Student Loans

[Colleen27]

I would rather see them cancel the interest. If you took the loans, you should pay the loans. Simple as that. No reason people who didn’t go to college or those who scraped and saved to help pay their kids college should be responsible for other’s decisions to take loans.

And that would be far more meaningful in terms of helping grads than a token forgiveness plan. I'd like to see student loan interest retroactively indexed to the federal funds rate so that people making their payments actually make progress at paying the loans off, rather than just staying on a treadmill of generating money for someone else for their entire working lives. Student borrowers shouldn't be a means of making a profit, not for financial companies and not for the federal budget. I'd also like to see service-based forgiveness expanded to include more necessary roles, since we're having so many shortages in so many essential sectors (home health care, school and medical support positions, etc.). It would be a good perk in fields where raising wages can be next to impossible because of budget constraints.

I think the conversation about fairness misses the point, because there are a lot of things about our system that involve benefits to some at the expense of others. Every time I put gas in, I'm paying for roads that EV owners aren't contributing to. Renters all over the country are subsidizing the mortgage interest deduction, often for people with much higher income than their own. We're all paying for a lot of questionably-used PPP loans, for auto bailouts, for oil subsidies, etc. But in terms of effectiveness, forgiveness is a one-time "gift" that likely won't be in a large enough amount to provide meaningful relief and will only help people who have loans at this point in time while doing nothing to address the issue in a long-term sense.

 

[Kestryl]

Fantastic. Go ahead and pay someone's student loans for them. I struggle. I would like to live in a home like normal people. I can't afford a home for myself, but I should be paying taxes to give to kids for their gender studies degrees? How about someone buy me a home to live in before telling me I should be paying for other kids' college degrees.

Why is “gender studies degrees” always dragged into this? Should we not value social workers, employees at non-profits for domestic abuse survivors, public health workers, lawyers? The words on the degree aren’t always some kind of mandate for low pay or a pre-destined job. I also know someone who double majored in chemical engineering and is working at his family’s car dealership now; an English major who is a cardiac surgeon; a business major who became a school bus driver; a biology and English major who is a pediatrician; two chemistry majors in marketing; a teacher who works in veterinarian care; and on and on and on.

I’m also for affordable housing and housing reform.

 

[Minnesota!]

No it isn't. I paid my loans off (had about $70k graduating into the recession in '09 when it was incredibly difficult to find a job) and I would be perfectly happy to see others not have to struggle with theirs.

Same. I struggled, but that doesn't mean EVERYONE should struggle. Take my taxes and pay for it. Hell, raise some taxes if you need to. Can you imagine what I could have done with an extra $770/month for 20 years? Yes, not everyone will "do good" with it, but I surely would have, and I know I am not alone.

If current student loans are forgiven, what about students starting college in the next few years? Are their loans going to be forgiven, too?

I think there needs to be reform in how loans are issued, interest rates capped, probably a class that kids need to take to graduate high school, focused solely on this kind of stuff.

My son got a letter from a private school inviting him to go there to run cross country. The school is very expensive even with good grades and merit scholarships. We had to have a tough discussion about that school being a poor choice in the long run. It hurt my heart, but it was my job to guide him before he became a full fledged adult.

We were in the same situation recently. Had to turn down a few big name schools (with nice aid, but not nearly ENOUGH) to send my son somewhere affordable, and where he should only graduate with a few 1000 in debt.

You're struggling so everyone else should, too. Got it. Our taxes go towards all sorts of stuff I wouldn't choose to pay for, this would at least help average people.

Right? I don't understand this mentality. Nobody gets out alive. If I (we) can make life easier for those around us, why shouldn't we?

 

[JBRB828]

I don't see why student loans should be paid off or loan forgiveness by the government. I paid mine and my husbands off many years ago while raising a family. Sure, it was tough at times, but we did it. JMO

 

[Mle8308]

I don't see why student loans should be paid off or loan forgiveness by the government. I paid mine and my husbands off many years ago while raising a family. Sure, it was tough at times, but we did it. JMO

I agree 100%. I paid off mine. My BIL is a plumber (and makes WAY more than some of his lawyer/professional friends), but why should he or me have to pay for the debts of others who made the choice to take out ridiculous loan amounts? If you can't afford the school and can't get enough in either financial assistance or scholarships, then don't go to that school. And if a person still chooses to go and take out loans, then they are responsible. As a few other posters have mentioned, parents need to be involved and help set expectations.

 

[Allison]

If we want to pay off student loans, it should be a 1-for-1 hit to college endowments - how much we tax them could pay for how much we forgive. If that got floated as the solution, I guarantee the talk of any student loan forgiveness would just disappear b/c those huge non-profits are anything but non-profit, and when you go after the folks who actually benefitted by getting paid full tuition thanks to all these loans - well, they won't be so fast to support this solution (b/c right now, colleges stand to benefit enormously from student loan forgiveness)...

How will colleges benefit from student loan forgiveness?

 

[barkley]

i've not seen it mentioned or reported on in quite awhile but there was talk of allowing employers the option to offer employees something akin to the current retirement savings matching money (to a certain percentage point) specifically for student loan debt. the way i read about what was being proposed pretty much mimicked the retirement program-employee would set something up with a direct pay from their paycheck of a certain dollar amount or percentage of their income to go to their student loan lender and their employer would match to a certain dollar point which would also go directly to the lender. employee portion would utilize pretax dollars (and the amount would be tax exempt for fed purposes), employer portion would be considered tax exempt benefit to employee.

 

[TwoMisfits]

How will colleges benefit from student loan forgiveness?

They will continue to be able to charge exponential sums of money for questionable borrowers in questionable degrees without needing to worry about how borrowers will pay it off (and if they will start to resent their degrees) b/c the feds will have shown they will cover the borrowers - once you set the precedent, it will continue again and again. And the borrowers will know the feds will bail them out, so they won't worry about running up a huge student debt, so the pool of people willing to pay for the questionable at the questionable cost will skyrocket. And they won't have contributed more than a dime to the solution. They are non-profit, so they don't pay anything to governmental solutions except for a trifling amount of tax that the last administration finally put against their endowments (and it's trifling).

So, everyone wins - except the American tax payer and America, b/c with the LOADS of debt we have built up, we are starting to creak under it. It's always a great idea to bail people out, til you run out of money in your own pocket...

It's the same philosophy why we can't have "too big to fail" businesses b/c then those businesses take risks they never should...and b/c they are too big to fail, the American taxpayer has to bail them out, so it's lose/lose for the taxpayer and consumer...

 

[mrodgers]

You're struggling so everyone else should, too. Got it. Our taxes go towards all sorts of stuff I wouldn't choose to pay for, this would at least help average people.

What? You all want me to pay for everyone elses kids to go to college while I can't pay for my own living expenses. Where did I say everyone should struggle because I am? You are saying I should struggle more so that other don't struggle, even though I can't pay for my kids' college and they will pay their own loans and when I was 18, I worked to pay my college expenses.

 

[Sanchez]

Right? I don't understand this mentality. Nobody gets out alive. If I (we) can make life easier for those around us, why shouldn't we?

You aren't using the word, but you are furthering the empathy argument. Congratulations to you for wanting to make life easier for others, but I don't think that you get empathy credit for doing it with other people's money. There are many ways to use public funds to "make life easier for those around us" and some people are simply arguing that this is not a particularly smart way to do it. Further, because there are many other irresponsible uses of public funds it isn't logical that more should follow.

The one-time (or even multiple times) lump sum forgiveness is a cotton candy approach - short term sugar high and visually appealing to young people, but no nutritional value and may lead to short term and long term health problems. It fixes very little with a high price tag.

A long term solution to address the cost of education, predatory lending practices, and furtherance of responsible borrowing practices could certainly be accompanied by long term relief. Of course, such a plan requires thought and cooperation so, as usual, the lowest common denominator is serviced.

And yes, some people are a little perturbed because this is once again a situation where the most responsible people bail out those who aren't.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I’d be all for it if they would claw some money back from the responsible schools. Find out which schools the loans were issued for and charge them 20% of what is forgiven. If not they will just do it again and by the time you're done there will be a whole new slew of students with debt.

 

[Sinder]

Same. I struggled, but that doesn't mean EVERYONE should struggle. Take my taxes and pay for it. Hell, raise some taxes if you need to. Can you imagine what I could have done with an extra $770/month for 20 years? Yes, not everyone will "do good" with it, but I surely would have, and I know I am not alone.

I think there needs to be reform in how loans are issued, interest rates capped, probably a class that kids need to take to graduate high school, focused solely on this kind of stuff.

We were in the same situation recently. Had to turn down a few big name schools (with nice aid, but not nearly ENOUGH) to send my son somewhere affordable, and where he should only graduate with a few 1000 in debt.

Right? I don't understand this mentality. Nobody gets out alive. If I (we) can make life easier for those around us, why shouldn't we?

I have 3 kids so those are the people I’m concerned with helping with what I can’t take with me. And if we do go ahead with student loan forgiveness then they are going to need that help. They didn’t take out loans, they made responsible choices based on what they could afford and what their chosen field would pay.
I’ll need to leave them everything I can so they can pay irresponsible people’s bills on top of their own.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have 3 kids so those are the people I’m concerned with helping with what I can’t take with me. And if we do go ahead with student loan forgiveness then they are going to need that help. They didn’t take out loans, they made responsible choices based on what they could afford and what their chosen field would pay.
I’ll need to leave them everything I can so they can pay irresponsible people’s bills on top of their own.

One of my main issues is how FAFSA is formulated. Why am I considered an independent on my taxes (and was at age 17) and yet when I went to get financial aid for college I'm considered a dependent? On the one hand the government understands I provide at least half of my needs myself (and would be taxed under that assumption), on the other hand the government thinks my parents are paying for my college and therefore needs to base whatever aid on their income.

Obviously this is a rhetorical question but people ,so tiredly I might add, think it's all just down to irresponsibility..so last year (or rather so decades ago).

 

[HeatherC]

Why should student loans(or the interest)get cancelled? You literally took out a loan and signed the terms. Can my house loan get cancelled? What about my car loan? What about the interest on my credit card? Geez.

I agree. But if they are gonna do something then let it be the interest. I don’t necessarily want to see people be buried alive because of interest, but you took the loans you should pay them.

 

[HeatherC]

Some, not all, but some schools have very predatory lending practices that take advantage of low income students and those ignorant to how interest works.

That is why people need to do their research. Others shouldn’t have to pay for someone else’s mistakes.

 

[Moliphino]

You aren't using the word, but you are furthering the empathy argument. Congratulations to you for wanting to make life easier for others, but I don't think that you get empathy credit for doing it with other people's money. There are many ways to use public funds to "make life easier for those around us" and some people are simply arguing that this is not a particularly smart way to do it. Further, because there are many other irresponsible uses of public funds it isn't logical that more should follow.

The one-time (or even multiple times) lump sum forgiveness is a cotton candy approach - short term sugar high and visually appealing to young people, but no nutritional value and may lead to short term and long term health problems. It fixes very little with a high price tag.

A long term solution to address the cost of education, predatory lending practices, and furtherance of responsible borrowing practices could certainly be accompanied by long term relief. Of course, such a plan requires thought and cooperation so, as usual, the lowest common denominator is serviced.

And yes, some people are a little perturbed because this is once again a situation where the most responsible people bail out those who aren't.

We need both. People buried in student loan debt need relief and we need to fix everything that caused this problem in the first place.

 

[HeatherC]

No it isn't. I paid my loans off (had about $70k graduating into the recession in '09 when it was incredibly difficult to find a job) and I would be perfectly happy to see others not have to struggle with theirs.

They DIDN’T have to take them. There are always other options like night school, community college,etc.

If they are going to forgive debt, it should be medical debt. No one can plan for getting sick and being buried alive because treatment that can save your life costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. That I can get behind. Student loans are a choice. People make the choice they should own that choice.

 

[mom2rtk]

We need both. People buried in student loan debt need relief and we need to fix everything that caused this problem in the first place.

Except there is no proposal on the table to fix what caused the problem. None. Nobody is even discussing that piece of it. I personally feel like forgiving the debt will actually make those other problems much worse.

 

[nyy]

It is so disheartening to read so many judgmental responses. I am surprised that so many assumptions and labels are cast upon those with student debt. It saddens me that people can make generalizations about groups of people, as if they are true.

Opportunity is not equal. Hard work does not change that. It is not that simple. Just because someone's path is different than yours, doesn't mean that they don't deserve what you do.

Education, healthcare, and a clean environment are human rights that everyone deserves.

This thread is unproductive and is only going to get worse.

I would recommend that the moderator close it.

 

[HeatherC]

No it isn't. I paid my loans off (had about $70k graduating into the recession in '09 when it was incredibly difficult to find a job) and I would be perfectly happy to see others not have to struggle with theirs.

They DIDN’T have to take them. There are always other options like night school, community college,etc.

If they are going to forgive debt, it should be medical debt. No one can plan for getting sick and being buried alive because treatment that can save your life costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. That I can get behind. Student loans are a choice. People make the choice they should own that choice.