Career development loan-are they irresponsible lending

LesleyHead

Hi..My son took out a career development loan for £8000 3years ago to fund his drama course. After 2 years he had to start paying back at £180 per month. When he applied he was working in a different job(so not really relevant to his chosen career of acting) For the last year he has had very little acting work and can only find part time work in the theatre. Therefore he has been unable to keep up with the payments on his loan, his rent etc. My question is does anyone else think that career development loans for acting courses, acting work being notoriously hard to find could be construed as irresponsible lending.

vaporate

or took a loan on false hope.

irrespnsible borrowing, not lending.

dmg24

Your son is an adult. He knew his prospects when he took out a loan. He chose to borrow the money.

BLT_2

LesleyHead wrote: »

Hi..My son took out a career development loan for £8000 3years ago to fund his drama course. After 2 years he had to start paying back at £180 per month. When he applied he was working in a library (so not really relevant to his chosen career of acting) For the last year he has had very little acting work and can only find part time work in the theatre. Therefore he has been unable to keep up with the payments on his loan, his rent etc. My question is does anyone else think that career development loans for acting courses, acting work being notoriously hard to find could be construed as irresponsible lending.

Here we go again, what happened to personal responsibility? The bank bases its loans on an individuals ability to pay, they are not there to assess the professional abilities of the individual to whom they are loaning money.

ILW

What did he expect?
Spend £8k and be the next James Bond?

vaporate

Banks lay the traps I have to say though in defence.

Baited, hooked and reeled in.

Apples2

Seriously... DRAMA??
A course in Drama was never going to end in riches. I can't see how (or why) they should ban CDL for Acting careers just because it won't drop you into a high paid job at the end.

Are you suggesting Career Development Loans should only be offered to those on a good wage with a good income e.g those who don't need to develop their careers???

I agree with the others, it is essentially a silly decision to borrow money for a course unlikely to end in employment, but nobody else is to blame.

EllaKeat

I do agree with every point made - irresponsible borrowing, not lending. BUT, someone, somewhere needs to control this at some point. Not just 'self learning' but university courses too. Kids are encouraged into taking weak and blooming useless degree courses, building up a massive debt with no hope of useful employment at the end. Some sort of responsible lending needs to be put in place to fund genuinely useful courses. If that applied, then by all means, let students study whatever subject their hearts desire - but must provide the means up front to do so. Result? Less student debt, more realistic expectations and less defaults. This is posted by a mum of 2 uni grads, both with excellent degrees, but lots of money to repay. A touch of realism is needed - before any money is borrowed - does the applicant have any realistic expectation of being able to repay it?
Sorry - min rant of my own:(

BLT_2

EllaKeat wrote: »

I do agree with every point made - irresponsible borrowing, not lending. BUT, someone, somewhere needs to control this at some point. Not just 'self learning' but university courses too. Kids are encouraged into taking weak and blooming useless degree courses, building up a massive debt with no hope of useful employment at the end. Some sort of responsible lending needs to be put in place to fund genuinely useful courses. If that applied, then by all means, let students study whatever subject their hearts desire - but must provide the means up front to do so. Result? Less student debt, more realistic expectations and less defaults. This is posted by a mum of 2 uni grads, both with excellent degrees, but lots of money to repay. A touch of realism is needed - before any money is borrowed - does the applicant have any realistic expectation of being able to repay it?
Sorry - min rant of my own:(

Why is it always someone else who is supposed to control it at some point? I aint even going to mention personal responsibility again, its wearing thin.

ILW

I think the problem is that many parents seem to treat 18 year olds as if they are still children. if treated that way, that is the way they will behave.

dmg24

EllaKeat wrote: »

I do agree with every point made - irresponsible borrowing, not lending. BUT, someone, somewhere needs to control this at some point. Not just 'self learning' but university courses too. Kids are encouraged into taking weak and blooming useless degree courses, building up a massive debt with no hope of useful employment at the end. Some sort of responsible lending needs to be put in place to fund genuinely useful courses. If that applied, then by all means, let students study whatever subject their hearts desire - but must provide the means up front to do so. Result? Less student debt, more realistic expectations and less defaults. This is posted by a mum of 2 uni grads, both with excellent degrees, but lots of money to repay. A touch of realism is needed - before any money is borrowed - does the applicant have any realistic expectation of being able to repay it?
Sorry - min rant of my own:(

I am not aware that they accept kids at universities?