Student Debt: Look for alternate options & not just a huge loan (Ali Mirza)

Ali Mirza  Owner of i Social You

Ali Mirza is the owner of "i Social You", a social media service company based in Dallas. He is passionate about helping businesses create engaging social communities. In his spare time, he blogs about simplicity and life at www.letsgraph.com. . SF: What was your biggest challenge in college? AM: Having money to pay for tuition was always a challenge. I was an international student and did not qualify for any grants or loans. Because of my good GPA, I had a scholarship but out of state tuition fee was still very high. SF: Were you impacted by student loans & debt? AM: Yes – I used credit cards to pay for tuition. Being an international student I did not qualify for FAFSA type of loans. So my only option was credit card debt. I paid off $30,000 worth of debt and most of it was after graduation. Almost 75% of my income was going towards credit card debt for a few years after the graduation. SF: What would you do if you didn't have any student debt? AM: I would have been much more open to starting my business & pursuing my dreams. SF: Who is your hero and why? AM: My grandfather. He never went to school but made sure his kids and grandkids did. I learned two very important things from him: 1) Always respect your elders 2) Education is the most important thing in our life SF: If you could change one thing about our education system, what would it be and how would you go about it? AM: I would change it to a “pull system.” Right now education is being pushed on students in schools. I want to flip the system and give more control to students. Imagine you go to your student advisor and say “I want to take these subjects because this is what I LOVE; now you tell me what degree you can give me.” Unfortunately I am not sure how to make it happen yet. SF: What would you suggest to students who are facing student debt? AM: Stop being lazy and do what you can to pay it down as quickly as possible. Also look for alternate options. Crowdfunding & technology platforms like SuccessFunding allow us to think out of the box.