They should start by publishing the colleges with the most outstanding debt.

Get the government out of the student loan business. Then we can talk about forgiveness. Otherwise, Not interested even discussing it.

Anonymous wrote:Some countries believe educating their people is an investment in its future prosperity and well being. America believes it’s an opportunity to profit off the success or, more likely failure, of discrete individuals.

If you’re wondering why our best and brightest are going to work for Wall Street instead of curing childhood cancer, just look at the incentives we’ve created. Without the steady flow of foreign Ph.Ds who got their undergrads for free and can afford to tough it out on grants, our domestic R&D industry is going to be wrecked. So much for America First.

Oh please it's not like the people heading to Wall St are just purely responding to demand signals here. It's a certain type of person.

The issue is a bit of a political loser for the democratic party. If I were poor or lower middle class, non-college educated, and I saw politicians discharging a bunch of debt for people who really should've had every opportunity to succeed financially it'd piss me off. And conservatives sure as hell aren't going to go for it. WHo is the audience you all are intending to persuade, that canceling student loan debt is a good idea, actually? Other people with student debt? Rich people?

Some countries believe educating their people is an investment in its future prosperity and well being. America believes it’s an opportunity to profit off the success or, more likely failure, of discrete individuals.

If you’re wondering why our best and brightest are going to work for Wall Street instead of curing childhood cancer, just look at the incentives we’ve created. Without the steady flow of foreign Ph.Ds who got their undergrads for free and can afford to tough it out on grants, our domestic R&D industry is going to be wrecked. So much for America First.

There are a lot of issues with student loans, and we have to resist two urges - the first is the knee jerk reaction, “all debts have to be paid! You signed up for this!” And “students are special! Look at farmers, oil, pharma, ppp loans, it’s not fair!”

1. Student debt is the second highest consumer debt held in the U.S. (mortgage is number one. It is not like mortgage or car debt because it is unsecured. No one is going to let you borrow $10 million to buy a house worth $2 million. But you can absolutely borrow $500k to complete a PhD in Nordic basketweaving.

2. Interest rates for student loans are typically higher than 30 year fixed mortgage rates. The government sets student loan rates based on 10 year treasuries, while mortgage rates move around more. You can refinance your mortgage, but if you refinance your student debt, you can lose your right of forbearance and deferral. Also student loan debt is not easily discharged in bankruptcy as is mortgage debt.

3. Mortgage companies do not allow your loan to increase, but student loans can increase because of lower payments and deferrals

4. 20% of student loans holders went to for-profit schools, which are notorious for pushing students to borrow more. Half of those borrowers will default.

5. The student debt burden is hurting the economy in a broad sense. The $1.7 trillion debt prevents borrowers from buying a home, buying a car, starting a family, starting a business etc. That hurts the borrowers, but it also hurts the rest of us as well since they are not able to spend.

6. Many of the borrowers will default anyway, and since most of the debt is held by a single entity, it is easier to forgive. What’s the difference between letting people default vs forgiving debt if the U.S. never gets their money back either way? If debt is forgiven, the borrower can contribute more to the economy by buying a condo, going on vacation, having a kid, etc. And yes, it’s not fair that some people get debts forgiven, but in the big picture, we need more people involved in the economy, and encouraging 10 million borrowers, who are currently delinquent, to enter the economy would be helpful.

Should people pay their debts? Yes. Were students allowed to borrow more than they should have? Yes. Is all the debt hurting the economy? Yes. Will a lot of the debt never be paid back anyway? Yes. So, what to do?

I am ok with forgiving debt as long as the student loan industry is changed. It’s just untenable for students to be encouraged and allowed to borrow unlimited amounts of money when there is no consideration of their future income. Maybe the answer is to give it back to the private sector. Private student loans are predatory and will discourage students from borrowing. Maybe the answer is to cap loans at the in state tuition level. Maybe the answer is to index different majors and areas of study and cap loans by what you will study. Maybe the answer is to make community college and trade school free to all to discourage loans. And don’t get me started on how colleges have seen student loans as permission to send their tuition soaring. It’s a house of cards.

Anonymous wrote:The best option would be to forgive the interest. I've paid what I borrowed twice ($15,272). I still owe $19,394.67.

Borrowed: $15,272
Paid: $33,118.06
Still Owe: $19,394.67

The fact that billions in PPP loans were forgiven without any fight, yet we can't even get the interest, the most crippling part of the student loans, forgiven is fked up. Or at the very least, change it so they aren't compounded daily. Imagine if home mortgages were compounded daily. Or auto loans.

This is what people don't understand. Forgive the exorbitant interest, at the very least.

Anonymous wrote:I think there are trolls on here pretending to be outraged about paying back the loans. I am a Dem and in my life and for my job oppose everything MAGA.

I have one child in college and one a year away. I live in DC so no state school option (and DC TAG is a drop in the bucket).

The cost is out of control. We made choices to save for college and are lucky the economy was good and allowed us to earn an amount that allowed us save, so we do a combo of 529 and cashflow for private college. We are DCUM UMC.

Of course students and parents that take out loans should pay them back. I believe in loan forgiveness programs for grads that go into public service jobs.

I agree the availability of easy loans for parents to pay any amount for their kid to go to college and the “college experience” pressure create and environment where way too much money is available to pay for college and debt is what happens. Parents need to learn to say no to their kids. There are low cost ways to get through college.

“Low cost” only for UMC.

For LMC, or even straight working class, there are no “low cost” options. I grew up in a household with two younger siblings and parents that made a total of $70k pretax in their best earning years. The best they could give each kid was $6k that they paid back as a loan, and indirect support (housing, insurance, cell phone bill). That doesn’t even come close to covering a 4-year degree, even with scholarships at private schools which often beat in-state tuition rates. Me working my tail off for $8-10 hr barely covered books.

The alternatives had insane opportunity costs. It took my sibling 10 years to earn his way through school. No debt, but also missed out on bigger salaries for a decade of his life. That compounded to lower retirement contributions and lower raises and the effects are going to compound over his life just like the loan interest he didn’t have to pay.

Loans are the only way I got my degree. And I paid them off, and it paid off for me. But only because I made $160k my first year out of law school. Now that I’m suddenly UMC there are more affordable options for me to pay for my kids schooling in full. But being able to put aside $100k each to cover 4 years in state is an immense privilege.

The best option would be to forgive the interest. I've paid what I borrowed twice ($15,272). I still owe $19,394.67.

Borrowed: $15,272
Paid: $33,118.06
Still Owe: $19,394.67

The fact that billions in PPP loans were forgiven without any fight, yet we can't even get the interest, the most crippling part of the student loans, forgiven is fked up. Or at the very least, change it so they aren't compounded daily. Imagine if home mortgages were compounded daily. Or auto loans.

So let’s say you do graduate and your starting salary is the average high of about 80k, and your wages get garnished. Can a person under such circumstances qualify for section 8 housing and other assistance?

I think there are trolls on here pretending to be outraged about paying back the loans. I am a Dem and in my life and for my job oppose everything MAGA.

I have one child in college and one a year away. I live in DC so no state school option (and DC TAG is a drop in the bucket).

The cost is out of control. We made choices to save for college and are lucky the economy was good and allowed us to earn an amount that allowed us save, so we do a combo of 529 and cashflow for private college. We are DCUM UMC.

Of course students and parents that take out loans should pay them back. I believe in loan forgiveness programs for grads that go into public service jobs.

I agree the availability of easy loans for parents to pay any amount for their kid to go to college and the “college experience” pressure create and environment where way too much money is available to pay for college and debt is what happens. Parents need to learn to say no to their kids. There are low cost ways to get through college.

And at least America benefits from having an educated workforce.

The people who took out loans have already been educated. Cancelling those loans (by forcing the taxpayers to subsidize them) does not give us any more educated people.

If the goal is to improve access to education, it would make more sense to collect on the loans and spend the money that would have gone toward "forgiving" (subdizing) them on making education available to more people in the future.

Yet we should be expected to subsidize big corporations and billionaire tax cuts?

No, I don't think that we should be doing that, either.

But, in those cases, there is nothing to be repaid because no one agreed to repay anything. Those were giveaways from the start.

Make the colleges foot the bill for the unpaid loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should he be forgiving loans?

Why should people have to take out massive loans just to get an education in the first place?

This. Nothing says "we don't want an educated populace" quite like the astronomical cost of college in the states (and the fact that a Bachelor's or higher is often required even for entry-level reception or customer service positions, because they want you broke enough to put up with their awful business practices).

College is basically a scam at this point.

The system is broken, but college is absolutely not a scam. Listen to Freakonomics Podcast. They did a series of episodes exploring all angles of it in depth.