Student Loan Crisis

Biden ran (and won?) on doing something about the Student Loan Crisis.

But what to do? Would you rather pay off students' loans (loans must be repaid) or increase grants (which is basically free money)?

 

Personally, I would prefer for them to increase grants and here's why. Some people simply can't afford to go to school and grants would offer them the opportunity to pursue their education which would otherwise not be available. Also, applicants have to meet specific requirements to qualify for grants. They don't just hand everybody a check. This means that people who are serious about having a chance will do the work to maintain the grant(s) which leads to more completed programs and disciplined people joining the workforce.

I am vehemently opposed to paying off student loans and here's a few reasons why.

- I know a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) that has deferred her student loan for close to 20 years. She makes enough money to pay it off but she refuses to do it. She just plays with the laws to skirt repayment each time it comes up.

- I know another woman who went to school to become a CNA (Certified Nurses' Assistant). She completed the classes but could not past the certification test. She took it twice and failed it twice. She lives with but refuses to marry the father of her two children so that she can qualify for Public Aid, health benefits and Food Stamps. The boyfriend's parents live across the street so he just goes over there to hide out if any agency rep. wants to do a home visit. She honestly believes that she should not *be required* to repay the loan because "the test was too hard."

- I know another woman that dropped out of college when she became pregnant her sophomore year. Before she quit, her bf was expelled for fighting and his poor grades. For awhile she carried him and was doing his homework but his test grades and projects were so poorly done it wasn't enough to push him through. She just walked away from her school and student loan. She's a police officer and can pay it back but refuses to do so.
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It's unethical, immoral and selfish (that debt falls on the rest of us). I know a few others but the above three examples just annoy me every time I think about stupid entitled people. None of these people had to do anything *special* to qualify for their student loans. All they needed to do was apply. This is not the case with grants. The applicant has to prove why they deserve the money and what they plan to do with it. It's a win-win. They get to go to school and the rest of us aren't stuck with their defaulted loans.

I got scholarships, grants and a small student loan when I went to college. I paid back what I was supposed to and appreciated that I had it. I don't understand this sense of entitlement some people have. You BORROW money. You pay it back. It's not a confusing concept at all.

 

I agree with you. I prefer grants with specific requirements over blanket loan forgiveness. Whether or not they realized it at the time, everyone currently with student loan debt agreed to pay it back, and their inability to pay is not the fault of the taxpayers.

The solution to our current student debt crisis is important, but just as important is the conversation around how we prevent this from happening again in the future.

The way I see it, federal student loans are an investment in the future of the country. The idea is, college-educated individuals will be more productive and beneficial to society. But every investor knows that the risks and rewards of an investment was be evaluated. A straight-A student applying to nursing school is of great benefit given the current shortage of qualified healthcare professionals. With so much demand, it is highly likely this student will get a good-paying job and pay back their loans in a reasonable timeframe. In other words, there is low risk and high reward for this loan, so it should be granted.

This isn't how the federal government is currently handing out student loans. They lend to students with little to know ability to pay them back post-graduation. A private bank engaging in the same poor lending practices would go bankrupt. Similar practices led to the 2008 home loan crisis. It's irresponsible to saddle student with huge amounts of debt. It's also a large contributing factor in the incredible increase in tuition over the decades.

 

You present us with two bad options, but if I had to choose, I would choose increasing grants.

The reason? The very existence of a large movement to have student loans forgiven seems to demonstrate that the entire idea of student loans is a failure. The idea was to loan money so students could go to college and replay the money when they were more successful based on...college. The reality hasn't really worked out that way. Some degree programs lead to successful careers, but many don't. Those that don't still have to pay back the loans, but since it's so much more difficult for them to do so, it basically paralyzes their future lives. They have to delay marriage, childbearing, and home purchasing, all because they are struggling to pay back loans that they probably shouldn't have gotten in the first place.

So the program seems to be a failure. It should be shuttered rather than subsidize more failure.

 

Most of these so called students never had any intention of paying off their student loans in the first place. What's the big deal?

 

It's not our fault these people took out a $50,000 student loan for a worthless liberal arts degree in Transgender Basket Weaving...

 

If a charitable, 3rd Party wishes to help the indebted, BRAVO!
But, not tax payers!

If "the best & brightest" got themselves so very deep
are they the best & brightest?


Moi
I paid my school loans!

Don't Further ize
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Neither. They are their loans they can pay them off with the higher earnings that come with a college education over those who do not have one and we need to stop just pouring money into colleges and universities they should be competing for the limited resource.

 

Cancel student loans and create a merit-based system of free colleges at public universities with a placement clearinghouse to fill in the gaps if too many apply to one. Maybe you have to go to UVA instead of Berkeley. No government loans, even for room and board. No aid to those going to private colleges unless except in cases where they private college will accept the student for the in-state public college average cost in the state to be paid for by Uncle Sam and then only if there are no places open at a public college. Pour more money into community colleges to get more 4 year degree programs at them in the process. Same with grad school but a much tougher threshold for free tuition. Anybody wanting to go to college who doesn't make the academic cut would have to pay out of pocket and redeem themselves for at least 2 semesters before they could apply to requalify for free tuition.

 

How about those who want a college education pay for it with the premium it adds to their earnings instead of having every who did not go for a college education paying for it?


https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/m...ird quarter of,college or an associate degree.

 

How about these liberal professors take a pay cut to ease the burden on these students they care soo much about?

 

Why grants when you could just pay the institutions directly? Make college free.

 

The crisis is manufactured. There is no crisis.

That $1.6 TRILLION being tossed around is nothing short of propaganda and disinformation.

Now everyone sees the Big Lie.

The actual amount loaned since 1976 is $1,550,922,884,061 (as of 2020).

You know, rounded up to $1.6 TRILLION.

Also, only 5.22 Million student loans are in default.

However, 3+ Million of those are Social Security beneficiaries, whether Social Security Retirement or Social Security Disability, who are having their benefits garnished.

There are 128 Million households in the US.

What's more, giving you every possible benefit of the doubt, 2.22 Million borrowers are not disabled or retired, so that ends up actually being 1.73%.

The average debt is around $32,000 which is nothing more than a car loan.

Let's talk about Christen:

Christen currently has well over $225,000 in student loans. (Id. at 51); (Ex. 3-1 to 3-3). Christen estimated that $128,453 in student loans were directly attributable to living expenses

Christen used student loan money to purchase at least two vehicles—one of which was titled in her boyfriend's name. (Tr. at 64, 206) Christen's bank statements also evidenced financial irresponsibility. Christen spent much of her student loan money purchasing coffee from high-end coffee shops like Starbucks, Caribou, and Cup O'Joe; products and clothes from retailers; I-tunes; tanning sessions/products and massages; arts and crafts; OSU athletic tickets; and other food and entertainment. (2006 Chase Bank & Credit Card Statements, P's Ex. 7). Christen also made several ATM withdrawals for several hundred dollars at a time; it is unclear where this money was spent. (Id.). After reviewing all of the financial records, it is clear that Christen was spending more than the typical student on miscellaneous items and services, often incurring late fees for failing to keep up with her credit card bills. All of these expenses were in addition to the high living expenses that Christen incurred by choosing to live in Dublin, Ohio, an affluent suburb of Columbus.

[emphasis in original court decision]

By the way, Christen bought that car for her paramour while she was still married and she demanded her husband pay off her student loan debt, which means her husband would have been paying for her boyfriend's car.

Fortunately, the court told Christen to eat it.

 

Let's talk about Christen. What kind of degree costs $225,000? Wow! I started university online so I was just introduced to student loans for the first time. I now know, from applying for Federal Student Aid, that after I paid for the semester any leftover money is mine to keep (I still have to pay back my loans though). So, yes, people can apply for more aid than they need for college and it's deposited right into their bank account.

 

Probably majoring in The Culinary Practices of non-Caucasian Transgender Transvestite Lesbian Midgets in 12th Century France.

 

Why should Joe the plumber pay for the college education of Joe the Doctor or Lawyer?

 

Because Joe the plumber lives in a world where we have specialized labor and in order to prevent the decline of capitalism joe needs to pay taxes for market failures that prevent the rise of intermediaries who force joe the plumber to pay for basic rights again and again.

 

So the lower classes are required to support and subsidize the upper classes or else?

 

paying off up to 10k like he said he would is what most expect

 

Meaning what, why does Joe the plumber have to pay for the education of Joe the Doctor who will make millions more than Joe in his lifetime? In our world of specialized labor the government did not tax other people to pay for my higher education and training at work.

 

Yes this rich and wealthy people off the backs of the working class. Sorta like the left/progs want to let them keep their HUGE SALT loopholes.

 

It's kind of funny how the left and right posters have switched sides when it comes to education vs taxes on and for the rich.

 

I have never changed in forty years on the subject, yet I identify with no party.

 

Unfortunately there are no guarantees in life but death and when politicians speak we should watch football.

 

The way to handle student loan debt is not to offer blanket loan forgiveness. Since the goal is to get the money going to pay the debt back into the economy in a more useful way, the loan forgiveness should be targeted at those who are currently paying down debt, with the emphasis on currently paying. Just having the debt does not mean you're paying on it since some will default and other will defer them.

So if I'm currently spending $200 a month on a student loan, and that loan is forgiven, I can put that $200 into the economy in better ways instead of paying it back to the government. The higher the amount people are paying on their debt, the more the debt forgiveness will help the economy as it frees up that money to be used elsewhere. People who are delinquent/deferring/defaulted and are not putting their income towards a payment do not help the economy with debt forgiveness since their money isn't being spent on that debt in the first place.

But ideally, we should be subsidizing secondary and trade school education to the point that student loan debt shouldn't be a crippling factor to begin with. And I'm fine with targeted help for fields that we actually need. We don't need to subsidize art students and philosophy students and women's studies students, etc etc etc. Lets help those going into fields that we need and that can actually find jobs with the degree/skills they've gone into debt to acquire. The medical field for example. We currently have a shortage of doctors, and even hospitals, in rural areas because there's less money in those areas. If you're a doctor with 100k+ in student loans, you've got to find a job where you can make the most money just to make those payments.

Lets subsidize and forgive these types of debt.