest on loans was scandalous from the day it was introduced. Especially being introduced by people who had free education.
Whether it's 300 million or a billion, it's still a far better investment than the 100's of millions pissed down the drain in treaty settlements.

Who are these students who had free education?

When I was at university, the bursary paid 90% of course fees and gave a small cash payment. In my case that cash payment paid for one text book with enough left over to buy a pencil and rubber. The rest of the cost had to be met out the student's pocket. There were no living allowances etc, and the only way to pay for study was to have part time work. many students dropped out because the simply couldn't afford the costs.

The student loan system is a big improvement over those days. Remember it isn't mandatory to take out a loan, students are still free to get a job while they study.

[Steve Taly]

The student loan policy is fact. It will not be changed. Unless the Nats win.
And I hardly think that because some students had to pay interest, that all students should for evermore.
Charging students interest on loans was scandalous from the day it was introduced. Especially being introduced by people who had free education.
Whether it's 300 million or a billion, it's still a far better investment than the 100's of millions pissed down the drain in treaty settlements.


They will piss millions down the drain in treaty settlements too,but don't worry,those earning over 65k a year will be deemed by Cullen as filthy rich and taxed at 48c/$ to pay for it all.

[inlinefour]

Well I must say it good to see that most people can see though the BS.

It goes down with, was the car speeding? I did paint that. There are more,
but because its raining I'v been drinking and can not remember.

Maybe we should start a thread lies that PM's have said in the last 3 years.
And I do mean all parties and that would be interesting.
We the public forget so easily and quickly.

I am pretty sick of the kindygarten behaviours that go on in our Parliment. I thought they are all adults, but apparently I was wrong. I'm determined not to vote on Labour and I think the rest of them are just as big a bunch of arseholes. I don't forget and are pretty loyal until I feel that I'm being shat on. I used to support Holden, until recieving crap service and then being told that they are stopping making the Monaro. Their loss and Toyota's gain. I think I'll vote, but have no idea for whom.

[geoffm]

Regarding "free" education. When I did my BE, starting in 1987, the fees for that year were $130, and the bursury covered it. The student allowance was enough to live on if you were thrifty. I was paid $8-8.50/ hour doing engineering work in the holidays - take home around $250 a week
The following year in 1988, fees went up to $1300, and suddenly the money you saved from the holiday job was gone, and you still had books and living costs to go.
Fast foward to now, i am doing my ME. Fees are $4800, and likely to rise. I spent $2000 on books last year, with one at $500. This year is better, with one I bought yesterday a snip at $US200. A part time job was not an option last year - I was working 7 days a week. This year, being research based thesis, is a bit easier at 6 days a week... I get no student allowance, as I used it up 20 years ago - (would have been ok if I had done a 3 year Arts degree instead of a 4 year engineering one), however, I could have got the dole with no problems, and I wouldn't have to pay it back.
Geoff

[inlinefour]

Regarding "free" education. When I did my BE, starting in 1987, the fees for that year were $130, and the bursury covered it. The student allowance was enough to live on if you were thrifty. I was paid $8-8.50/ hour doing engineering work in the holidays - take home around $250 a week
The following year in 1988, fees went up to $1300, and suddenly the money you saved from the holiday job was gone, and you still had books and living costs to go.
Fast foward to now, i am doing my ME. Fees are $4800, and likely to rise. I spent $2000 on books last year, with one at $500. This year is better, with one I bought yesterday a snip at $US200. A part time job was not an option last year - I was working 7 days a week. This year, being research based thesis, is a bit easier at 6 days a week... I get no student allowance, as I used it up 20 years ago - (would have been ok if I had done a 3 year Arts degree instead of a 4 year engineering one), however, I could have got the dole with no problems, and I wouldn't have to pay it back.
Geoff

They would not let me go on that benefit as I was a full time student and the dole paid more!!! :mad:

[Milky]

Who are these students who had free education?

The student loan system is a big improvement over those days. Remember it isn't mandatory to take out a loan, students are still free to get a job while they study.

Me parents both went through uni and saved money while doing so. I think that was way back in the 70s though. They used to flat in Eden Crescent, and paid some ridiculously low sum for a weeks rent. How times have changed...

For myself - taking out a loan is the most sensible way to get through uni - the savings I have are earning me money, I can get $150 a week in living costs into a savings bank account, $1000 in Course Related Costs (just a quote from the local computer store for a laptop gets the money from the Student Loan Scheme, even if you don't spend it on the laptop in the end) and approximately $5500 on fees a year. That gives me somewhere around $10,000 per year to invest until I leave uni (In a best case scenario, ie I already have the cash to pay for Uni fees/books/C.R.Cs)
If I make the effort to work over the summer break - 8 odd weeks, I can earn enough to pay for base fees, and then grab a little part time work here or there throughout the year fund living. Admittedly I live at home and do not pay board, but this still indicates that students these days aren't as hard done by as some of us would like to have you think. I am finding it a little harder now, with FSAE taking up whatever time Uni doesn't take and more, but things could be much much worse.

What some fail to realise about the SLS, once it is transferred to IRD and you stop studying, there is a minimum repayment that is required based on the moooooooolah that you bring in each week. I imagine that the interest being removed from the loan balances would come hand in hand with an increase in this minimum repayment, so that average repayment times are not greatly different from what they are presently. It seems a sensible change anyway...

[justsomeguy]

What some fail to realise about the SLS, once it is transferred to IRD and you stop studying, there is a minimum repayment that is required based on the moooooooolah that you bring in each week. I imagine that the interest being removes from the loan balances would come hand in hand with an increase in this minimum repayment, so that average repayment times are not greatly different from what they are presently. It seems a sensible change anyway...

Yeah and that minimum payment is nicely measured so that your repayments sloooooooowly manage to finish paying off the increasing loan amount all that interest generates.... so you keep paying until you sloooooowly catch up (and pay heaps extra through interest) or you pay it off with bulk payments asap.

[Pixie]

When the labour HAGG token girlie Cullen spoke of the budget surplus being already allocated,he was being truthful after all.It was for buying votes.
As a taxpayer I object to paying for someone elses advancement.Especially the current results tertiary institutions are achieving,if spelling and grammar are any indication :devil2:

[Gremlin]

As a taxpayer I object to paying for someone elses advancement.
I can understand your point, but most with an education help the world to go round (not saying you need to have a piece of paper to make the world go round), not saying its justified, but you do already support peoples advancement by paying your taxes.

Technically, the way I look at it is that the government is investing in my education to help the country. They subsidise fees to the tune of 70-80% (not 100% sure of figure), so if I piss off and pay the loan off from overseas, then the country loses. If I stay and pay off the loan then the country benefits from my skills.

The interest free is conditional on being in the country, so if a policy keeps grads in the country, then it has to help address skills shortages. National had the work of the loan scheme a couple of years back, but Labour slammed it as slavery... :no:

[Drunken Monkey]

.... then it has to help address skills shortages.

That's the other load of bollocks the government is spouting. The skills shortage is in experienced professionals and tradespeople. Keeping graduates behind may help staff the health and education sectors, but the majority of students doing their BComs, BScs and BAs, fresh out of uni, aren't going to make any immediate difference to the skills shortage. Hell, give some ordinary yobbo a degree, suddenly thet think they're academic and 'above' doing work in the trades. Also, these 'leaving graduates' are only valuable to NZ after they've picked up some valuable work experience on their OE.

Stop forcing young, non-academically inclined people who don't fit in at schools from staying in school through to seventh form (now through 7th form AND tech/uni) and pissing about - these people were traditionally out of school, learning a trade and earning money - not stuck at a tertiary institution, leeching a student benefit (or building up a large loan), bumbling through an academic degree they're not suited too just because everyone else is doing it.

[placidfemme]

Just a random question... if they pass this new bill/law or whatever they calling it for Student Loans to have no interest, does that mean they will take off all the interest on current student loans (like mine)... or will it only come into affect for people taking out "new" student loans?

[Beemer]

It annoys me that each political party tries to bribe a sector of the voting public every election year without fail. And do the promises ever amount to anything? Rarely. And do the people fall for it each time? Always.

When I went nursing in 1986 I got a bursary and living expenses because I was away from home. I decided nursing wasn't for me and gave up during the first year and didn't pay back the money I had been loaned. Because of that, I didn't get any financial assistance for the next course when I returned to study. I did a 16-week course at my own expense, then went to polytech to do my journalism training. I didn't get any cheaper fares or anything because I was over 25, so I was paying bus and train fares every day just to get there, although I had moved back home so wasn't paying board. I ended up owing about $8,000 at the end of the year and it took me years to pay it back as journalists are notoriously poorly paid in their first jobs.

Even now, 10 years later, I don't earn a huge wage, although I am able to charge more for my services. I'd love to go back and do my photography training but I can't justify three years out of the market plus about $24,000 more in fees.

I don't think education should be free, but I do think it should be affordable, and I don't believe interest should be charged on loans to students.

[chickenfunkstar]

After reading some of the posts in this thread I'd almost got the impression that people thought that tertiary education was a bad thing.
Surely a better educated population benefits everyone in the long run.

I'd like to see tertiary education more accessable for everyone. I'd rather see some other action by the govt such as a universal student allowance and a reduction in fees, but at least interest free loans are something.

[chickenfunkstar]

Just a random question... if they pass this new bill/law or whatever they calling it for Student Loans to have no interest, does that mean they will take off all the interest on current student loans (like mine)... or will it only come into affect for people taking out "new" student loans?

I could be wrong, but I think its for everyone who has a student loan, not just 'new' loans.

[placidfemme]

I could be wrong, but I think its for everyone who has a student loan, not just 'new' loans.

Sweet thank you...

[ManDownUnder]

As a "sideways" perspective on it...


Is the removal of interest from the loans actually the problem? Or is it the fact the put interest on them to start with.

I personally think it is the latter - in which case removing it is the right thing to do.

That being said - I'm not voting Labour this year... but that is a policy I happen to agree with (says he who also went through the system, and worked my arse off to pay my whole student debt)

MDU

[Indiana_Jones]

No, it shouldn't. It lowers the standards as people are so PC these days they can't handle 'failing', then all we get is a big bunch of qualified know-nothings with worthless 'degrees'.
Education should be elitest.
New Zealand should be a technocracy.

rep on the way for that :niceone:

ah, NCEA was bollocks, you don't fail, you "don't achieve" :rofl:

And I feel there should be interest on student loans, maybe not huge, but it adds some personal reasponablity onto it, Something that seems to have gone in this PC world :weird:

-Indy

[placidfemme]

And I feel there should be interest on student loans, maybe not huge, but it adds some personal reasponablity onto it, Something that seems to have gone in this PC world :weird:

-Indy

I agree... just not as much interest as there is now... I did a course for $6500, searched for 6+ months to find a job in that field... had no luck... found an alternative job... and now 3.5 years later I have a balance of $10,000 odd... and I've been paying it back every damn week... barely even paying off the damn interest...

[k14]

I'd like to see tertiary education more accessable for everyone. I'd rather see some other action by the govt such as a universal student allowance and a reduction in fees, but at least interest free loans are something.
Why is education not accessible to everyone? You can get by with the student loan and no help from parents/family, I know of people that are doing it. Unless you mean it should be easier to get into uni. All that will do is make the first year classes even bigger than they are now, the second year classes will be the same size, and all that will do is let the uni's have more money.

I'm in the last semester of my degree and will have a loan of around $33000 next year. Now if labour get into government and then abolish interest it will save me thousands of dollars and mean I can buy more and better bikes faster :whistle: so it has to be good. I am still undecided weather or not I should vote for labour, I just hate the way they do business and don't really like helen, the opposition isnt that great either. So I'll decide when Im at the polling booth, thats if i vote at all.

In regards to some other peoples posts, I'll offer my opinion on the loan system. I don't have any problem having to borrow around $5000 a year to pay for fees, thats fine. The thing I do have a problem with is that to get a student allowance ($150 or so a week of free money) my parents have to earn under a certain threshold (around $40000 or so) or else I have to borrow the $150 a week on my student loan. In my opinion thats a crock of shit, this implies that if my parents earn over that much they have enough money to pay for my living expenses. Whereas if I wasn't at uni I could go on the dole, do nothing every week and get around the same amount as student allowance for it. This system defies logic, but I doubt anything will be done about it. [/rant over]

Thats my 2c anyway :ride:

[chickenfunkstar]

Why is education not accessible to everyone? You can get by with the student loan and no help from parents/family, I know of people that are doing it. Unless you mean it should be easier to get into uni. All that will do is make the first year classes even bigger than they are now, the second year classes will be the same size, and all that will do is let the uni's have more money.

I'm in the last semester of my degree and will have a loan of around $33000 next year. Now if labour get into government and then abolish interest it will save me thousands of dollars and mean I can buy more and better bikes faster :whistle: so it has to be good. I am still undecided weather or not I should vote for labour, I just hate the way they do business and don't really like helen, the opposition isnt that great either. So I'll decide when Im at the polling booth, thats if i vote at all.

In regards to some other peoples posts, I'll offer my opinion on the loan system. I don't have any problem having to borrow around $5000 a year to pay for fees, thats fine. The thing I do have a problem with is that to get a student allowance ($150 or so a week of free money) my parents have to earn under a certain threshold (around $40000 or so) or else I have to borrow the $150 a week on my student loan. In my opinion thats a crock of shit, this implies that if my parents earn over that much they have enough money to pay for my living expenses. Whereas if I wasn't at uni I could go on the dole, do nothing every week and get around the same amount as student allowance for it. This system defies logic, but I doubt anything will be done about it. [/rant over]

Thats my 2c anyway :ride:

Thats partially what I was trying to say. As it is currently, some students have to borrow money to live, borrow money to pay for fees, textbooks etc, and then have to pay interest on that loan. The cost of all this must be a big factor in people deciding wether or not to further their study.

Under the current system, if you had to borrow to live, pay fees, etc. It must be practically impossible to go to med school.

[inlinefour]

If they do make then SLS interest free, I wonder if IRD would be kind enough to give me 17 grand back to buy a 2005 CBR600RR? :devil2:

[Eurygnomes]

Hell...$30k? Try up and around $60k...and even though I'm on a decent ish salary - what I'm making and paying off under the compulsory scheme isn't enough to get rid of the interest. And I'd like to think - that in workign for public health - I have the taxpayers best interest at heart...and here I am...still with HUGE debt (so huge that the numbers are just numbers) after three years out with a PhD!!!

So...I'm off to Europe. To earn either E or GPS. The payscales are just ridiculous in comparison to ours here (I'll be on a 'training' salary and STILL making more than I am now on a 'scientist' salary) and the price of living isn't that dissimilar to make much difference. They also know what double glazing and insulation are.

:drink: to the brain drain!

[chickenfunkstar]

Hell...$30k? Try up and around $60k...and even though I'm on a decent ish salary - what I'm making and paying off under the compulsory scheme isn't enough to get rid of the interest. And I'd like to think - that in workign for public health - I have the taxpayers best interest at heart...and here I am...still with HUGE debt (so huge that the numbers are just numbers) after three years out with a PhD!!!

So...I'm off to Europe. To earn either E or GPS. The payscales are just ridiculous in comparison to ours here (I'll be on a 'training' salary and STILL making more than I am now on a 'scientist' salary) and the price of living isn't that dissimilar to make much difference. They also know what double glazing and insulation are.

:drink: to the brain drain!

Just curious, how much of an influence is interest on your loan in your decision to go to Europe?

[Eurygnomes]

The fact that my loan is going up - even though I'm in what would be considered a professional job - bothers me an awful amount, and is a large part of my decision to leave. :) I've no problem paying the damned thing off (morally/ethically) but I'd like to have the government understand that because I stayed on to do postgraduate work - therefore making me (in theory) more useful later on - there is NO chance that I'm going to get a job immediately that will earn me enough to cover the interest (just by paying off the minimum taxed amount). Consequently, I'd have to continue to live like a student well into my 30's to get it paid off in NZ.

Sod that, I'm afraid I've had my fill of 2min noodles! So I'm off to somewhere where pay and education are more realistic and I'll send money back to NZ to pay it off.

[Lou Girardin]

Sod that, I'm afraid I've had my fill of 2min noodles! So I'm off to somewhere where pay and education are more realistic and I'll send money back to NZ to pay it off.

This is why the student loan scheme is driving all our talented people away. Sheer bloody-minded penny-pinching.
The NZ disease isn't 'tall poppy' syndrome, it's envy. The "why should they get something when I can't' syndrome.

[Drunken Monkey]

...
Even now, 10 years later, I don't earn a huge wage, although I am able to charge more for my services. I'd love to go back and do my photography training but I can't justify three years out of the market plus about $24,000 more in fees.
...

I can't see how photography needs 3 years and $24,000 worth of training. I assume you mean course costs ex equipment - you could easily rack up $24,000 in cameras and accessories if you take it seriously, so that's cheating if you call it course costs.
Surely the only training you need is the purchase of a decent camera and an itchy shutter trigger finger?
Most photo journos are digital these days, so you're not going to need to learn old skool developing techniques. Ask someone to drop you a copy of photoshop and start fiddling!

[Eurygnomes]

This is why the student loan scheme is driving all our talented people away. Sheer bloody-minded penny-pinching.
The NZ disease isn't 'tall poppy' syndrome, it's envy. The "why should they get something when I can't' syndrome.

Aww...he called me talented! (indirectly and by association at least, I'm an approval junkie!).

Yeah, you're totally correct there Lou. The most amazing people I work with are all leaving - after about three years. Four of the five have been expats who've lived in NZ for at least 10 years (most recieved their edumacations elsewhere, moved here for lifestyle and now can't afford to stay here) and there's one kiwi lad leaving too. The replacements that they're looking at are, I'm afraid, not up to the same standard. But the company (and this may just be this company, I'm not generalising too broadly) can't/won't pay the big bucks to get the scientists 'back' from overseas in this industry. Then they wonder why they can't win grant money to do research into new fields...no track record...no grant money! :( It's a downward spiral.

What I'd like to see is NZ figure out a niche market with regards to science. Sure - we can't all study the whales, but think of the ozone layer hole, think of the native plants of medicinal use perhaps, think of the volcanic activity, think of the smallish population we have here, think of the interesting genetic heritage, think of the unique wildlife opportunities, think of the socioeconomic issues with regards to a nation with two backgrounds, think of the issues keeping a language alive...

...but no. We have to go and try to copy the american research, the european research in a 'NZ environment' (I did this for my research too...so I'm not completely without blame). And what we end up with, because there's so little money to go around, is some underfunded project that is scaled down so many times that the final results are meaningless and cannot be extrapolated further than the sample that was involved in the study.

*phew* Okay...getting off my soap box now.

[Milky]

...The thing I do have a problem with is that to get a student allowance ($150 or so a week of free money) my parents have to earn under a certain threshold (around $40000 or so) or else I have to borrow the $150 a week on my student loan...

Ditto here - I realise that it would be greatly open to exploitation if changed, but basing student allowance on how much your folks earn isn't catching those students who really want to get to Uni, but aren't being supported in that endeavour by their parents.

[Milky]

That's the other load of bollocks the government is spouting. The skills shortage is in experienced professionals and tradespeople. Keeping graduates behind may help staff the health and education sectors, but the majority of students doing their BComs, BScs and BAs, fresh out of uni, aren't going to make any immediate difference to the skills shortage. Hell, give some ordinary yobbo a degree, suddenly thet think they're academic and 'above' doing work in the trades. Also, these 'leaving graduates' are only valuable to NZ after they've picked up some valuable work experience on their OE.

Stop forcing young, non-academically inclined people who don't fit in at schools from staying in school through to seventh form (now through 7th form AND tech/uni) and pissing about - these people were traditionally out of school, learning a trade and earning money - not stuck at a tertiary institution, leeching a student benefit (or building up a large loan), bumbling through an academic degree they're not suited too just because everyone else is doing it.

I agree with you on the first paragraph, and the second one even more so. Make Uni more competitive entry, reduce numbers in irrelevant degrees, get more of the leavers from the school system into apprenticeships or trade training, and hopefully less BA/BSc students working in retail...

[Brian d marge]

This opinion,,,is worth all of 1/32 of a cent ...

Student loans ....IF you are government ..Mighty fine Idea....Shows up on the books as an Investment ,,,ie money while out at the mo ..comes back ,,,makes the books look nice and healthy ,,,Investors like that sort of thing tripple A rating an all that,,,,

From MY point of View ,,I am err older ,,,and will be dead and buried before I can realise on my 25 k investment in Education ,,,So there is little point in me paying it back,,,

I would like to return to NZ what NZ gave me ,,,I really would ,,,but you only have one shot at this life and .. If I did play the game how it was designed ,,Iwould be tax to the point of poverty.... as i see it ,,its 10 cents in every dollar ....over the threshold ( $319 pw) 。。so let say as a mechanic ,,,at 21 pecent ..plus me loan of 10 percent thats let say I am on 600 pw that leaves me with about 420 pw ... not a good wicket by any ones account

Its not the student fees I have issue with ,,that was only about 6k a year ,,it was the living costs ,,and as an Engineering student ,,( with a wonky brain like I have ) ,, I spent all of me time studying ,,,EVEN over the Xmas period ,,,yes I skyved a bit ,,,

The only way I can see of me playing the game fair and square ,,is by having people who use my skill pay for it ...which can and does in a market economy put me at a disadvantage ...( those who dont/didnt have a loan)

Nope it is and was an absolute cock up from the begining

( by the way my friend in America,,has just embarked on a masters ,,and he trawled around and there were all these programs which gave him money ,,,so by the end he had reduced the toatal amount to something quite manageable )

Right 6 oclock ,,time to start drinking "!!!:drinkup:

Stephen

[bane]

Not trying to piss anybody off here... not my intention :whistle:
but as an x student who has paid their debt to society...


Hell...$30k? Try up and around $60k...and even though I'm on a decent ish salary - what I'm making and paying off under the compulsory scheme isn't enough to get rid of the interest.

umm, isnt the current loan scheme that 50% of anything paid directly reduces principal? In addition, if you dont pay enough money to cover interest (assuming above base-rate interest), the interest is written off?

....god I wish my Mortgage was like that (actually I wish my student loan had been like that!)



Whereas if I wasn't at uni I could go on the dole, do nothing every week and get around the same amount as student allowance for it. This system defies logic, but I doubt anything will be done about it.

Use to agree with that... however was pointed out that even with the fees we pay, government still covers 80+% of cost of tertiary education - typically $20K a year per student - kinda like being paid $400 a week....


Charging students interest on loans was scandalous from the day it was introduced. Especially being introduced by people who had free education.
The amount of interest being charged I had an issue with - should have been basically the cost of the money to the Government. However dont see why others should subsidise something that I will benefit from...


...thats if i vote at all.

oh FFS :weird: