Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Press Statement from the Grambling State University Alumni Association (St. Lucia)

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24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well put! I believe it is every student's responsibility to repay their loans, however, I understand the difficulty in doing so, particularly in these difficult economic times. I agree that any committee set up to deal with the issues that these students face should have student representatives on it. I believe Dr. Lewis wants to do the right thing, but sometimes I don't know that he is strong (maybe brave) enough to do what is necessary. I guess the students were not important enough for the PM to meet with them :(

April 9, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Anonymous said...

I would think that experiencing life outside of your comfort zone would have fostered a positive and different attitude to the world we live in. But here you are complaining about what YOU EXPECT and what YOU WOULD LIKE so that LIFE CAN BE EASIER. This is your mindset in 2013???

Where is the innovation? The ingeniouty? the ambition? The hard work? This is a global world - yours for the taking. I'm really disappointed in my fellow youth.

Life is not a bed of roses, but it is what you make it. And it will take hard work. Success is not gift wrapped.

I suggest you think outside the box and make it happen. Don't dare tell me it can't be done.

I'm 26.I'm lucian. I'm female. I don't have a degree yet I have four internet start ups in various industries. I make xxx,xxx monthly and live on x,xxx. I work hard, every single day. I research. I keep up with the markets. I brainstorm for ideas.

I wasn't lucky. I thought outside the box, outside my comfort zone, I went after my goals and worked my ass off. It wasn't easy. It still isn't. But if I was expecting anyone to give me a break, I'd still be waiting.

Don't get angry. Just leave excuses alone and chart your life.

April 9, 2013 at 1:32 PM
Anonymous said...

So eloquently put - democracy in action people, take note. I agree that lenders should do all in their power to avoid defaulting on student loans; especially when they're guaranteed unwittingly by taxpayers. Even in the US, a student loan debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy proceedings.

However, I also understand that there are several factors at play. I don't care how optimistic you are, the reality is bleak. This place is a spirit-killing dead zone where political leeches outnumber honest, promising citizens.

Not only are we facing tough economic times, we fail to provide opportunities for innovative youth. Here was an opportune time for the PM to engage the young people - whom he often purports to care about - and he missed it entirely.

He missed an ideal opportunity to create a think tank, at a time when the knowledge economy rules the world.

April 9, 2013 at 2:02 PM
Anonymous said...

The interest rate on student loans at these predatory lending institutions is too high. For a country that claims to value education, this is telling. The average interest rate on a student loan in the US is 2%, ours is 12.5% at last check. Do the math.

April 9, 2013 at 2:19 PM
Anonymous said...

Try 3.4%, expected to increase to 6.8% in 2014 if the US congress dosn't intervin.

April 9, 2013 at 4:40 PM
Anonymous said...

Foreign recruitment is just another revenue stream for these schools.Government and students must beware!

April 9, 2013 at 4:53 PM
Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update; a New York Times article just confirmed as much. (I did indicate that this was an average.) Even then, given the context, the doubled rate would still be significantly less than ours.

April 9, 2013 at 6:15 PM
Anonymous said...

I understand why the brightest and most motivated leave Saint Lucia. Sadly they leave behind the majority who want the status quo to remain; their only interest is in getting as much money as they can without paying taxes (in some instances legalise robbery i.e. high prices), breaking the laws, and having sex all over the place. They, the majority, spend inordinate amounts of time, sex/flirting allowing, being negative about anyone who they feel can't 'fit' in or share their mentality. Education, learning, analysis, and challenging can change the mentality, and boy does that need to change.

April 10, 2013 at 4:33 AM
Anonymous said...

http://www.stlucianewsonline.com/lpm-expresses-concerns-about-slow-pace-of-tertiary-education-in-st-lucia/

LPM....Given the hardships that many returning students are currently facing, it may be an opportune moment for Anthony to sit down with the various lending institutions in the country and work out an agreement that will allow eligible students to participate in an income-based repayment (IBR) program.

Such a program would, for a specific period of time, cap student loan repayments at 15% of the students’ monthly discretionary income and, thereby, allow them sufficient time to either find or create higher paying forms of employment and make the adjustment to living and working on the island again.

April 10, 2013 at 7:46 AM
Anonymous said...

If you are young and strong and ambious,and you can find a way out of St.Lucia,do it.Get out!Thats what we did in droves,in the 1950s,60s and 70s.Give up this home mentality.Home is where you are! And one more thing:look for growth areas in the US as your chosen field of studies,you will get a visa to stay in the US.The Indians have done this for years,now the Russian are on to it.

April 10, 2013 at 7:55 AM
Anonymous said...

St. Lucia:Think retirement!

April 10, 2013 at 7:57 AM
Ben said...

The debate about these student loans was fierce on www.Stlucianewsonline.com. It was interesting to see how we students are viewed especially when some have no idea of our current predicaments
Sometimes, it is necessary to just listen, watch where the debate is heading, analyze, process your thoughts, reanalyze, then contribute.
I was a recipient of one of those loans, and will be the first to admit that I have not been able to pay back my loan due to the fact that I am not employed. Truth be told, I recently graduated with my masters. Students are not asking for a hand-out. Neither are we asking for our loan payments to be totally absorb by the government or forgiven by the bank. We are simply requesting a re-negotiation of the loan and the interest.
I will also go on to say, that tempers are flaring up, first with the article released by the prime minister’s office and followed by the alumni association’s response.
Let’s look at this thing from a rational point of view. At best, a student who returns home with a first degree makes no more than $2500 or $3000 per month, some make even lower. After taxes/social security/medical or life insurance on a $2500 salary…one is left with between $1800 and $2100. Loan payments are between $1350 and $1800. which leaves some with little to no money for other expenses.
Many will argue that we knew about the conditions of the loan before we left.
Well maybe, just maybe some of us need to have our minds refreshed. I secured my loan/scholarship in 2007 when everything in the world pointed upwards. when one was optimistic about the future and job prospects. Heck things were going nice until 2008 happen and even the most optimistic of us began to realize that even harder times were before us.
I am the first member of my family to go to college, and I did so with little input from a dead beat dad and a mother whose source of income she lost as soon as I began my studies. Furthermore there are those expenses that much thought wasn’t given to before the agreements were signed. I recalled that my first semester I went to one of my classes for the first time and everyone without a book was marked down one grade point. So I went to the book store and could you imagine, the textbook for just that one class was over $300US. Books for that one semester amounted to $600. I know of many students who endured hardship upon hardship to complete their studies, and then to return home only to be greeted with either no job, or a position way below their qualification which cannot satisfy the monthly payments required.
I WILL TAKE CARE and HONOR my responsibility because I am a man of my words and I signed the document stating I will repay, but to pay such a high interest rate in this kind of climate is beyond comprehension.
To put this whole thing into perspective, here is the break down

Loan amount: $136,000
government guarantee…
Interest paid from loan amount while student is in college…
repayment: $1350/month
repayment period:15 years
Total amount at repayment: $243,000
current employment status: UNEMPLOYED with two degrees

So in other words, a first degree is worth two mortgages. Many of us weren’t all that concern about the job prospects when we signed these agreements, just elated and excited about being able to further our education.
SO..to those who aren’t preview to the current situation, step back and place your selves in our position before labeling us as traitors or criminals for being unable to pay on our loans at the moment

April 10, 2013 at 9:19 AM
Anonymous said...

It is the Banks that are the Criminals!!!!

April 10, 2013 at 10:37 AM
Anonymous said...

Ben, I would advise that you get a Caricom skills certificate and get the heck out of Dodge. Problem is even relocation requires money. You may have to accept underemployment and undergo personal austerity for a short while until you can make that move.

If you can tackle the problem in increments, it will not seem as overwhelming. I empathize.

You do however understand that to request that the bank lower its interest rate on an already existing contract is somewhat unreasonable. The bank would suffer an even greater loss because the contract was negotiated pre-recession.

April 10, 2013 at 11:34 AM
Anonymous said...

They are too greedy!!!
Just like the students who went to Cuba and expected the government to foot the bill for their return home.
They expect the government to do everything for them.

That serves the government right because they grant too many of those loans and scholarships to party loyalists.

Secondly too many people who should have never gone to university in the first place are going; just like those attending Monroe college. That is why they can't find employment in the private sector.

I believe in discrimination in education since not everyone is cut out for university. Gone are the days when St Lucian university graduates were all articulate and intelligent individuals.

April 10, 2013 at 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...

Are those who did not return and working in the US paying their loans? They stayed for a "better life" and yet still forgot they had to pay? The government had the good idea of securing loans but they should have sent them to uwi if their programs were being offered there. they would have $50000 to pay in 4 years. When i look at their profiles on facebook it shows parties and bar-b-ques and new outfits.

April 10, 2013 at 2:44 PM
Anonymous said...

you mean to tell me that these members are unable to pay nothing on their loans? Because if you are going to come to the bargaining table you need to show that you have attempted to pay something. If a uwi degree was good enough for a majority of our great Caribbean leader, PM, Ministers, Governor Generals, Attorney Generals, Accountants, Bankers, entrepreneurs etc...It is good enough today. Young people need to make smart choices no matter what. Even Dr. King one of the Caribbeans most respected pathologists chose to attend UWI rather than the UK and he has a full scholarship and could have chosen anywhere. When deciding to go to school make wise choices. I had the application form filled out for this grambling scholarship. I ad met all requirements but i chose not to incure such a hugh det as a young person and i went to UWI. later on I will do my masters in the uk or with a uk university via distance. it is the same degree but at a cheaper price.

April 10, 2013 at 2:56 PM
Anonymous said...

incur* debt*

April 10, 2013 at 2:57 PM
Anonymous said...

Somebody tell me that alot of them that stay in the States do not have any papers.

They just use the government money and after they graduate they not coming back and going and stay by their relatives in New York.

I was in Miami this year and I saw one of them doing cashier in a Haitian shop. When I ask her what she doing there the girl tell me that she too accustom to the fast life in the States.

All they doing is partying and putting pictures on Facebook. The government should track them down on Facebook and call immigration for them. My cousin is one of them but that good for her.
She too JAMET.

April 10, 2013 at 3:33 PM
Anonymous said...

So much debt for a crap university in the States?

It is not like it is a Howard University or Morehouse College.

I blame the government for allowing our students to incur debt for low ranking universities.

The same with Monroe.
A crap college that not even the mediocre American students want to attend but the government is allowing it to open shop here.

Why not have NYU or University of London have an offshore campus here?

Have you noticed that no "bourgeois" is sending their child to Monroe?
Their children are going to UWI or a highly ranked university abroad.

April 10, 2013 at 3:45 PM
Anonymous said...

I'm reading this regurgitated elitist crap and laughing. You live on a rock with no physical resources of note, yet you believe in stifling the progress of your human resource. Your self-loathing is palpable.

Everyone should be entitled to a sound education - regardless of perceived class or contrived status. Many of you "elites" faked your way through to wealth, on the blood, sweat and tears of the working class.

Any country interested in growth should facilitate the development opportunities for its citizens - in or out of the classroom.

April 10, 2013 at 6:29 PM
Anonymous said...

Blogger at April 10, 2013 at 3:33pm, you would do well to concern yourself with your own self-improvement, rather than revel in the demise of another. Your level of expression is telling.

Blogger above are you serious? NYU is a private Ivy League university that's extremely careful about its brand. The average yearly tuition alone would absorb the entire value of a local loan for a 4-year state university. Having an offshore campus in SLU would be a costly mistake.

April 10, 2013 at 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...

Before signing off on student loans, bankers should advise young borrowers on the benefits of planning - and sticking to - a budget. You cannot live lavishly or follow every silly fashion trend. This is not free money.

If you are in the US, every purchase made should be multiplied by 3 (to accommodate the exchange rate). Do not be fooled by the .99c ploy - that is a dollar. Walmart's "everyday low-pricing" is NOT the LOWEST possible price.

Shop for staple items only on the sale rack i.e. outfits you can wear throughout the year - jeans and (sleeveless) tops never fail. Most of the year you will be trapped under sweaters, hoodies and jackets anyway. You do not have to sacrifice quality either. Well known brands can be purchased at off-price retailers. Try not to make personal purchases above US$10 (sales tax inclusive). Trust me, it's possible. Coupons can be your best friend.

Never purchase books at the on-campus bookstore since they're often overpriced. Buy or rent books online, or from second-hand brokers. Borrow textbooks from the library, if you can. Depending on the professor's teaching style, you may not even need a textbook.

Get a part-time job. Do not get hooked into the partying scene. Keep your grades up and apply for scholarships. CLEP courses if you're able, and make ample use of those 8-week classes that slice your time in half. On average, tuition increases by 5%-10% per year. The longer you're there, the more money you'll pay.

April 11, 2013 at 2:30 AM
Anonymous said...

It is in every country's best interest to educate its citizens. Every person who receives a loan should do their utmost to repay the loan. Often loans are not sufficient to cover the true cost of college. There are other expenses that students don't think about. The blogger above mentioned several of those expenses and how students can try to reduce those "other costs".

The problem arises when students return home and cannot find a job. They're told over and over, "get an education, get an education" and when they do, there's no job to help pay for that education. They have to be walking up and down begging Ministers who are not as qualified as they are, or who don't even have a first degree, far less a second degree.

Our leaders as usual, have their priorities in the wrong place. They tout the value of education but they do the bare minimum to support education. It's all lip service.

To the students who have loans, hang in there, live simply, don't put your hat where your hand can't reach, and pay off your loans as best as you can. Don't expect too much help because lately, being an educated (degreed) person in St. Lucia is often looked down upon, often with expressions such as, "because they have degrees they think they know everything". This is life in St. Lucia. Sad but true.

April 11, 2013 at 11:06 AM

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