Biden administration releases formal proposal for new student loan forgiveness plan

[Absentglare]

To me , it is less about the school and more about the degree.

Student loans are fine, without a government guarantee that you'll get one.

Then you’d like to price poor kids out of higher education. I think college should be accessible to everyone who seeks it.

Change them so that you can pay it back, with whatever degree plan you are following.
Social work? You can borrow $35k
Lawyers? You can borrow $50k

etc

Who decides what a degree is worth? If we’re going to go this route, make the colleges have some skin in the game to assess the values of their own degrees.

The low interest rates provided by the feds are crippling. Normative 6%
What's crippling is choosing to not pay it, or pay the minimum and pay on it for 20-30 years like its a house.

They do pay, in some cases people are prevented from paying it off early.

Though Fox News critics of debt relief often characterize forgiveness as subsidizing rich kids’ whims, Oliver noted that as of 2022, most student loan borrowers with outstanding debt owed less than $25,000, and that borrowers with the least debt often had more difficulty with repayment.
In sum, he argued: “This entire system seems practically set up to drown people in debt.”
That debt is made worse by student loan services, which manage loans on the government’s behalf. “In theory, they’re supposed to help you navigate the system,” said Oliver. “But in practice, they often manage to make things much worse” with long customer service wait times, incorrect billing and misleading information. Some payment plans have a 99% failure rate; a whistleblower for the company Navient said the company trained them to drop calls after seven minutes (the company denies this, but Oliver dropped their statement on air).

John Oliver on student loans: ‘It’s hard to feel like this system isn’t rigged’

Last Week Tonight host digs into ballooning costs of higher education and potential solutions to a vicious cycle of debt

www.theguardian.com

 

[ttwtt78640]

Then you’d like to price poor kids out of higher education. I think college should be accessible to everyone who seeks it.

Who decides what a degree is worth? If we’re going to go this route, make the colleges have some skin in the game to assess the values of their own degrees.

They do pay, in some cases people are prevented from paying it off early.

John Oliver on student loans: ‘It’s hard to feel like this system isn’t rigged’

Last Week Tonight host digs into ballooning costs of higher education and potential solutions to a vicious cycle of debt

www.theguardian.com

That (bolded above) is what needs to happen. As it works now, the school is paid in advance (with a ‘guaranteed’ by the taxpayers loan), thus doesn’t much care whether the student financially benefits from their education or not.

 

[Gatsby]

Those of you who have mentioned that the way student loans are structured induces demand for education, without doing much to improve availability, do have a point. A recent study found that the money from Grad Plus loans was captured almost entirely by universities in the form of tuition increases, almost dollar for dollar, and didn't benefit the students at all.

 

[Boots]

the predatory capitalist system forces people to go to college and take out these loans since schooling costs are insane, and without the schooling youre working dead end jobs that pay jack shit in an every increasing expensive cost of living situation. people should have debt forgiveness thanks to how predatory debt is and how people are forced to go to college to make sure they are making some kind of living wage and aren't poor and or homeless considering how piss poor minimum wage jobs pay, how high the cost of living is, and how garbage the safety nets in this country are thanks to the republican party and their conservative voter base. hell, even if you get a college degree, it's not a guarantee you're going to be making bank and not in a bad financial situation, it's just better than working slave wage jobs.

That’s got a nice beat but needs more cowbell.

 

[Cope]

Then you’d like to price poor kids out of higher education. I think college should be accessible to everyone who seeks it.

Again, grants and scholarships are fine.

Who decides what a degree is worth? If we’re going to go this route, make the colleges have some skin in the game to assess the values of their own degrees.

That is simple. The market does. I wouldn't mind the colleges having skin in the game, at all.

They do pay, in some cases people are prevented from paying it off early.

Yes, some cases and those cases can be handled individually.

John Oliver on student loans: ‘It’s hard to feel like this system isn’t rigged’

Last Week Tonight host digs into ballooning costs of higher education and potential solutions to a vicious cycle of debt

www.theguardian.com

 

[Boots]

This is another action to try and stop the bleeding.

The source of the problem is the prohibitive cost of education. State schools should offer a high quality education with an affordable tuition for in-state residents. Somehow, we dropped the ball here. We need a larger supply of colleges and we need public dollars to make sure they stay affordable. I’m less concerned of someone going $100k into debt to get a degree from Stanford than I am of someone going $100k into debt to get a degree from Arizona State University.

People will complain about the option of student loans, but the fact is that without student loans, students from lower income families would be priced out of higher education. Then, we’d turn meritocracy on its head, and colleges would be even more full of rich kids.

But now the fact is that student loans are crippling the financial prospects of a generation. The interest payments are obscene, they’re taking advantage of people. We now have to deal with that problem and I am proud that President Biden has the stones to face the headwind generated by the disingenuous frothy mouthed screeching of the GOP. And for good reason, those folks handed out and forgave PPP loans now go hysterical at the prospect of helping the millions of real Americans struggling under student loan debt.

Definitely a valid issue here. Again, however, a lot of these costs are under the control of the student (and his/her parents). I looked at ASU for a cost analysis. ASU tuition, fees and books for a year are approximately 15k. That's a total layout of 60k, assuming no loans, grants, etc. That also assumes living at home with parents and does not take into consideration food, transportation, etc.
It's doable to get through 4 years with little debt from a state school. It's not doable if a student insists on going to Main Campus, living in the dorms and/or apartments, going on Spring Break, and not working. Life. Choices.

 

[Absentglare]

Definitely a valid issue here. Again, however, a lot of these costs are under the control of the student (and his/her parents). I looked at ASU for a cost analysis. ASU tuition, fees and books for a year are approximately 15k. That's a total layout of 60k, assuming no loans, grants, etc. That also assumes living at home with parents and does not take into consideration food, transportation, etc.
It's doable to get through 4 years with little debt from a state school. It's not doable if a student insists on going to Main Campus, living in the dorms and/or apartments, going on Spring Break, and not working. Life. Choices.

When I went to San Jose State University, it was $1,700/semester. I earned some scholarship money and I lived with my parents until I got a $15/hr job halfway through. No debt.

Accounting for inflation, that $1,700/semester would translate to just under $3,000 today, but they now charge $8,000.

The price of higher education is out of control. That must be addressed.

 

[TamleeB]

I'd be hard pressed to forgive loans taken freely for anyone.

Now if he wants to talk about lowering tuition costs, or some measured response instead of what this is (attempted vote buying), I'd certainly listen.

What laws on the books prevent the federal loan folks (fred/fann) from reducing or forgiving interest now?

This. Paying off student loans does NOT solve the problem. It is personal repsonbility. Anyone who signs on that line agreeing to pay for a college education, should DO so.

 

[TamleeB]

When I went to San Jose State University, it was $1,700/semester. I earned some scholarship money and I lived with my parents until I got a $15/hr job halfway through. No debt.

Accounting for inflation, that $1,700/semester would translate to just under $3,000 today, but they now charge $8,000.

The price of higher education is out of control. That must be addressed.

Agreed. But paying off student loans does nothing to address the underlying issue.

 

[Boots]

When I went to San Jose State University, it was $1,700/semester. I earned some scholarship money and I lived with my parents until I got a $15/hr job halfway through. No debt.

Accounting for inflation, that $1,700/semester would translate to just under $3,000 today, but they now charge $8,000.

The price of higher education is out of control. That must be addressed.

Agreed. I am "told" that the ticket price for most schools (although I don't think this applies to state schools, only to private) is rarely the actual price paid by the student. I know my alma mater (private) has said that. However, I also believe that the universities have increased the prices for various reasons. One is absolutely because families can get the loans now that perhaps they couldn't get 30 years ago. But also, students and their parents are demanding more amenities from the colleges. My university, at the time I went, was well regarded, but certainly not a Harvard or Yale or even Swarthmore. In terms of physical plant, it was basic. A couple of decent buildings for the classes; sufficient but not luxurious dormitory and other housing options, etc. Now, it's beautiful. Building after building after building. The town itself is not great, but the campus is beautiful and the living arrangements spectacular. That is a lot of what people are demanding and paying for, without a thought to how they are paying for it. There needs to be education all the way around, most particularly for the students that are going to be saddled with this debt. They need to say no. Their parents need to say no. And the government needs to say no. Perhaps then the schools will get the picture. They have huge endowments, yet they are charges these kids a fortune because they can. Supply and demand. We have lots of affordable options in the U.S.

 

[TamleeB]

Agreed. I am "told" that the ticket price for most schools (although I don't think this applies to state schools, only to private) is rarely the actual price paid by the student. I know my alma mater (private) has said that. However, I also believe that the universities have increased the prices for various reasons. One is absolutely because families can get the loans now that perhaps they couldn't get 30 years ago. But also, students and their parents are demanding more amenities from the colleges. My university, at the time I went, was well regarded, but certainly not a Harvard or Yale or even Swarthmore. In terms of physical plant, it was basic. A couple of decent buildings for the classes; sufficient but not luxurious dormitory and other housing options, etc. Now, it's beautiful. Building after building after building. The town itself is not great, but the campus is beautiful and the living arrangements spectacular. That is a lot of what people are demanding and paying for, without a thought to how they are paying for it. There needs to be education all the way around, most particularly for the students that are going to be saddled with this debt. They need to say no. Their parents need to say no. And the government needs to say no. Perhaps then the schools will get the picture. They have huge endowments, yet they are charges these kids a fortune because they can. Supply and demand. We have lots of affordable options in the U.S.

And often I think it’s a decision made on what college they opt to attend. Community colleges tend to me a much better way to go if one is deeply concerned about the price of their education. I watched my own daughters make a decision on the amount of debt they were willing to have upon graduation. One opted for a Community College in New England, the other made the decision to attend a College in California. Life’s choices have consequences.