Student loans
 

If you borrow money to buy a home you must sign papers agreeing to pay the debt back. If you buy a car on borrowed money you must agree to pay the debt back.

Why is the thought that you didn't know what you were doing when you borrowed money to go to school? Why should other people pay your debt?

Are we losing common sense or what?

Total Debt for our 3 is 1.5 million. That was with substantial free money, due to grades.
Doctors go figure. No wonder it takes forever to get ahead. Two finished paying years ago. Last one is at $425,000, comes out of his paycheck. Are you saying they should’ve not paid them back?

But if Biden is going to forgive $10,000 for each student loan, he should refund those who paid their loans off on time or early, with no defaults. Better yet pay their parents who probably paid them.
Not a fan of Biden only forgiving the current students

It's called, Buying Votes.

Please do your best to discuss the topic/issue and not turn this into a partisan or political rant...or, the thread will be closed quickly.

Moderator

The two biggest issues are the overpriced cost of a college degree, and the amount of interest that is charged on a student loan. The Federal government involvement in higher education is the main problem. They created FAFSA which looks at your family income to determine whether or not you will receive any help with the cost of college. So you have an 18 year old kid who can vote, fight in a war and be charged as an adult in a crime. But you're going to base how much FREE taxpayer money or Grants they can receive based on how much money their parents earn or have in the bank. Once again another government system that penalizes you for trying to be responsible in life.

Here's what few people ever mention-
A lot of borrowers take extra money
(because the loan officers encourage it) to purchase cars,vacations and general lifestyle changes.

No college debt should not be forgiven. More emphasis needs to be placed on college alternatives such as trade schools. And administrative costs at colleges need to be brought under control.

So.. what are you promoting?
 

You seem to be promoting the idea that the grants should be based on the students income and not yours. Which would mean nearly every student gets the grants/ low interest loads for the college. Since at age 18 they are not likely to be making much money. This would cost a great deal, but likely worth it for society in the long run.

But, if you the parent, had been truly responsible in life you would have socked away money for their education. The government even has a tax free investment you could have made for the kids. And thus need less or no loans or grants. This is the current model.

The only people truly penalized are those making lots of money with no college savings and who's lifestyle requires spending all they make. And I would not call these people responsible.

College costs should be controlled as well. While it would be inappropriate for the Govt to step in and tell the college what they could charge, there has to be a way.

Without some kind of control, the colleges are incentivized to increase costs to meet available funds. If the Govt will give out $30K in loans then the college will charge $50K and if the Govt increases the loan amount then the college increases the costs - no reason to leave money on the table.

Yes, this is all my opinion/observation and may not be accurate or provable. But, I know that the increase in cost at the college I graduated from has far outpaced inflation or the increase in salaries. But they still fill the school - with a lot of help from Govt loans.

My solution would be to end the Government student loan program altogether. Let the students pay as they go or borrow money from banks at market rates and terms. College costs would come down enormously, and those who really wanted to get an education would get one. But, this will never happen.

Very true

I had a Stipend Grant which paid a portion of my costs at the U of Denver Graduate School of Librarianship and Information Management in 1983-1984. This Stipend required me to work in Nevada for a certain period of time as Nevada had no accredited library schools offering MAs.

I went to law school in 1986-1989 at the U of MN and that prevented me from working in Nevada and other stuff after 1989 also had that affect.

I fought for getting better information in libraries for survivors/victims of crimes using my 4 degrees (two BAs from the U of Nevada, Reno) and connections creating while getting these and the State of Nevada agency handling this Stipend Grant found that my work in other states helped the people of Nevada such that it counted for that time. I did have to give them a lot of documents and such. That ruling was around September of 2000.

There should be other ways to pay back student debt especially in times like these with the Corona Virus. Finally got my law school loans paid off in full last year.

The student loans won't be "forgiven". The cost of that education will be shifted to the taxpayer. Many - actually most - of those taxpayers did not have the advantage of a college education or paid their own way.

Another way to screw responsible people who work hard, make sacrifices, and save to put their children through college. I guess our daughter should have taken out loans that might not have to be paid back.

The cost of college accelerated because the government loaned money without regard to repayment ability to students Colleges took advantage of the government funding their income source. However, that does not mean that everyone pays full tuition. Scholarships are given out by private colleges and public colleges. My son went to a high end private college at $50K per year, he was given a 50% scholarship, and I paid 80% of the rest with him taking out about 20% of the tuition. Similar scenario with my daughter. I was unemployed at the time he started, and I took 100% loans out for myself, same for my daughter as a public university. So thank god for parental loans which were given out without payment requirements.

My daughter worked for the VISTA program which paid minimum wage, but would contribute $20K towards paying off college loans, and that was about what she borrowed. There are post graduation programs to work which will assist paying off loans. My son paid off his at his job by renting very very cheaply. But they were brought up being responsible.

But the US is trending toward rewarding victimhood, so people play up that angle in the media. But counter point, having automated people out of a job, jobs are trending toward commodity requirements, so minimum wage. That's part of

Amazon.com

so, the world operates on most people think that the current scenario will continue indefinitely, and that never happens. Expect continued trends towards smaller numbers of educated jobs and fewer people employed above commodity / service level status, with ever more requirements on highest learning. Its a slow long term trend, but its real, and age discrimination is part of that. I was part of an age reduction program at work, I survived, but also don't care if I get let go.

so expect that the student loan repayment of existing loans, even if they cancelled the program today, to continue to be an ever growing issue, due to employment trends, and population trends as the primary reasons.

so not sure that prior posts are all accurate. . . many generalizations and assumptions

sportsguy

Where has/does money for the GI Bill come from? Just wondering.

Actually the opposite is also true. While we didn't make enough to save for our kids college tuition, my income increased later in life so we were able to pay for two undergraduate degrees. Meanwhile we had a neighbor who didn't make as much but spent every dime on a lifestyle they couldn't afford. They even got divorced and he still lived at the house. Both of their kids had almost their entire tuition paid due to the single spouse income they claimed left them with no money for college. So is that responsible?

Carrot program for servicing you’re country. Some for drafted, some volunteered, and some never came home.

The one issue that is not being mentioned is that these higher learning institutions are some the wealthiest organizations in the country. Maybe it time for them to provide the financing instead of the government. It will result in lower educational cost and a higher quality of education with less burden on the taxpayers.

Half the degrees kids get today are not worth getting into debt over.
No use in future jobs, just an entry on a CV.
50%+ of college age kids would be far better off, even at basic wage, going straight into industry.

How about we allow student loans (to be paid back as any other loan), yet pass a law by lawmakers that are primarily lawyers (good luck there) that does not allow Student Loans for Law School. We have more lawyers (1.33 million) per capita than any other country and are the most litigious nation in the world. Quantity of student loans would be cut, fewer lawyers, and fewer unnecessary law suits. Win~win!!! Just a little humor for all you non lawyers.

They earned their education.

I believe the government took over student loans several years ago. Done to protect the people from those big bad banks?

A few observations:
1) The tuition/room/board for my freshman year at a private college was $3000. If you landed a summer job in a steel mill, you could earn enough in a summer to pay the bill. Same school now charges $50,000. No way you could earn enough at any summer job even with a 50%scholarship - not to mention that summer jobs at steel mills are much harder to find.
2) My brother went to U of Cincinnati which had an intern program. Took him 6 years to graduate but he worked 50% of the time in a job that was related to his major. Helped him to understand and apply the subject matter of his coursework. Not to mention that he had $$ to pay for his tuition.
3) As a scoutmaster, I would often counsel the boys in planning their education. Not everyone is cut out for college (Thank goodness!) but everyone should plan on how they can profit most from their education. The people at the top of their chosen field will do better/have more options than those who are simply average. The average will do better than those who are below average. So pick your path (trade school, college, etc.) wisely based on your interests and capabilities and always do your best.

My concern is we are now raising (have raised) kids who don't understand the consequences of their decisions and are upset when the reality of paying the bills arrives.

Well remember what Hamlet said.

What about the people that worked hard and paid off their student loan? The ones that paid as they go? Shouldn't they be rewarded for being to take care of their expenses?

That's what my kids are saying.
Don't hold your breath.


Don't forget the students who worked full-time during college and did not borrow.
Send them a $10,000 bonus.
:a040:

I got my pharmacy degree from Mass College of Pharmacy in 1980. I don't remember tuition but I was able to pay it with a small loan (that didn't even need to start being paid back for a year after I graduated) and working part-time. I also paid rent, auto, etc. I was able to pay everything off within the first year. this is what it costs now: The annual list price to attend Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences on a full time basis for 2018/2019 is $56,902 for all students regardless of their residency. This fee is comprised of $33,600 for tuition, $17,568 room and board, $1,256 for books and supplies and $1,050 for other fees.

Pharmacy is now a 6 year program. So before someone graduates, if they lived at home, they would have had to pay over $200,000.
If you are an undergraduate student, the maximum amount you can borrow each year in Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct

This is what you can borrow from the govt. at decent rates: Unsubsidized Loans ranges from $5,500 to $12,500 per year, depending on what year you are in school and your dependency status.

If you are a graduate or professional student, you can borrow up to $20,500 each year in Direct Unsubsidized Loans. Direct PLUS Loans can also be used for the remainder of your college costs, as determined by your school, not covered by other financial aid.


so as you can see, students are forced to take private loans and not so great rates.

state schools keep the kids in school now by making programs that used to be able done as undergraduate now graduate requiring students to get their bachelors first because then they can charge much higher tuition. So pharmacy, nursing, physical therapist, etc. cost a ton more to get.

now, I would agree that many students are foolish to chose undergraduate studies at an expensive school that doesn't lead to a job. that is something their parents should have discussed with them. in my own family, a niece wanted to go to an out of state school and thus pay higher tuition and her parents let her do it. her major wasn't anything she couldn't have studied at an in state school. She now regrets it bitterly as that debt is still part of her debt load because she pursued a graduate degree.

I think the loans need to be paid, but I would support re-writing the loans to reduce the interest rate. If we could give financial institutions no interest loans when everything crashed, we should do it for the students. The private loans the kids have to take for graduate work are very predatory. you don't have the year grace period after graduating. Interest starts accruing right away while they are in school.

and as others have stated, the amount charged for tuition needs to be examined. schools have raised it exponentially.

In today's environment my personal "guess" is that far too many who apply for a student loan have one objective....to get the money. They fully expect that someone/something will bail them out before the loan comes due. That not paying the loan has become the norm.....crying how can one be expected to make these payments when we have all these "other" obligations to live.......or something like that.

They are smart enough to know the obligation that comes with a loan to get that new car....they also know not paying has a consequence....somebody will come and get the car.

Student loan obligations have no threat or consequence.....

All my opinion as one who had to work full time while attending college and paid their loan back over the contracted 10 year period.

Hence....no excuses....no student loan bail out...quit crying....meet the committed obligation.

Just wanted to put in that I got my entries into about 14 Marquis Who's Who books in the period from 1992-2002 and nominations for about 10 more of these while I was volunteering my experiences, connections, and personal history. I was not earning any money to speak of at this time except for house-sitting/pet sitting/baby sitting/child transport and 2nd hand shop assistant stints. My work had NOTHING to do with these entries into various publications. It was stuff I was doing because I thought someone really needed to do it. This volunteer task of mine was writing or otherwise communicating with thousands of victim/witness providers and asking them what they would want to see in their local libraries to help the people they serve.

Maybe they should get a good deal for becoming something important, like a doctor.

I have a 20 year old who is currently a full time college student and also working full time hours. He will graduate early from college, debt free, with a combination of merit scholarships and college savings.

It can be done. Anyone who took out massive student loans and now acts all surprised that those loans have to be paid back is full of **it. And, no, my kid shouldn't have to pay for another "kid's" college degree.

This whole issue is merely a way to further subsidize private colleges and their overpaid administrations. Whenever the government gets into the business of increasing financing of higher education, the colleges and universities increase their prices accordingly. Oh, and does anyone disagree that the vast majority of them are democrats?

I lean left which puts me far left of most Villagers. I'm not a big fan of forgiving college loans. I do not understand the concept of paying $50K/year at a private college, and graduating with a major in English Lit and $200K in loans. FWIW, most of my liberal friends agree with me. Believe it or not, a lot of we libs are concerned about personal responsibility and the national debt. There is a noisy group of lefties that want full forgiveness of college loans, Biden at least reduced the damage to a $10K reduction, not full forgiveness. We'll see if this all flies. Support from the left will be softer than many think.

Exactly. Why should responsible, working people pay for the irresponsible, nonworking people? $10,000. forgiveness is $10,000. too much.

Most colleges have merit scholarships open to any qualifying student. If you have a certain GPA and test scores, you'll be eligible for a break in tuition and sometimes a full ride. Bright Futures in Florida is a great option at the Florida colleges, universities and trade schools, too. Bright Futures is paid for out of the proceeds from lottery sales. How great is that?

Also, some employers offer tuition assistance. I'm pretty sure Walmart is one of those places but I haven't checked into it. My husband completed his degree with tuition assistance from his employer.

Add in any savings the student has from summer jobs, PT jobs and even full time work, plus any savings that parents or grandparents might contribute (Florida prepaid is excellent from what I've heard).....If college is a high priority for you can find a way to go to college and graduate with little to no debt.

I don't understand this mentality from the some of these graduates who feel as though they can take on enormous debt and then unload it onto the taxpayers.

That's what happens.....
 

I put myself through college, working through college while also accumulating students loans for which I repaid my debt over a 10 year period. One of the things that I always recognized, and was actually reinforced in a meeting with then Dean of Students, was that I effectively entered into a business agreement whereby I received an education in return for an agreed upon sum of money. The university I attended did not guarantee that I would get a job when I graduated, although there was a graduate placement office that was available to help one's job search.

The government has become more involved in requiring college admissions based upon criteria other than scholastic aptitude. Additionally, the colleges have no "pain" for accepting students that are not academically competitive, or to eliminate curricula and degrees that do not offer real career pathways. Remember that colleges don't "own" the student loans and thus don't feel any negative impact from student loan default.

John Grisham wrote about this very scenario in his book, "The Rooster Bar" published in 2017. Here is a link to an excerpt of the book for those who may not have read it, or don't tend to read Grisham's books. Link to The Rooster Bar excerpt.

I believe that there needs to be introspection by several parties, be it the loan borrower, the universities, and not in the least, the government which helped to enable this quagmire. Yeah, I know, I won't hold my breath. I have a better chance finding "magic pixie dust" that will fix this problem.

That federal government keeps bailing out? Those big bad banks?

Lots of people figured out have game any system.

Our granddaughter is age 17 and a Junior in Highschool in central Indiana. A couple of months ago she joined the Indiana National Guard.

She will receive a $20,000 signup bonus to be paid out over her 6 year commitment. This coming summer she will attend 2 months of guard boot camp. As part of this program she also will receive her tuition and books paid for at any Indiana state college. Also while in school she will receive $900.00 a month plus what she will receive for attending guard meetings monthly plus 2 weeks summer camp. She has made all A's in high school and has tested out to be a medic while in the guard.

She will graduate with no student loans. She found this opportunity on her own and was totally her idea.