The FAIREST solution to student loan debt

[Baltimike]

is to forgive ALL of it. right now.

Saying, "I suffered so I want to make sure others suffer too" is just straight up BULLSHIT. And spiteful

Spite is expensive.

We paid more to a billionaire to ride a penis shaped rocket into space.

Forgive the debt. Forgive all of the debt, and raise the G-D minimum wage.

[The Magistrate]

1. I'm Inclined To Agree, Sir

Everyone runs into difficulties. Some come through them thinking I wouldn't want anybody to have to deal with this. Others come through thinking Why should anybody have an easier time of this than me?

The former tend to be Democrats, the latter, Republicans.

[USALiberal]

2. So in five or 10 years we do the whole thing over again and pay it all off? Nt

[Lochloosa]

8. No. Education should be free. Period

[Ohio Joe]

10. +1 - nt

[MichMan]

19. Should anyone be entitled to attend any college of their choosing ?

Regardless of cost?

Can colleges charge whatever they want, with taxpayers obligated to pay it, for as many students who want to attend?

[Lochloosa]

38. As long as you maintain your grades and attend.

Any State run college or community college. Yes

[MichMan]

42. How are costs reduced, or do colleges get to charge whatever they want?

Last edited Sat May 14, 2022, 10:02 AM - Edit history (1)

Dad- "Did you hear that Gouge State University is raising their tuition to $3000 per credit next semester?

Mom- "Wow, that means each class is now going to cost $10k ! Good thing the government is paying for it."

Rip Off U - "Did you see Gouge State is getting $3k per credit hour? We should raise ours to $4k !"

[Lochloosa]

45. What ifs. Our government negotiates set pricing for several things.

It could easily be done for college.

I went to Community college in the late 70's. A full load of 12 to 15 hrs was about 500 bucks a semester.

Tuition has gotten out of hand and can be reined in.

[AntivaxHunters]

78. My kiddo attends college tuition free

at University of Cologne in Germany.

It's time to do the correct thing. If other countries can do it so can we.

[MichMan]

79. 15-20 % VAT?

That is how other countries pay for it

[AntivaxHunters]

80. And healthcare, no sales tax on food

30 days PAID vacay, healthcare, daycare, on and on.
The best countries to live in are countries who have deep social safety nets.
We aren't even in the top tier.

https://wherecani.live/explore-options/best-country-to-live-in/https://wherecani.live/explore-options/best-country-to-live-in/
]

[MichMan]

85. Might be right, but no politician here will campaign on a 20% VAT.

Many people here would say a tax like that is very regressive.


My state already has no sales tax on food

[hunter]

64. Teachers and classrooms are cheap. Much cheaper than the alternatives.

The problem with today's universities is they've become academic Disneylands competing for consumer dollars.

I graduated from college without any student loans. As an engineering major, and then as a Biology major, I know the labs and field work were expensive ( if a little threadbare... ) but those students who couldn't keep up with classroom work had limited access to that. They ended up in majors taught entirely in the classroom.

Now it seems every student wants everything from fancy sports facilities for all, to expensive labs and field trips for non-science majors, to celebrity professors, to housing and meal options that are more like a hotel and less like military barracks.

Easy student loan money and the increasing disparities between the wealthy and the poor in the U.S.A. did not improve higher education for the students or their teachers. Most of that money was spent on bling and fatter salaries for administrators.

The U.S. healthcare system has failed for very similar reasons. Administrators no longer care about the actual quality of their services, they only care about the size of their revenue streams.

[MichMan]

86. Do you think there would be more or less bling if taxpayers were footing the bill?

[hunter]

90. It depends on the government.

Our government doesn't do that well with military spending, and they can't even reign in pharmaceutical prices, partly because everyone thinks the shit they see advertised on television is better than any inexpensive generic, even when it's not.

And the insurance model for health care is clearly broken. For the money we spend in the U.S.A. we ought to have the best health care in the world, but it's actually pretty mediocre and sometimes dangerous, even for wealthy people with "platinum" health care plans.

Everyone in the U.S.A. wants to be "special" and "exceptional" even when they are not.

This exceptionalism is a disease that opens the door to all sorts of grifters in religion, in medicine, in education, and national defense.

Like I said, competent teachers and classrooms are cheap. If we could treat teachers well, kindergarten through doctoral programs, and could provide them with functional facilities to teach in, we'd have the most productive educational system in the world.

I burned out of teaching quickly. I taught in public schools that were overcrowded and underfunded and I got little respect. It was the hardest most stressful job I've ever had.

I've also worked in medicine, another shit show.

That's the reality of the U.S.A..

[Tomconroy]

27. Martinis should be free. Period.

[Lochloosa]

39. Can't argue with that one.

[iemanja]

73. Publicly funded is not free

The taxpayers have to pay for it, and not just the rich. In countries that provide "free" higher ed, only a select percentage are admitted, and median tax rates average 50%. If that's the kind of system you support, that's fine. But pretending education can be "free" without any kind of sacrifice on the part of average worker is false.

[Redleg]

3. That is an unusual definition of fairness

Some poor suckers had to pay back all of their student debt, some had to pay back some of it, and some lucky duckies don't have to pay a lick.

I support meaningful student debt relief but not complete forgiveness without conditions. I believe that people should be required to pay back at least some portion of it, perhaps 10 years worth (or less, depending on the loan amount and repayment term).

I believe that the Democrats should reach a compromise position on this issue. I don't believe they will have support for full debt remission within the party, much less among the rest of the public.

[wackadoo wabbit]

6. Using this logic, we should never enact Medicare for All

My husband died because the Affordable Care Act hadn't come into effect yet, so our insurance company wasn't required to pay for his bone marrow transplant, and they didn't, and he died because of that. (This despite the fact that we were paying $1600/month, in early 2000s dollars, for their insurance. When I called them explaining that he'd die without the transplant, their response was basically, "We don't care." )

So my beloved husband died. How dare other people have their transplants paid for if we enact Medicare for All! Where's the fairness in that!?! /s

...

Compassion for all is a good thing. I'm just sayin'.

[Ms. Toad]

14. There is a difference between subsidizing poor - and even irresponsible - choices

and believing everyone is entitled to health care and education.

I just retired from a university. Some of my students were working on their third degree, never having held a full time job, all subsidized by student loans. As long as they are in school, they don't have to pay off the loans.

Health care is not a luxury. Private school education is, when affordable state schools are available. Choosing to pursue a second and third degree, rather than working for a while to pay off the first degree, is.

(I'm saying that as someone who has a private school undergrad degree, and two post-graduate degrees.)

[Hoyt]

18. +1.

[wackadoo wabbit]

24. Yeah, and Reagan knew of a welfare queen who drove to pick up her food stamps in a Cadillac

(Or something like that; I forget the exact story.) And that was why he wanted to cut welfare programs.

What you're saying is basically the same thing: a few people may game the system, so screw all the others who might need the assistance.

Education, especially today, is not a luxury. It really is a necessity. Don't believe so? Think about voting demographics. It's the uneducated and under-educated who generally vote Republican. College can teach critical thinking; K-12 assiduously does not.

I think we can both agree that we need more critical thinkers.

[Ms. Toad]

47. I was responding to a specific allegation

That this situation was analogous to health care, and denying health care in the future because it wasn't available in the past. I was not addressing, in this post, whether (and which) loans should be forgiven.

If you read my other posts I'm this thread, or read the third paragraph closely, you will see that I fully support forgiveness of loans up to the amount equivalent to a state school (and the interest associated with that principle). If you made more expensive choices which were designed to give you a benefit over the education you would have received at a state school, I don't think we should retroactively subsidize that choice - especially since you are almost certainly in a better position to pay off that loan because of the benefit you received.

Similarly, if you choose to pursue an advanced degree, I don't think we should retroactively subsidize that. Your specialized degree gives you access to more resources to repay those loans, and that should have been part of your consideration when you made that choice. Doctor's, lawyers, etc. are hardly welfare queens driving Cadillacs. (I don't object as strongly to retroactively reducing the interest rate - but no one goes to an expensive private school, medical school, law school by accident. Those are choices which you decided were worth the financial gamble. If you took that gamble, I'm not willing to completely pay off your gambling debt, when a lot of others looked at the numbers and decided that they would need to settle for a state school, or work for a while between degrees, etc.)

[xocetaceans]

25. Can you please be more specific about the degrees sought, the fields of study attempted, and the...

...the number of students involved in this practice? When you say "some", are you talking three out of fifty?...one out of ten?...fifteen out of twenty?

Also, if you're not advising these students in graduate school, how would you know that what they are pursuing is not a course of study which is suited to their goals or what their goals even are? You do realize that there are some fields of knowledge that require extremely broad bases upon which to build? (It is fascinating to think that, if you actually do know this information, you would come on here (however anonymously) to betray their confidences and to throw them under the bus as irresponsible people. That speaks volumes.)

Beyond that even, surely you realize that working with particular researchers/faculty members at particular universities actually makes a difference (i.e., the type of research that's being done!). It's not reasonable to assume that all programs are interchangeable and all types of universities are interchangeable.

However, I might be reading your message incorrectly: it just reads quite a lot like the status quo is being preferred strongly over the students and whatever specific circumstances they may be facing in their lives.

Please disabuse me of my incorrect notions - I might be wrong.

[Ms. Toad]

50. Nice personal insult.

Once the insult is gone, I'll respond to the substantive points.

[Wednesdays]

54. I'm not seeing the personal insult.

Or did they edit their post before I read it?

[Ms. Toad]

68. No edit.

Here it is.

(It is fascinating to think that, if you actually do know this information, you would come on here (however anonymously) to betray their confidences and to throw them under the bus as irresponsible people. That speaks volumes.)

Both an insinuation that I'm making stuff up, and a second insinuation about my integrity are personal attacks.

[xocetaceans]

65. I'll wait. n/t

[Ms. Toad]

69. As I said,

I'll have a conversation about the substantive questions you have asked once you remove the personal attack from your post. It's still there, so you are entirely in control of when that conversation takes place.

[Baltimike]

97. We bailed out the banks, we can bail out the students. Fair is fair.

And as for the 'poor suckers' like me, who paid my loans back, I am relieved to see people not have to suffer as I did.

Right is right, and spite is spite.

[smirkymonkey]

4. Hear, hear!

[sfdennis1]

5. Um. maybe not the "fairest"

So in my spiteful and BULLSHIT style response...I'd have to say that, for some people, the feelings are more nuanced, or mixed...Full confession here, I went to Community college and earned a 2year degree plus some additional college credits and various trainings over the years. NO student loans ever, paid as I went. My career options and earning history have been decent and I've always "survived", but I'm a middle-age person with modest savings and 'lower middle-class income' working in the service industry. In short, my career options and resulting salary history has matched my educational background.

I have good friends with more "prestigious" jobs/careers (Attorneys, CPA's, Chiropractors, etc.) Yes, they've all worked hard to get those degrees. Yes. it was a 'risk' to go into student debt for future reward...and yes they all have $100K-$150K (or more) in student loans they are still paying off...AND EACH of them has also earned FAR more money than me in any given year. Like double, triple or even quadruple my annual income. Most of them own "nice" real estate, have solid IRA's, spend money for travel and entertainment that I'll never be able to match....

So forgive my spitefulness, but what sounds like the "fairest" solution...would be to give me, AND PEOPLE LIKE ME, a tax free $100-150K educational grant AT THE SAME TIME other past student debt is forgiven. Otherwise, from my lower-middle class income viewpoint, it just kinda sounds like a government sanctioned lottery win for a bunch of people who are ALREADY financially ahead of me. And yes, raise the minimum wage, tax the billionaires, etc etc.

[Ms. Toad]

12. Agreed.

I have fancy degrees. Three of them. Well, one fancy and two not fancy (based on the schools). The 2nd and 3rd were paid off by the time I graduated. I'll be starting my 4th degree in the fall, tuition free, as a University retiree.

I would not have been in favor of forgiving the entire loan for my first degree. I am thrilled that my parents encouraged me to attend a private school for my undergrad degree - it was a real gift, and a much needed relief from rural, ultra-red (even then) Nebraska near the end of the Vietnam war.

But it was a luxury, not a necessity. The benefits that luxury gave me should not be subsidized by folks like you who chose not to take on significant educational debt.

Everyone should be entitled to a first degree at a state school (or community college, trade school, etc.) without cost. Beyond that (private undergrad/2nd, 3rd degrees, etc), we should be bear the cost for our choices.

[Baltimike]

33. So "in your spiteful and bULLSHIT style response"....

Should have stopped right there. I don't give a rat's ass that you went to community college or that you paid as you went. I was fortunate enough to get scholarships. You made good choices. Some don't have good choices to make.

Forgive the debt. All of the debt. Period.

And no, I won't forgive your spitefulness...because it is exactly that...SPITEFUL.

[Progressive dog]

62. I agree

A person with a bachelor's degree has lifetime earnings of almost $1 million dollars more than earnings of a high school graduate.
https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/research-summaries/education-earnings.html

There are substantial differences in lifetime earnings by educational attainment

Men with bachelor's degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with bachelor's degrees earn $630,000 more. Men with graduate degrees earn $1.5 million more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with graduate degrees earn $1.1 million more.

[Hoyt]

7. I'm fine with relieving undergraduate debt. Not as enthusiastic about graduate

school, medical school, law school, etc, unless person really can’t pay.

Think student debt should be dischargible in bankruptcy, and everyone should be converted to income driven repayment plan with better terms than the current repayment plans. Obviously, we must do something about cost of education.

[PortTack]

28. My oldest granddaughter is headed to medical school in a couple of years. Her estimated debt will be

Approx 250k.

I agree that students need to be willing to take on SOME debt to achieve their goals. Those that aren’t motivated take advantage. But 250k…no.

She works right now and saves everything but come medical school there will be no time for a job. We need physicians and to punish them with this kind of debt deters some of the best and brightest

[JI7]

30. Maybe a program where they can reduce or get rid of student debt if they work in an underserved

community for a certain number of years .

[Baltimike]

34. Or, maybe just forgive all of the debt and stop putting codicils on to amerliorate

your sense of spite

[Hoyt]

51. Oh come on. Docs make $200+K a year. They can afford $25K in debt payments for 20 years.

That's assuming they are "too good" to practice in a rural or innercity area for a few years.

If their circumstances change, they should by able to discharge the loan in bankruptcy, or take advantage of a repayment plan that takes into account their income.

[Baltimike]

55. Oh come ON...doctors, lawyers, musicians, etc...forgive ALL of it

I paid back my student debts. It was a struggle. I don't want anyone else to have to struggle too.

The market got predatory, and we all know it. Regardless, we bailed out the banks, we can bail out the students WITHOUT substituting our judgement for theirs because we think "they make enough"

[Hoyt]

56. Sorry, I'd rather skew the forgiveness to undergraduates who theoretically didn't benefit as much

from their education.

We aren't going to forgive the total $1.7 Trillion in student loans, so lets give it to those who need it.

[Doremus]

67. "We aren't going to forgive the total $1.7 Trillion in student loans..." Why not??

We can and do give that much money to billionaires in the form of tax cuts. We can and do give that much money --and more-- to the military industrial complex every year.

Why isn't it high time we invested as much or more in our own people? In helping them acquire advanced learning that ultimately benefits society?

Btw, it's okay if they discharge their student loans in bankruptcy? Where is the logic behind adding even more wastefulness to the process-- lawyers' fees, court costs, etc., etc. Is it spite? Let it go. Let student debt go and let the USA join the rest of civilized world in encouraging, not discouraging, our young people to learn!

[Hoyt]

71. Because that will pay for a for Child Care, etc. People who went to college and are earning more

than they woold because of it, should pay a reasonable portion of those "excess" earnings.

Those who didn't get any benefit, forgive their loans. And, do something about cost of eduction in future.

[iemanja]

100. The majority of student loan debt is held by people with advanced degrees

What you are advocating is a redistribution of wealth upward, from middle income workers to those with higher incomes. It is not assistance for those who need it. That's a bullshit excuse. It is for the privileged who want middle income works to pay for that privilege.

I'm not talking about all student loan forgiveness, but that over 10-15K. Most people with undergrad degrees fall into the 10-15k threshold. I support forgiving those loans, but not blanket loan forgiveness, which is redistributing wealth upward.

I've heard excuses that we'll never find doctors if we don't forgive loans. People demand workers earning median incomes pay for those who make hundreds of thousands. It's a patently unjust position.

[MichMan]

87. How is the loan market predatory when the Federal government took it over in 2010?

It was part of the ACA legislation

[PortTack]

70. Agree

[Polybius]

89. She'll be making that in a year in 10 years

How about we just make it no interest, pay by age 45?

[Grasswire2]

9. How about giving a nice tax credit to those who paid off their loans?

Not the full value, but something meaningful as appreciation.

I think that would help.

[XanaDUer2]

46. Great idea nt

[Ms. Toad]

11. I don't agree with paying off all student loan debt -

and it has nothing to do with spite.

It has to do with equity among those with existing debt to be repaid.

Person A and Person B are similarly situated as to high school class rank, GPA, SAT scores, etc.

Person A: Chose to attend Princeton and then immediately went to law school at Harvard Law, taking out the maximum student loans possible.

Person B: Really wanted to go to Princeton, then Harvard, but evaluated the cost/benefit and decided it was irresponsible to take out the kind of loans required to follow that path. So Person B attended their local state university for undergrad, worked a few years to pay off their student loans, and then attended law school at their local state university.

Based on their degree credentials, even though person B graduated with better academic credentials from their state university, Person A has been able to land a job that pays twice as much as Person B based on the strength of the Harvard/Princeton brand.

And now it is 2022. Both individuals still have debt, although Person B has less debt than Person A. In comes the Federal Government and wipes out all of both debts.

This scheme rewards the person who made less responsible choices (and who has already reaped the financial benefit of those choices with a more financially rewarding job) while leaving the similarly situated person whose fiscally responsible choices left them less able to compete in the job market. (Not to mention the relief is dramatically different - it pays of the much larger debt of the person better able to afford it.)

While I am in favor of paying of some student debt, I am not in favor of paying it all off - and rewarding those who made less responsible choices about what education was affordable.

What would be fairer to those who currently still owe on student loans would be:

(1) to forgive the equivalent of state school tuition at a state school and accumulated interest for a first degree, less income-based payments which were (or should have been) paid.

(2) for any remaining principal (for private tuition or second or third degrees), recalculate or forgive the accumulated interest, and going forward to lower the interest rate to something manageable.

[PortTack]

29. Agree with your summation. Students should be willing to take,on some debt to achieve their

Goals, and as you said they make irresponsible decisions.

See post #28.

[Baltimike]

35. I don't care...pay off the debt anyway

Some people didn't have good choices to make.

I don't give a flying rat's ass about scenarios...here's one for you....forgive all of the student debt. Period

[Ms. Toad]

43. So you're just fine using your taxes to pay off the loans

Of someone making a 6 figure salary, who chose to go to two private schools?

Gotcha.

Forgiving debt is not free - we all pay for it. I'm not fine with passing ofg the debt of people who, as a general rule, have more resources to pay off three loans they choose to take out than the people who will pay increases taxes to pay them off.

If you choose to go to the most expensive schools, I should not be forced to subsidize those choices. If you didn't have good choices, in the first place, you probably didn't go to a fancy private school, so you wouldn't fall in the category I'm not willing to completely forgive, anyway.

[FlyingPiggy]

13. I agree 10000%!

[bottomofthehill]

15. Again, Zero interest. Pay back what you borrowed.

[In It to Win It]

94. I think this is more palatable than wiping out all debt

[childfreebychoice]

16. Do we who paid our debt get rebate. Wiping out debt

Diploma mills, and those who gauged vets, i am all for wiping out their debt, otherwise, no. Sadly, I agree with bill Maher, this and child tax credit are not winners for dems. You'd be surprised at the number of dems who feel same way...see this as "free money. "

[Baltimike]

36. Do the businesses who got tax cuts get a rebate on the higher rate they paid in previous years?

This is some spiteful bullshit right here.

[iemanja]

17. So middle income Americans

Should pay for the education even of the privileged? Redistributing income upward is most certainly not fair.

[Hav]

32. Right, I don't know why anyone would call that fair

Politically, it might also be a hard sell to explain why someone without a degree and average salary should indirectly finance someone's Harvard law degree when that person will earn 6 figures early in their career.
It would indeed be a redistribution of wealth in favor of the privileged.

[iemanja]

57. I've raised this point multiple times

and have yet to have one of the people arguing for blanket student loan forgiveness respond to it. I wonder why that is?

[SoonerPride]

99. This s a sure fire way to lose

No.

[VarryOn]

20. This is one topic I'm finding everyone has a definite opinion on...

I don't think total forgiveness will ever happen or should, but if it were, student loan requirements going forward need to be re-thought. STEM degrees need to be prioritized with others (e.g. political science, kinesiology, marketing, communications, etc) needing limited. I'd require a final transcript with GPA requirements, and debt forgiveness would come after some time period of good payment history or maybe once x% of the initial debt has been paid.

But, willy nilly paying off all or substantial debt of those with balances today, no.

[Tomconroy]

21. I'm want to know a whole lot more about who owes the debt

and how much is owed before I made any decisions about forgiving student debt.
Generally we do have to live with the consequences of poor financial decisions. Maybe we should adjust the bankruptcy law instead.
It's just not obvious to me why the taxpayers should bail out everyone with education debt.

[Hoyt]

23. Can't find it now on tablet, but there is a recent thread with good info.

Like 50% of the outstanding balance is graduate student loans. Total outstanding is a bit less than $2 Trillion. A relatively small amount is from loans not backed by feds.

Will try to find a link tomorrow because the thread put it into perspective.

[Hoyt]

53. Student Loan Info--

-Nearly $1.75 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt.

-About 46 million Americans have student loan debt (45.4 million of whom have federal debt).

-11.1% of student loans were 90 days or more delinquent or were in default before the coronavirus pandemic (defaults were halted as part of the crisis relief measures).

-The average monthly student loan payment was $300 before the White House instituted the repayment moratorium (the suspension is in place through Aug. 31, 2022).

(Data via the Federal Reserve, CollegeBoard, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and LendingTree)


Additional Info:

https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/

[ShazzieB]

22. I'm on Team Forgive the Debt.

Always have been.

As for fairness, when I was in college in the 1970s, there was grant money available from both the state and federal governments, for those who could show financial need. My state had a scholarship program that would fund part or all of your tuition at any accredited college or university in the state. (Yes, including private schools--it just had to be in this state.) The percentage that was paid was based the student's level of financial need. I got my undergraduate tuition paid in full at a state university, all except for one year when my broke ass dad had a better job and made just a little too much money. (The next year he was back to being broke, so I got my full tuition paid again.)

I also got grant money from the feds to cover my room and board, plus some for books and supplies, and I held down a part time job the whole time to pay for incidentals. I did not live high on the hog by any means, BUT I got a college education almost for free. I had to borrow a little money for tuition the year that the state thought my dad was making too much money, but it was a tiny amount compared to what kids end up having to borrow these days.

Nowadays, kids with the same degree of financial need as me are lucky if they can get a little bitty Pell grant to cover part of their tuition, and they have to borrow the rest. And "the rest" is going to be a hell of a lot more than it was when I was in school, even allowing for the difference in the value of a dollar between then and now.

Of course, it's different for kids who have stellar enough academic records to qualify for scholarships based on that. I'm talking about kids like me who are smart enough for college but have spotty academic records for one reason or another. (In my case, my high school education got derailed due to my parents moving around too danged much--3 different high schools in 4 years--along with undiagnosed adhd.) I was a lot smarter that my GPA made me look, but without a stronger academic record, my only hope for college was need-based financial aid, and I am very grateful that it was available for me.

To get the same education I got, with the same set of financial and academic challenges I was faced with, a kid kid of today could easily end up having to borrow tens of thousands of dollars to get through college. How is that fair, compared with what was available to me?

To me, arguing about "fairness" is like a couple of kids arguing over who got the biggest piece of cake. Who the hell cares, and WHY the hell do they care? I'm damned if I know.

[brooklynite]

26. Absolutely disagree.....

The fairest thing to do would be to permanently make all college tuition payable by the Government. Because after you’ve paid off all college debt today, what to you do with the entering college classes? Do they get the same benefit?

[Duppers]

31. Make all public higher-learning institutions

FREE for ALL who qualify via entry exam scores.

[Baltimike]

37. AMEN!!!! nt

[JI7]

72. Not until you make early education more equal.

[betsuni]

96. +1

[Bettie]

40. I agree

and then, set up a system of free tuition for state universities/community colleges.

An educated population is GOOD for a society.

I paid my student loans (DH too) and it was hard, but, we aren't spiteful (good word choice by the way) enough to demand that others suffer for the rest of their lives pushing that boulder up the hill only to have it fall down on them, eternally.

[Goodheart]

41. Says you. :)

I was responsible. I signed a contract, and then paid it off.

[MichMan]

44. Student loans: Interest rate on new student loans set to go up in July

Look for a jump in student loan interest rates on new loans. — Taking out new student loans will be more expensive come July, when interest rates on those loans will be going up, the U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday.

The increase will apply only to those taking out new student loans. If you have a previous loan, the old interest rate will remain in effect.

Interest rates for federal student loans are set by Congress. As it stands now, interest rates for the loans are tied to the 10-year Treasury yield plus a premium.



https://www.wsbtv.com/news/trending/student-loans-interest-rate-new-student-loans-set-go-up-july/ZBZAWDZ45RE37LAU2LWROXGT5I/

[tenderfoot]

48. Here for the comments from all of the randites

they never disappoint.

[Hoyt]

52. Sorry, I'm for stuff that helps those who need it, not a doctor, lawyer, engineer, etc., who

can afford to pay back their loan and help those who didn't really benefit from their loans.

[tenderfoot]

83. You're farther to the right of most people here - so your opinion isn't surprising in the least.

eom

[Hoyt]

84. Seems to me lots of DUers aren't for any relief. I'm for forgiving most

undergraduate loans.

[Baltimike]

75. soooo much spite on here. Telling. nt

[tenderfoot]

76. Give that cash to billionaires - they won't say shit

eom

[róisín_dubh]

81. Yup!

Because I grew up poor I shouldn't have been able to get a PhD. I'm a professor at a large state university and I can't afford to buy a house, because my salary is not great compared to the housing costs. In Morgantown WV.
Also, despite having all government loans, my principle never gets paid. I'm paying interest and that's it at $600/month. I owe way, way more than I borrowed initially.
Fuck ALL of that.

Another day, another step closer to walking away from DU.

[tenderfoot]

49. Only billionaires are worthy of debt forgiveness - where have you been?

[DVRacer]

58. Two thoughts

One we as a country have to get a handle on higher education costs. If not this is going to be a never ending cycle. In state tuition to a state university should be very affordable for undergraduate students.

Second federal student loans should be 0% and repayment based on income also offer money off for early payoffs. Example based on previous years tax filing your minimum due was $200/mo you paid $300 instead deduct $200 off the loan. This gives positive incentive to repay quickly and refills the loan programs. Or offer a GI Bill to all based on service not necessarily in the armed forces. Be a 911 dispatcher for 2 years get money for college as well as a paycheck. Anything government service wise that is more reasonable to less well off than just military service. Think peace core but at home.

[KentuckyWoman]

59. State schools yes, private schools no.

I'll support public education but not private schools. Period.
The reasons are many more than I have the patience to type out.

Edit to add loan forgiveness only for those who had household incomes below 150% of the national median when they started school. Also switch it up so there are longer loans for public schools. Grants based on income instead to cover the full gap of ability to pay vs tuition, fees, books, lab materials.

[MichMan]

74. Many HBCU are private

[Demsrule86]

60. I don't see how we can forgive all student debt...and it will destroy the loan program.

I would end the interest and make them repay what they actually borrowed.

[Zeitghost]

61. You can't forgive student loans

Without comprehensive student loan and tuition reforms. The minute you wipe out the loan balances you create huge incentives for every student to go max out their loans, regardless of needs and for every college to jack up tuition.

[Lucid Dreamer]

82. Thank you so much.

I've wanted to say that in such a clear and concise way as you have.

[Progressive dog]

63. If you are going for equality

The fairest solution might be to subsidize pay for those who didn't earn a degree higher than a high school diploma.

There are substantial differences in lifetime earnings by educational attainment

Men with bachelor's degrees earn approximately $900,000 more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with bachelor's degrees earn $630,000 more. Men with graduate degrees earn $1.5 million more in median lifetime earnings than high school graduates. Women with graduate degrees earn $1.1 million more.

[AntivaxHunters]

77. Thank you!

[Polybius]

88. It's not about spite, it's about what's fair to me

Forgive my property taxes.

[LudwigPastorius]

91. Can I get mine retroactively forgiven, and be reimbursed for the interest?

I'm driving a 20 year old Camry, and would love to have a little EV.

[In It to Win It]

93. I'd like to be reimbursed on the paid principal as well

[In It to Win It]

92. Serious question: That has to be justified to people with no student debt. How do you justify that?

How do you make it sound like the debtors didn't get a massive handout?

We want to maintain power. Politically, how do you make that look good to the vast majority of people who couldn't care less about student debt?

[Bluesaph]

95. My son is a freshman

And we pay $500 per month toward his student loan so he won’t end up over his head in debt. If Biden forgives the loans now, he will still have debt the next three years.

Simply forgiving student loan debt will never be a fair answer. I am more for making the debt interest free. Or the same rate banks get from the feds. Make the lending a not for profit.

[MichMan]

98. Student loans and rates are set by the government since they took over direct lending.

It was part of the ACA Health Care Act passed in 2010