Paid off in full!
University of Northern Iowa Cedar Falls, Iowa 50613 Financial Aids May 7, 1970 Mrs. Joy Kidney Old Creamery Road Dexter, Iowa 50070 Dear Mrs. Kidney: In a few days, you will receive cancellation forms for your National Defense Student Loan. Our records show that you owe a balance of $900 on your loan, so if you canceled ten per cent of your loan for this past year of teaching, it will leave a balance of $710. Seven hundred and ten dollars along with the 1969-70 cancellation year, will pay off your loan in full. Sincerely yours, Dean Jensen Director of Financial Aids DJ/mg
Thanks to Grandma Leora’s generosity, my freshman year at the State College of Iowa was paid for. In those days, it cost about $1000 a year for tuition, board, and room. I was on my own after the first year, so I got a job in the college library and applied for a National Defense Student Loan.
I borrowed $700 my sophomore year, $700 junior year, $500 as a senior, or $1900 total. The summer before my senior year, I worked full time at the college library, so I didn’t need to borrow as much.
After graduation, the only year I taught full time was when my Favorite Guy was in Vietnam, 1969-70. I taught second grade at Van Meter, Iowa. If I remember right, my salary for the year was $6500.
Teachers could have part of their loan canceled, a certain amount for each year taught. By paying it off early, I also saved what interest would have cost.
At the bottom of the letter from UNI, I wrote “Paid $710.00 May 9, 1970 – loan paid off in full.”
