On September 25 2007 13:59 RebelHeart wrote:
It's encouraging me to be lazy with my studies and fail subjects and not really care since I don't have to pay it back forever. What's the system like where you are?

did i read this correct? you DON"T Have to pay back a LOAN?

and why would u wanna fail a class? F's on transcripts are fugly as hell. T_T

USA has a loan program for all students undergrad/grad they can loan whatever amount they want and not pay interest on it for their duration of their furthering education,

one catch : their loan is "locked" in a low interest loan.. which it use to be around 2.3%.. but now i just saw my new loan at 5.5%!! damn US economy.

eXigent.

Canada2419 Posts

September 25 2007 06:18 GMT

Im sure you will have to pay something back eventually, or why would it even be called a "LOAN", instead of just a "HAND-OUT". I thought you just wont need to pay any interest on it.

vstar

Korea (South)693 Posts

September 25 2007 06:37 GMT

On September 25 2007 15:18 eXigent. wrote:
Im sure you will have to pay something back eventually, or why would it even be called a "LOAN", instead of just a "HAND-OUT". I thought you just wont need to pay any interest on it.

Tadzio

3340 Posts

September 25 2007 07:00 GMT

Correct me if I'm wrong... I don't know about NZ loans. But I'd have to assume its 0% interest with an *. And the * is in the fine print and says that it's 0% interest as long as you're in school, and the instant you graduate the interest explodes to some unspeakably horrible amount.

There's also loans with 0% prime interest rates and like 8% APR, but they advertise and stress the 0%.

Daigomi

South Africa4316 Posts

September 25 2007 07:03 GMT

There's one of two ways a system like this would work. Either it's a government endorsed system, where the government actually pays your rent, and they do it to raise the country's university educated populace, or it is a bank advertisement. University students have the potential to become high-income clients later in life, so a few years without interest while they are studying is not too bad.

You do have to pay it back when you stop studying though, so make sure you don't fail too many courses, as the more you need to borrow, the harder it will be to pay back when you are done.

Blind

United States2529 Posts

September 25 2007 07:08 GMT

I might have missed something, but you have to pay back loans, even if they are 0% interest. I have the same loan, but there is a 5% interest rate if I remember correctly once I graduate.

YoUr_KiLLeR

United States3420 Posts

September 25 2007 07:41 GMT

#10

yes i dont think you understand what 0% interest means lol.

Meta

United States6225 Posts

September 25 2007 07:48 GMT

#11

why would the fact that you have no interest motivate you to do badly? i would kill to have a no-interest loan, and i would still work my ass off in school.

Texas

Germany2388 Posts

September 25 2007 08:43 GMT

#12

can you give any sources/links RH? I assume you are mistaken on this topic.

haduken

Australia8267 Posts

September 25 2007 08:59 GMT

#13

In Australia, i think its if you earn less than 35k per annual then you are not required to pay back the student loans. or you can just skip the continent, that would work too.

RebelHeart

New Zealand722 Posts

September 25 2007 09:32 GMT

#14

No, the no-interest applies for life - there is like a minimum repayment per year requirement of like $200 or something but that's like hardly anything. The reason I say I'm happy to fail is that if I was paying interest per year then I'd be trying pretty damn hard to pass considering the more time I take to finish my degree the more effort I'd be trying to finish ASAP so the interest doesn't build up.

It's only a recent policy that came into effect this year, here's the link (scroll down about half the page):

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/index.cfm?layout=document&documentid=5806&data=l

useLess

United States4781 Posts

September 25 2007 09:35 GMT

#15

Theres usually a fat asterisk * after "interest-free", with something like "for this duration of a period" or "if you qualify under these conditions" or "everyone but you"

Tadzio

3340 Posts

September 25 2007 10:29 GMT

#16

Well, I'm not gonna look at it too hard. I'm not sure exactly what "written off" interest is, but it sounds like its where the government uses tax moneys to pay loan agencies the interest, keeping it from building up on the debtor's account. "Write off" does sound suspiciously like tax exemptions, though, so you might want to look into it a bit more. Ask for clarification on the language. If the interest accrues and you get to pay less in tax as compensation, that works equally well, but will require you to watch your debt.

However the "write off interest" works, there is plenty of incentive to pay off the balance. The most obvious is credit rating, something you should be very careful about if you ever plan on buying a car or a house. Less obvious is late payment charges, which, admittedly, is a smaller penalty than normally associated with loans. I suppose thats the point of the program...

In any case, I don't see how a no interest policy gives incentive to just fuck off in school. I paid my way through college without taking out any loans, so I didn't have to worry about interest, but I still worked as hard as I could. There's a lot more at stake in college than what you pay to get there.

azndng

United States344 Posts

September 26 2007 03:29 GMT

#17

yeah, i went over the site (for a good 10 minutes) and i couldn't find a true definition of TAX FREE loans... more over, its like Tadzio said... its a "write off" sounds more and more like a tax exemption. Not to mention, your loan gets turned over to another agency to handle the "tax free" part.

But also, read the part with THRESHOLD income. something like that. if you make over $17k a year, you MUST make repayments even if you are still in school.

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