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smc733 wrote:

Please...   Because of the **bleep** ups of the current generation and baby boomers, the "current" adult generation 30-60 has no room to talk about us using the money they "pay in taxes" for student loans, they've borrowed enough from several future generations as it is...

 

There is nothing immoral about it, you used your credit card for daily expenses, I see student loans as ways to get through a 4 year period where you can't get reasonable income, this includes living expenses, not just tuition, housing and books.

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The rules for student loans designate what they should be used for, and credit card debt (whether you built it up during school or not) is not one of those things.  Now, clearly, you CAN do this, but is it immoral?  Depends on under what circumstances your morality allows you to break the rules.  There's really no right answer, but people should consider the fact that they are breaking the rules (even if they will never be caught, and the potential for harm of others is very low) when they do this.

 

Specifically to the quoted poster: If you think this situation is going to get any better if young people run around spitefully mis-using and abusing whatever they can get their hands on because they are angry that their parents and leaders made poor decisions, we're all in for a very hard run of it.  I am a young person, and I do pay taxes, and I do have serious issues with misuse of student loans, because the government is being forced to cut other programs right now.  Will I applaud the decision to mis-use government funds at a time when programs which I think give a much more substantial benefit that low interest refinancing of credit card debt, are being cut?  No.

 

Lastly, and perhaps the most relevant.  Your interest on your CC debt may be high, but if you get in a debilitating car wreck tomorrow, or you are diagnosed with cancer, those student loans are EXTREMELY difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.  Is it a small risk for most people?  Yes, but it's there, so you should consider it.

+1

 

Student loans never, ever go away.

 

And I wasn't +1'ing just for that. SL's come with conditions. If you say you'll abide by the condtions, and then you don't, you're violating the conditions of the loan.

 

Not judging in particular, just observing.

 

 

edited out random comma

I took into consideration the risk and responsibility that comes with student loans, hence why I took out only 60% of the full cost of a 4 yr education.  The rest was paid by working and grants/scholarships.

 

Having paid off an $X vehicle over Y months at Z% interest, I used that as a baseline to know what I could afford to pay back at my current income rate.  With a job that provides more than my previous income now and has excellent job security I have no worries about being unable to pay it back and started paying while in my last semester.  Of the loans I took out, 80% went to tuition.  The remainder toward CC debt.

Walk into a bar in any college town once.   Where do you think all the students in there get their "drinking money"? Yes, some of them have part time jobs that they use for their "fun money", but a majority of the people out having a good time in college are only able to do so because of student loans.   I'm pretty sure student loans are not for alcohol/strip club/spring break vacation purchases.  My point is that lecturing someone on "misuse" of student loans is like stopping every jaywalker on the street and reminding them that what they are doing is illegal.  Personally, I'd rather see someone "misuse" their student loans by paying off a debt than watch them using it to drink shots out of a girls navel. I know plenty of people in college who were literally spending thousands of dollars a semester in the bars--it is much more common than people think.

 

Also, ever been to a casino?  Maybe I should stop and lecture all of the retired people using up all the social security money I have been contributing out of my paychecks that will no longer be around when I graduate retire (EDIT-OOPS).  Not trying to open another can of worms there--just sayin'.

I'm just gonna throw one word into the mix of this conversation... KARMA.  If you think you can get away with something, always remember that Karma is waiting right around the corner for you.  Good words to live by in my book

But what about private loans?  Does anyone think it is immoral in that respect?  Look, I've never used my student loans to pay for anything in addition to school, as it is fiscally irresponsible...  but my school allows you, if your loan paid > what you owe, to take it in a check.  So many students cash them and go on Ski trips, I cash it, then write a check to the highest interest rate loan I've had so far.

 

IE.  This semester, my PNC loan was $1400 above what I owed, I cashed it, and wrote a check for my MEFA loan, which has a much higher interest rate.  But I still feel the OP is under no moral obligation to do anything, because if this wasn't allowed, how can they withdrawal it?  I know the loans all state they can be used for living expenses while in college.

Theres no question that what OP did is immoral and illegal, but at the same token SL is permanent and that the creditor wont go harmed unlike credit card thingy.
Moreover, this scenario is synonymous to bypassing a traffic light by cutting through a gas station on the corner; some call it illegal, some dont; some cops pull u over for that, some dont ;-)

I  used my credit cards to pay for my tuition to avoid paying late fees while I await for the student loan.  I received the student loan and paid the credit cards off.  What wrong with that?  Nothing!!

 

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DI wrote:

I  used my credit cards to pay for my tuition to avoid paying late fees while I await for the student loan.  I received the student loan and paid the credit cards off.  What wrong with that?  Nothing!!

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Exactly, because you used your CC's to bridge your expenses while waiting for the SL check to come through. I see nothing wrong with that, either.

 

If someone has CC debt for remodeling the kitchen or something and applies SL funding, that's different.

 

SL money is meant to be used for student expenses. These do cover things beyond tuition and books, IMO --students have to have somewhere to live, and something to eat.

 

To me, the difference comes when I read a post (not saying it was this one; I'm not going back and re-reading; but I've read other posts) which says, "I've got $10K of CC debt at 19.9%, and I can get an SL for 4%. Should I move the CC debt over to the SL?" In this instance, there's no indication that the CC debt came about while trying to survive as a student.

 

If people use their SL money for non-student costs, there's that much less left for other students who really do need it for their education, and they wind up being forced into private loans and so forth.

 

I think that many people who have used their SL money for non-SL purposes might not have thought all this through, and maybe missed the bit about the money being meant for their education.

 

In the end, each person has to answer to his/her own conscience. I'm actually glad to see threads like these, because it does make people start thinking about the issues. I know it did for me the first time I read something like this.

 

It's your decision. It wouldn't be mine. Just sayin'.

I'd like to know Suze's opinion on this!