College graduates in Boston 'crushed' by Supreme Court's student loan decision
BOSTON - At colleges across Massachusetts, there was collective disappointment over the United States Supreme Court's ruling to block student loan forgiveness.
"There's not really much we can do. The most they can do is having to go to the financial aid office, but even then sometimes that still doesn't work out," said Boston University student Cristell Bacilio.
"I was crushed," said 30-year-old A.J. Hernandez, who's still paying off loans from his days at Boston College. "Had we been able to have some of that debt relieved, we might have been able to put some of that extra money that we would have been putting into student monthly loan payments, into saving for buying a house or saving for a wedding someday, those sorts of things."
But the president of Endicott College says the decision gives him some hope.
"I think this is going to be a lightning rod for a larger conversation on accountability," said Dr. Steven DiSalvo.
He wants the ruling to force the country to come up with a more sustainable plan, to make paying for college without huge debt a possibility.
"To have a summit on affordability, and sit down and talk about a potential reset of the price points of what the business model looks like, and can we make college affordable for the students?" said DiSalvo.
College loan bills that have been on hold for three years, are heading to mailboxes this fall.
"It takes, you know, your whole life to be able to pay off, so it really just sets you so far back," said Tyler Miller, who recently graduated from Boston University.
"We could be heading towards a really serious crisis," said student loan attorney Adam Minsky. "If it looks like they're not going to be able to afford their payment, they might have some options. There are a bunch of federal student loan repayment programs, including loans that tie the payment to a borrower's income."
He said the first step is to log onto the U.S. Department of Education web portal. People can even request a recalculation of the monthly payment based on changes in finances. The bottom line, he says, is to plan before the bills arrive.