Convent Tells Woman She Can't Become a Nun Until Student Loans Are Paid Off

[orapronobis]

I just think it's such a shame that young people should have to wait (or in some cases, never enter) because they got a higher education. In the UK you don't have to pay back your student loan until you're earning over 24,000 a year (so many never even pay a penny back) 

[Quasar]

On ‎7‎/‎22‎/‎2016 at 1:46 AM, orapronobis said:

I just think it's such a shame that young people should have to wait (or in some cases, never enter) because they got a higher education. In the UK you don't have to pay back your student loan until you're earning over 24,000 a year (so many never even pay a penny back) 

Orapronobis- Interesting!  In the US, most student loans are either private or federal.  With federal loans, there are more options.  For example, they set your loans payments in proportion to your income, and if you work for a non-profit or government entity, the loans are forgiven after 10 years of payments (the payments having been in proportion to the income you were earning at the time). 

I am glad that there are options for people with debt who are pursuing religious life, whether that be through government service programs or through generous donors!

Edited July 23, 2016 by Quasar

[Sister Leticia]

Yes, here in the UK there is a government student loan scheme, so it's not treated like other "normal" debts, and repayments are made directly from someone's salary. But although it's good that repayments don't kick in for people on a low income or not working for whatever reason, it does mean people can end up still repaying their student loans 10 or more years after graduating - longer if, for example, a woman marries and raises a family, then goes back to work several years later.

As far as entering religious life is concerned, though, I imagine different communities have taken different approaches. Although the student loan isn't legally a debt, some might say it morally is, as it was taxpayer-funded money lent on a specific understanding regarding eventual repayment. With an apostolic order whose members will have salaried work outside the convent, accepting a candidate with an outstanding student loan is less of an issue. But a monastery, or an order of priests or one like the MCs or Little Sisters of the Poor, whose members work entirely in their own institutions, is different. I must admit I don't know how they regard student loans, as I've never asked anyone entering or working in formation in one of these orders/monasteries about this! (If ever I do, I'll come back and let you know!)

And of course, students can also have other forms of debt as well, such as credit cards and bank loans or overdrafts, and these DO have to be paid off before entering the noviciate.