((PKG))  STUDENT LOANS   
((Banner:  Student Loans))
((Reporter/Camera:  Deepak Dobhal))
((Map:  Washington, D.C. Area))   
((NATS))
((Al Green,ÊChair, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations)) 
Good morning everyone. 
The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee will come to order.  The title of today's hearing is An Examination of State Efforts to Oversee the More than $1.5 Trillion Dollar Student Loan Servicing Market.  According to the Federal Reserve, Americans owe over one-and-a-half trillion dollars in student loan debt.
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((Pop-Up Banner:  Nearly 45 million Americans have student debt.  The average loan is $30,000))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I've heard numerous hearings about student loan and student loan issues.  They approach the issue from different angles but somehow nothing gets done and nothing happens.  So, itÕs frustrating. 
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Something about this system is broken. 
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It just seems unfair that even though, as I said,Êeducation seems to be the great equalizer, right now, I just feel, it feels so unequal for me. 
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
All I wanted to do, I went to high school.  I got good grades.Ê I worked hard to get into a good college.Ê I didn't fail out of college.  I didnÕt party my way out of college.Ê I just went there, got an education, made friends, made connections, did everything that they tell you to do by the book.  But then, it just cost me so much, so much money.  And I'm not saying that I regret the education that I received, because I don't.  I think, they were great years.  But I feel like there has to be another way.  There has to be a way where people like me don't have to suffer this much.  
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
When I'm coming home from work and seeing everybody kind of pass by, the families with their kids, I think about me and when that will be a possibility. 
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I am 27 years old and I still have 16 years to pay my loans because I have the 20-year repayment plan which guarantees the lower payments which are what I can afford right now.  And this means that I'm going to end up finishing paying my loans when I'm 42 years old.  So, that's not really when people want to get their starter home. 
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
Also, marriage, you know, when will I get married.  Me coming into, like a situation with all of these loans, would have an impact on my partner.  So, I would want to minimize that as much as possible whenever I decide to get married.  And also kids.  Kids are expensive.  So, if I'm paying like a small mortgage and loans, then how can I afford kids.  And I would like to have kids and I would like to get married.  
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
The loans are something that definitely hangs over my head and, kind of, affects how I approach certain situations and how much I want to delay those big decisions.  And that's not even what's on my mind right now.  What's on my mind right now is more grad school.  But if I think further ahead, then obviously all those fears creep in about not being able to do certain things that will be good for me and good for my family, like having a home, you know. 
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I owe about 90,000 dollars in loans.  IÕm paying, probably, 850 dollars as my monthly payment, and that is about a little less than a third of my salary. 
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
I mean, those earrings are nice but they are, for sure, out of my budget.Ê ItÕs like 169 dollars for a pair of earrings.  ThatÕs too much, for sure.  The other piece is that I have about 35,000 dollars that are under my name, but the bulk of my loans is under parent plus loans which are under my mom's name. 
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
In the time that I graduated college, my mom and my dad divorced.  Well, their family income, kind of, split in half.  So, she's making, like, enough for herself, but she's not able to do more.  There's also, like, she has all of these loans under her name, so her credit is maxed out.  I often think about like, OK, you know, in two years if she ever wants to buy a house, what would that mean for her.  My loans have an impact in her ability to buy a house.  I feel guilt that because of the type of education that I wanted to get and because of the school that I wanted to go to, you know, she could potentially face financial burdens because of that.  
((NATS))
((Eddy Encinales, Borrower))
It's hard for me and, I'm sure, it's hard for her even though she doesnÕt talk about it. 
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((Erika Chavez, EddyÕs Mother)) 
Well, I feel awful.  ItÕs horrible knowing that I'm not able to help my daughter with those horrible loans.  And she's a good kid.  She's been working really hard.  She is a good student.  And not having the option to give her money or to pay to help her to pay the debt is really bad.  I feel bad. 
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower)) 
I'm definitely not the only one in this situation.  People in the States owe about 1.5 trillion dollars, trillion dollars in student loans.  It's a huge problem.  It's bigger than just me and me making quote/unquote, Òbad decisionsÓ. 
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((Eddy Encinales, Borrower)) 
Even though this is the reality of things, in my heart I still think that young people, no matter what their background is, should be able to access the education that they want to access.  Like, education should not be a bad thing.  Like, me going to a good school should not be a bad thing. 
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((Pop-Up Banner:  U.S. student debt is more than the rest of the worldÕs combined))