Canceling $10k of student loan debt is stupid.

[Anonymous]

- It only benefits those making under $125K meaning a lot of middle class people in the DMV are left out

- $10K is usually a pretty small amount of the total debt people have especially in this area

- in addition to a lot of middle class liberal people in this area not getting any student debt relief they will also get an even higher cost of living coming up and no wage increase. It makes me happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This debt forgiveness business has turned me into a one-issue voter. I will not vote for anyone who runs on a platform supporting and promising student loan forgiveness.

--reliable Democrat voter for the last 30 years

+1. As a left leaning Independent, these AOC-sh*t is enough to vote moderate R. So f'king tired of it.

[Anonymous]

I do not understand why student loans were paused for EVERYONE during Covid. If a job loss occurred, I would have understood. My child currently has medical school loans and I strongly encouraged him to take advantage of the 0% interest rate during the past 2 years and keep paying. He was in the minority. 11% of those with student loans continued to pay. And, don’t tell me those borrowers saved and invested all that money. I am not buying it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/less-than-11percent-of-people-with-federal-student-loans-are-paying-during-covid-19-.html

[Anonymous]

This whole debate is a perfect example of Democrats looking through the wrong end of the telescope. The real problem is not student debt, it’s the actual cost of college combined with the rise of worthless “majors.” Any university offering gender/ethnic studies or film studies “majors” should be disqualified from receiving any federal funding or contracts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This whole debate is a perfect example of Democrats looking through the wrong end of the telescope. The real problem is not student debt, it’s the actual cost of college combined with the rise of worthless “majors.” Any university offering gender/ethnic studies or film studies “majors” should be disqualified from receiving any federal funding or contracts.

Agree except for the part about film studies as the US is the clear world leader of the film industry. The film industry is a legitimate industry, but salaries for most are near poverty level wages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
No one keeps track of how student loan money is spent either.

There are many kids who use loans to fund their spring break trips. Hell, while I was in grad school, we had a guy in our program take out $40k in loans so he could buy studio equipment for his side rap career/hobby. I know tons and tons and tons of med students who took out student loans 'for med school' and used it to spend on going out to the bars every weekend, traveling during the summer, and for all other stupid garbage. But yeah, let's forgive it all without tracking how any of it was spent.


It's safe to say that at least 10k per borrower went towards tuition

I would like to know exactly what kind of loans those were. I thought many loans were transferred directly to the college bursar's office for tuition and housing expenses. ??

They are private loans, which usually have much higher interest rates and I also don't think would count in the forgiveness program anyway. I saw this in grad school too -- people who took out student loans to pay for vacations, engagement rings, etc.

But here's an interesting point of anecdata: I was living in an absolute sh!thole during grad school because it was all I could afford. A friend suggested to me taking out a private loan to afford to live somewhere nicer. But I looked into it and I would not have been able to get approved for one even if I'd wanted to (once I saw the interest rate on it I... lost interest). I was a working class kid with okay credit (like not bad credit but also not impressive as I'd never had a credit card before) and very limited credit history -- they weren't going to approve a 10k loan for me for non-school expenses, even living expenses. So how did my classmates get 40k loans for world travel? I'm guessing they'd had credit cards from a young age (likely paid for by parents) and had probably built excellent credit histories via their parents' largesse. Or they'd had good-paying jobs between college and grad school.

None of the people who took out loans like that struggled to repay them later -- they were fine. Meanwhile, I took out only federal loans and struggled to pay them because unlike my classmates, I was paying not only for my own life but also working to help support my family, and my loan payments were hard to make. My rich friends were still on their parents cell phone plans, and were gifted large sums to help them by homes. I'd bet they paid back those private loans quickly (with decent financial advice from family).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do not understand why student loans were paused for EVERYONE during Covid. If a job loss occurred, I would have understood. My child currently has medical school loans and I strongly encouraged him to take advantage of the 0% interest rate during the past 2 years and keep paying. He was in the minority. 11% of those with student loans continued to pay. And, don’t tell me those borrowers saved and invested all that money. I am not buying it.

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/10/07/less-than-11percent-of-people-with-federal-student-loans-are-paying-during-covid-19-.html

I've gotten significant raises during covid so I knocked my student loans down by roughly $25k so far. If they continue the pause I can do another $6k by end of year. I also max my 401k, HSA, backdoor roth and employee stock plan. Loving the pause!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This debt forgiveness business has turned me into a one-issue voter. I will not vote for anyone who runs on a platform supporting and promising student loan forgiveness.

--reliable Democrat voter for the last 30 years

+1. As a left leaning Independent, these AOC-sh*t is enough to vote moderate R. So f'king tired of it.

If only those still existed to be voted for. They're all being primaried by high school dropouts who want to burn gay people at the stake and outlaw history books.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- It only benefits those making under $125K meaning a lot of middle class people in the DMV are left out

- $10K is usually a pretty small amount of the total debt people have especially in this area

- in addition to a lot of middle class liberal people in this area not getting any student debt relief they will also get an even higher cost of living coming up and no wage increase. It makes me happy.

+1. And the $125K figure doesn't align with current tax provisions that say if you make under $70K you can write the student loan interest you pay off on your taxes. It feels so arbitrary. Why is $70K the celling with taxes? Why is $125K the ceiling now? Why aren't interest rates be lowered on college and grad student loans across the board? College loans capped at 2% and grad loans capped at 4%? Such a waste.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This debt forgiveness business has turned me into a one-issue voter. I will not vote for anyone who runs on a platform supporting and promising student loan forgiveness.

--reliable Democrat voter for the last 30 years

+1. As a left leaning Independent, these AOC-sh*t is enough to vote moderate R. So f'king tired of it.

If only those still existed to be voted for. They're all being primaried by high school dropouts who want to burn gay people at the stake and outlaw history books.

If not, I will stay home. No way I am voting for socialist dem or far right GOp.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:agree-- this is sort of a horse designed by a committee solution.

should at least allow people to discharge it in bankruptcy

That's the real long term solution. Make private lenders think twice before loaning 200k to a 17 year old who wants to be a social worker.

[Anonymous]

Parents and students shouldn't be able to take out such huge loans for education, but community colleges and in-state schools should have ways to make them inexpensive or free from the start.

If kids want an expensive private education, they should have to pay before enrolling each semester with very limited loans allowed and no parent loans provided.

[Anonymous]

I see it as part of a larger trend toward coddling grown adults so they don't have to be responsible adults making good on their obligations. It's along the same line as people shouting "cancel rent!" I mean, come on. It's time to grow up all the way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one keeps track of how student loan money is spent either.

There are many kids who use loans to fund their spring break trips. Hell, while I was in grad school, we had a guy in our program take out $40k in loans so he could buy studio equipment for his side rap career/hobby. I know tons and tons and tons of med students who took out student loans 'for med school' and used it to spend on going out to the bars every weekend, traveling during the summer, and for all other stupid garbage. But yeah, let's forgive it all without tracking how any of it was spent.

It's safe to say that at least 10k per borrower went towards tuition

+1. I knew one person in my grad program who was very irresponsible with how she spent money and she had loans, but this is not common. You cannot take out that much over what you need for living expenses and tuition. Many people are like me and work full-time, live with many roommates, never go out, and budget a lot to reduce the amount of loans they need to take out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parents and students shouldn't be able to take out such huge loans for education, but community colleges and in-state schools should have ways to make them inexpensive or free from the start.

If kids want an expensive private education, they should have to pay before enrolling each semester with very limited loans allowed and no parent loans provided.

Exactly. People should know their place and stop trying to rise above it. Private schools used to be for the very brightest and mediocre rich kids, we should return to that.