Alan Collinge This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. village voice > news > Generation Debt: The New Economics of Being Young by Anya Kamenetz

   www.villagevoice.com/news/0604 - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/25/2006   Last Visited: 1/25/2006

   Meanwhile, Alan Collinge, a 35-year-old former aerospace engineer in Washington State, is feeling a little low. He originally borrowed $38,000 in student loans from Sallie Mae to complete three degrees at the University of Southern California. In 2001, after making about $7,000 in on-time payments, he left his gig at Caltech on the promise of a government job that evaporated after 9-11. He was underemployed for two years, making ends meet as a short-order cook in Alaska; his student loans went into default. "When I got back from Alaska, I got a bill for $85,000 and it pretty much blew me away. That's when I realized that somebody is making a lot of money around this deal." Today, Collinge owes $105,000 to the Department of Education.
   
   Collinge believes Lord got to the top by trampling student borrowers like him.
   ...
   And Collinge, as an activist with the website studentloanjustice.org, is starting to get the ear of politicians and the media.
   
   Collinge started studentloanjustice.org in the spring of 2005. "I lose hours of sleep because of my personal situation," he says. "So I spend my time on this." He pores over SEC filings to find out how much student loan execs earn, and he reads sites like fundrace.org and opensecrets.org to find out how much they give to politicians.
   ...
   Collinge has also raised the question of antitrust violations.
   ...
   Collinge's most powerful ammunition is the hundreds of testimonials he has collected from student loan borrowers in distress. He shared with me the stories of a dozen whose original balance has doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.
   ...
   "I've made repeated offers to repay what I borrowed plus interest," says Collinge. "I begged, I pleaded. They say, no no no. You're going to pay that plus penalties, plus fees, plus the interest on these fees." The Department of Education has seized Collinge's tax refunds and is threatening to garnishee his wages. He can't find work in his chosen field because his credit rating is so poor. He can't get a credit card or a regular mortgage to buy his house.

2. 2. Clark Street Blog: August 2006

   clarkstreetblog.blogspot.com/2 - [Cached]

   Published on: 8/1/2006   Last Visited: 9/8/2006

   Meanwhile, Alan Collinge, a 35-year-old former aerospace engineer in Washington State, is feeling a little low. He originally borrowed $38,000 in student loans... In 2001, after making about $7,000 in on-time payments, he left his gig at Caltech on the promise of a government job that evaporated after 9-11. He was underemployed for two years, making ends meet as a short-order cook in Alaska; his student loans went into default.

3. 3. Mantic eye | Student Loans Are A Terrible Risk For Borrowers

   www.manticeye.com/article.php? - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/24/2006   Last Visited: 11/20/2007

   Meanwhile, Alan Collinge, a 35-year-old former aerospace engineer in Washington State, is feeling a little low. He originally borrowed $38,000 in student loans from Sallie Mae to complete three degrees at the University of Southern California. In 2001, after making about $7,000 in on-time payments, he left his gig at Caltech on the promise of a government job that evaporated after 9-11. He was underemployed for two years, making ends meet as a short-order cook in Alaska; his student loans went into default. "When I got back from Alaska, I got a bill for $85,000 and it pretty much blew me away. That's when I realized that somebody is making a lot of money around this deal." Today, Collinge owes $105,000 to the Department of Education.
   
   Collinge believes Lord got to the top by trampling student borrowers like him.
   ...
   And Collinge, as an activist with the website studentloanjustice.org, is starting to get the ear of politicians and the media.
   
   Collinge started studentloanjustice.org in the spring of 2005. "I lose hours of sleep because of my personal situation," he says. "So I spend my time on this." He pores over SEC filings to find out how much student loan execs earn, and he reads sites like fundrace.org and opensecrets.org to find out how much they give to politicians.
   ...
   Collinge has also raised the question of antitrust violations.
   ...
   Collinge's most powerful ammunition is the hundreds of testimonials he has collected from student loan borrowers in distress. He shared with me the stories of a dozen whose original balance has doubled, tripled, or quadrupled.
   ...
   "I've made repeated offers to repay what I borrowed plus interest," says Collinge. "I begged, I pleaded. They say, no no no. You're going to pay that plus penalties, plus fees, plus the interest on these fees." The Department of Education has seized Collinge's tax refunds and is threatening to garnishee his wages. He can't find work in his chosen field because his credit rating is so poor. He can't get a credit card or a regular mortgage to buy his house.