Some argue that loan debt for college should be forgiven
By Christina Couch After the landmark $787 billion bailout, numerous mergers and a few bankruptcies, Wall Street and the auto industry have received lots of assistance as they attempt to get back on their feet.
But what about college students who face crushing debt? With two out of every three undergrads taking out loans and the average student loan topping the $20,000 mark, should those with education debt be the next recipients of federal bailout funds?
One Facebook group is pushing for that.
“What we’re proposing is radical,” explains Robert Applebaum, a Brooklyn-based attorney who manages Forgive Student Loan Debt, a Web site and Facebook group with 193,500 members. “We want the government to spend the $550 to $600 billion necessary to completely cancel all student debt. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to what has been spent and what will be spent to bail out U.S. companies. And with this type of incentive we can achieve real economic stimulus that focuses directly on the middle-class student borrowers who are really struggling.”
He’s got a point. With over 16 million students enrolled in higher education this year, an economy with a decreasing number of entry-level positions, and student-loan default levels at their highest in more than a decade, should the government provide the same economic relief to the future work force that it does to major companies?
“I don’t see a lot of political support for that kind of measure,” says Terry Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education, a trade association based in Washington, D.C., that represents 2,000 two- and four-year colleges and universities. “The vast majority of borrowers graduate with a modest amount of debt and they experience relatively little difficulty in repaying. Instead of offering a bailout, we need to increase funding for low-income students and we need to start educating students about responsible borrowing.”
Responsible borrowing is the exact opposite of what across-the-board loan forgiveness encourages, adds Kristen Fischer, author of “Ramen Noodles, Rent and Resumes: An After-College Guide to Life.” If students are given carte blanche on borrowing now, how will they learn to budget, save and borrow within their means when it comes to a mortgage?
“That’s the whole reason of going to school,” she says, “not to avoid debt, but to get a job that enables you to pay it off.”
As a student in debt I say :tup: lol. Better use of money than the banks who dont need money being forced to borrow.
Although the declining economy and job market clearly have a lot to do with this, I also blame it on dumb kids who’s parents got us in this mess in the first place by imposing bad parenting examples and spending out of their means in the first place.
With that said, my student debt is not all wrapped up in my education :mamoru:
I think there is more than enough funding for students who are smart enough to go look for it and need it. What’s next, paying students to go to school? oh, wait. NVM
Honestly, I wanna just choke people when they tell me they’re in school for Liberal Arts, Geography, History etc (granted they wont be teaching). Sorry if thats anyone on here.
I don’t think they should pay off entire student loans. (This coming from someone who is in debt for school) However, I think that hacking the interest would be a fairly substantial way of helping. If someone isn’t making as much money as their degree should be making them in a normal economy, that interest will kill you.
After the landmark $787 billion bailout, numerous mergers and a few bankruptcies, Wall Street and the auto industry have received lots of assistance as they attempt to get back on their feet.