Would you support the following policy on student loans?

[Anonymous]

Everyone has to pay theirs off in maximum 15 years.

Limit the income-driven repayment plans to five years after graduation. This should give borrowers enough time to set themselves on their career tracks. The remaining ten years will be on the standard repayment plan. Keep forbearance as an option for economic hardship, which you have to document, or unemployment, which you have to document active job search the way you do to collect UI.

But interest is set and permanently capped at 0.5%.
There is absolutely no reason why people have to end up paying double the principle over decades. A lot of this happens because people sit on the income-driven repayment plans for too long and never pay the principle and the balance keeps growing, because of the ridiculous interest rates.

Student loans are NOT like mortgages in terms of financial decisions because when you buy a house, you generally have an idea of what you can afford, but when you take out a student loan, you have very little idea of what you will be able to afford. Even when you actively look at the ROI of a given field of study, you really don’t know what the job market will be in 10-20 years. That being said, I think the promissory notes and the guides they take you through should have a section where you play around with a tool that shows you the average salaries of given jobs and what repayment would look like for given sample fields.

For people with outstanding debt today, that has ballooned because of their interest rates - set all of theirs to zero interest. The government has already collected enough from them. Based on their 2021-2024 incomes, set them on a 10-, 15-, or 20-year full repayment plan with zero interest and zero “forgiveness.”

[Anonymous]

*principal, not principle.

[Anonymous]

I won't support anything until student loans are taken away from the federal government. This was a huge mistake by Obama. It did not make college more affordable.
I will also say that prior to Obama, my son had student loans administered from a private company. The interest rate was 2.7% - very affordable - and even went down with on-time payments. He paid off his loans in just a few years.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/279512-president-obamas-horrible-terrible-legacy-on-student-loans/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I won't support anything until student loans are taken away from the federal government. This was a huge mistake by Obama. It did not make college more affordable.
I will also say that prior to Obama, my son had student loans administered from a private company. The interest rate was 2.7% - very affordable - and even went down with on-time payments. He paid off his loans in just a few years.

https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/279512-president-obamas-horrible-terrible-legacy-on-student-loans/

Indeed.

And link funding to employability and expected salary, not to bloated tuition bills.

[Anonymous]

Blame Obama for the mess borrowers are in now.

[Anonymous]

My take on student loans....I have no problem with the government administering it, but it shouldn't be a profit center for the government, the rate should be what it costs to borrow. In other words, government is making college accessible for anyone who wants to go at a very low interest loan. The loan has to be repaid in full.

The student can get deductions from the principal based on the type of employment (ie rural healthcare) or service to the country in the form of something like military, national park, etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I won't support anything until student loans are taken away from the federal government.

+100

[Anonymous]

Pay off your own loans- or don’t take them out and expect the rest of us to pay for them.

[Anonymous]

I only support two policies.

1) Students pay off their own debt
2) Removing the government from the equation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only support two policies.

1) Students pay off their own debt
2) Removing the government from the equation

Plus colleges should be held liable for defaults. That would lower interest rates.

[Anonymous]

Personally I think student loans, as administered by private banks, are predatory.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone has to pay theirs off in maximum 15 years.

Limit the income-driven repayment plans to five years after graduation. This should give borrowers enough time to set themselves on their career tracks. The remaining ten years will be on the standard repayment plan. Keep forbearance as an option for economic hardship, which you have to document, or unemployment, which you have to document active job search the way you do to collect UI.

But interest is set and permanently capped at 0.5%.
There is absolutely no reason why people have to end up paying double the principle over decades. A lot of this happens because people sit on the income-driven repayment plans for too long and never pay the principle and the balance keeps growing, because of the ridiculous interest rates.

Student loans are NOT like mortgages in terms of financial decisions because when you buy a house, you generally have an idea of what you can afford, but when you take out a student loan, you have very little idea of what you will be able to afford. Even when you actively look at the ROI of a given field of study, you really don’t know what the job market will be in 10-20 years. That being said, I think the promissory notes and the guides they take you through should have a section where you play around with a tool that shows you the average salaries of given jobs and what repayment would look like for given sample fields.

For people with outstanding debt today, that has ballooned because of their interest rates - set all of theirs to zero interest. The government has already collected enough from them. Based on their 2021-2024 incomes, set them on a 10-, 15-, or 20-year full repayment plan with zero interest and zero “forgiveness.”

The interest rates should be higher, given that the government is not losing a lot of money on them, forgiving loans all over the place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I think student loans, as administered by private banks, are predatory.

So don’t apply for one.

[Anonymous]

No bank would approve a regular loan of any amount to a student and the US govt. should not approve them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Personally I think student loans, as administered by private banks, are predatory.

When private loans were allowed before Obama, they were much more competitive WRT interest rates than what the govt. has now.