Leaving the Country to Avoid Loans – Update

Earlier I posted on a story about people fleeing the country to avoid their student loan payments.  There weren’t many specifics, but I then came across this article on CNN.com. (Thanks to this blog).  So wow – people are really doing this. 

While most Americans are burdened with debt of some kind, student loan repayment can be a particularly scary prospect for young people struggling to start a career. Payments are often higher than expected, and the loans can’t easily be discharged. Added pressure from debt collectors causes some grads to flee their loans by fleeing the country.

“These are people new to borrowing and they didn’t understand what they were getting into,” says Mark Kantrowitz of Finaid.org, an online student loan information Web site. “It’s a very sorry situation that it comes to students feeling they have no option than to leave the country,” he says. “It’s a sign the system is broken.”

Apparently, it’s harder to find people with international addresses and it costs more for the collection agencies so they don’t feel as much incentive to go after these students.  Two words: Bon Voyage.