Can he escape federal student loans???

I just found out that my cousin's cousin (third cousin?) has moved back to Germany with $85,000 student loan debt (mostly federal). He earned a B.S. in physics from a private university, but could not find a job in the U.S. near family, so he moved back to Germany with his mom without plans to pay back his school loans (he has a U.S. green card). He has always been very responsible and even seemed frugal for the past 6 years I've known him, but claims (per my cousin) that he can't afford these payments on his salary and that it won't affect him in Germany. Can he get away with this?? Can the lenders have his wages garnished or affect his credit if he's working and living overseas? I don't know if his new employer is a German or American company. I would think the lenders would have some recourse.

I thought his school would put a hold on his degree once he starts missing payments (he graduated in June). I'm not sure that this will happen because he doesn't actually owe money to his university, only to the goverment loans and a private lender. That would be interesting if they could "hold" his degree for non-payment.

It's true that a school can refuse to release your degree or paperwork if you have fees due them that you haven't paid, but federal student loans shouldn't fall into this category. Presumably, he took out the loan to pay for school. If he actually paid the school, then they would have no reason to hold his degree.

Federally insured student loans means that the federal government will make good in the event that he doesn't pay. Sounds like he's not going to pay, so at some point the government will pay the balance for him.

However, it's hard to "escape" student loans in the normal sense because they can't be bankrupted. The fact that it's a federally subsidized loan means that they don't even have to sue him and get a judgment (as with most loans). If he moves back to the US, he'll likely be subject to garnishment.

The bigger issue is that it is ethically wrong to take out a loan with no intention of paying it back. It sounds like he's using the "I can't find a job in my field" excuse to avoid his commitments. Personally, I have a BS in physics and there are more than enough jobs out there.

Remember, you're a taxpayer. He's leaving you to pay the bill.

Wow. As far as I thought, if you did not pay your loands your degree was worthless becaues they can in a sense "take it away" or something. I'm not sure though, but he should deff have some penalties it is quite unfair to the rest of us which will end up having to pay it back for him due to higher intrest rates and such....

How can someone put a hold on your degree. Lets say your specialty is physics. If you are helping build and design a friggin nuclear reactor, they KNOW you likely have a degree :)

He is probably in the clear. Unless the US government can track him down.

He probably planned this right from the start, so don't worry about it.

If you think about it then he already pay for the entire amount of the loan everytime he bought something and paid taxes.

He has been paying for over two decades.

The private lender is insured and they will file a claim.