People Moving Abroad to Avoid Repaying Student Loans

A published report spotlights three individuals who moved abroad from the United States for one reason — to get out from under their student loans.

One man moved to India, another is now a permanent resident in the Ukraine, and the third is living in Japan. All three sought a life outside of the United States because they could not make ends meet while working their jobs and trying to cover their expenses, including tens of thousands of dollars in student loans.

Two of the three people profiled have jobs teaching English while what the third person is doing to make ends meet while in India is not mentioned in the article.

The article mentions that there is no hard data to quantify the number of people who have moved away from the U.S. to avoid paying off their student loans, but did mention groups on social networking sites like Reddit and Facebook where people share their stories.

The amount of student loan debt in the U.S. has tripled during the past 10 years, and half of the individuals with student loans have not paid $1 toward their unpaid principal five years into repaying their loans, according to the Department of Education.

“I have a higher standard of living in a Third World country than I would in America, because of my student loans,” said Chad Haag, who is living in a concrete house in India for $50 a month. A philosophy major in college, he could not make ends meet while working as a medical courier earning $1,700 a month in Denver.

The article mentions the risks associated with moving to another country and not paying down a debt. If and when those people decide to return to the United States, they’ll find that their debt has only ballooned because of added interested, fees, and penalties.

One man who was unable to find work because garnishments from the Department of Education ruined his credit score.