Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are headed back to debtors prison when they deduct it from your pay and people end up on the street.

And so your solution is for the taxpayers to pick up the tab for other people's degrees? Sorry, no.

But big auto, banks, businesses under PPP, farmers affected by tariffs— these all deserve buyouts more than kids getting a college degree. We worked hard to get our kids through without loans, and I’m not saying I agree with college loan forgiveness— especially without strings attached. But, the hypocrisy of bailing out businesses and not student loans is gross.

+1

-1 so much fraud in the ppp loans, bank loans, farmer subsidies

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are headed back to debtors prison when they deduct it from your pay and people end up on the street.

They go into your bank account and empty it. I've seen that happen to someone.

I know an attorney who accepted ONLY cash for this reason, for years. Like a decade. He wouldn’t take work without a cash guarantee, or in some cases, items of established value such as cars/trucks, which he would then sell - accepting cash only.

Anonymous wrote:Physicians will be totally screwed. They take years before they are making the kind of money that can service the loans required to complete training.

And ultimately ALL of us are screwed, as competent people stop going into high cost low financial return careers. That means fewer people in primary care, lower paying specialties, and fewer doctoral level mental health practitioners.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wont they set rates for student loans to 2% instead of 14% with daily compounding interest. God forbid.

There has been a bill floating around to do this.

this would be a tremendous help.

I did college the poor way that is always suggested here: I went to NVCC for 2 years and then transferred to an in-state school. I borrowed a pretty modest amount compared to my peers - only $16k. I thought that amount would be very easy to pay off. I was a fool! Yes, they tell you that you'll have to pay that amount back. No one is disputing that. What we didn't get a firm grasp of was the interest and how much and how crippling that would be.

I am now 35 and have paid $33,419.65 and still owe $11,890.02.

Imagine buying a crappy $16,000 car at age 20 and you're still paying it off at age 35. No one finances a car that long. No bank would finance a car that long!

I've almost paid back what I borrowed x2. That's what upsets me. That's what upsets most of my peers who have loans, too.

THIS is what no one seems to understand, or at least to include in most of the discussion.

My own anecdotes: I went to state school at a time when tuition was $600 per semester, so I was able to finish college without loans. My parents were able to help just enough to give me the choice of “state school, no loans” or taking out loans for private school, and the choice seemed clear.

For law school, I had my choice of any school, and picking something prestigious seemed like the key to a better future. So I took out loans. I wound up graduating early, which meant the initial grace period started running early and then ran out halfway through my low-paid clerkship year. Once loan payments kicked in, I was so poor that I could barely afford groceries (forget the PP who spoke of DoorDash and vacations, I was living off boxed cereal and entertaining myself with library books and $1 video rentals). I had to consolidate through SallieMae to get the monthly payment down, but that meant I was stuck with whatever interest rate was current at the time. It was 8.5%. All those years of almost-free money in the mid-2000s? I was stuck at 8.5% because of the law that you could only refinance/consolidate once during the life of the loan.

When I took out the loans, I wasn’t concerned about repayment because I knew a professional salary was waiting. But I wound up with the kind of future you can’t expect: a near-fatal illness that left me permanently disabled. Luckily I had long-term disability insurance, but half of my disability payment went to law school loans. Anytime I got an unexpected chunk of money, like CovidBucks? Extra loan payment. I finally finished paying off the loans at age 52, more than 15 years after my career ended.

Meanwhile, my now-husband took out the same number of loans, but his wealthier parents assumed the debt and let him pay them back without interest. He did it in a few years. I paid off my original balance in a few years as well, but the difference was the 8.5% compounding interest and a federal law that said I was trapped with that amount and could never move to a lower rate.

Anonymous wrote:Biden was such an imbecile. He could have focused on systemic fixes like tying loan rates to majors or making loans subject to the same bankruptcy process as other debt but of course he chose the idiotic band aid approach to pathetically buy votes. All theatrics, never substance. Senile old fool

I agree with this. But also would say Obama or Congress could have also tried to address this issue.

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that all of you complaining about the interest rate of student loans have Obama to thank for that.

Prior to the government taking over the student loans, the interest rate was much lower.

The government needs to get out of the student loan business.

Ummm, no. My law school friends (class of 1999) were paying eye popping interest on their private loans.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We really need a system that distinguishes between in-state public education and everything else. It is in society's interest to have an affordable public college system that doesn't burden 21 year olds with loans. That's what we need to build and subsidize - affordable public colleges for qualified students. And everything else - private universities, LACs - should sink or swim with market demand. There isn't ever going to be public support for forgiving the loans of someone who chose to go a gazillion dollars in debt to attend NYU or Colby. And retroactively forgiving those loans does nothing to make college more affordable for this generation of students. Focus on public education, and let market forces sort out how private universities go about attracting students. I strongly suspect the cost of private colleges will go down significantly if we make it difficult for teenagers to go into debt to attend, especially when they have very good and affordable in-state alternatives.

All those Colby grads defaulting on their loans….? No, it’s disproportionately online grads.

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/data-visualizations/2024/who-experiences-default

+1. And the number one college in terms of student loans owed? Liberty University— and this is largely (but obviously not entirely) for online degrees.

Now, let’s get real here— how much earning power does your online degree from Liberty University get you?

Okay, so get rid of the ability to borrow for online crap programs. Problem solved.

Trump is going to do exactly the opposite. This is his revenge for Trump University getting shut down.

WSJ: “President Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday to shake up the arcane but pivotal world of college accreditation, a move Trump has called his “secret weapon” in his bid to remake higher education.
The order aims to use the accrediting system to combat what Trump views as discriminatory practices and “ideological overreach” on college campuses, according to administration officials. The order would put a greater focus on intellectual diversity among faculty and student success.
It also would make it easier for schools to switch accreditors and for new accreditors to gain federal approval. The final language of the order could still change.
Accreditors play a role largely unseen to the public but crucial for universities, setting standards that must be met to access federal financial aid. The federal government gave $120.8 billion in loans, grants and work-study funds to more than 9.9 million students in the year ended last September. To earn an accreditor’s seal of approval, higher-education institutions must prove they meet wide-ranging standards covering everything from their mission and admissions policies to the quality of their faculty and programming. 
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/trump-accreditors-executive-order-universities-4e4366cc?mod=mhp

If these loans are just going to be forgiven, then they are not loans, they are more like PPP loans.

Then this money is just adding to the deficit.
They should just stop giving out these student loans, so as to save money from the national debt.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are headed back to debtors prison when they deduct it from your pay and people end up on the street.

And so your solution is for the taxpayers to pick up the tab for other people's degrees? Sorry, no.

We bailed out banks. We allow corporations to “restructure” debts. We subsidize farmers. So, yes. Some of these people spend way more than the face of the loan due to predatory terms and interest.

Why are some of you such corporate slaves?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wont they set rates for student loans to 2% instead of 14% with daily compounding interest. God forbid.

There has been a bill floating around to do this.

this would be a tremendous help.

I did college the poor way that is always suggested here: I went to NVCC for 2 years and then transferred to an in-state school. I borrowed a pretty modest amount compared to my peers - only $16k. I thought that amount would be very easy to pay off. I was a fool! Yes, they tell you that you'll have to pay that amount back. No one is disputing that. What we didn't get a firm grasp of was the interest and how much and how crippling that would be.

I am now 35 and have paid $33,419.65 and still owe $11,890.02.

Imagine buying a crappy $16,000 car at age 20 and you're still paying it off at age 35. No one finances a car that long. No bank would finance a car that long!

I've almost paid back what I borrowed x2. That's what upsets me. That's what upsets most of my peers who have loans, too.

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that all of you complaining about the interest rate of student loans have Obama to thank for that.

Prior to the government taking over the student loans, the interest rate was much lower.

The government needs to get out of the student loan business.

Prior to Obama, there were few income-based repayment options. Private banks underwrote and serviced the loans; this led to many predatory practices.

Moving to direct loans from the federal govt to the students eliminated a lot of rent seeking middle men. Banks also couldn't wait to get out of student loans - default rates are high, its an unsecured loan. The rates were only low with banks because it was just after the financial crisis and the Fed dropped rates to zero.

Anonymous wrote:Tons of young people with nothing left to lose getting their food money taken, while billionaires profit from the most corrupt administration in history.

What could possibly go wrong?

MAGA is truly "great"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are headed back to debtors prison when they deduct it from your pay and people end up on the street.

And so your solution is for the taxpayers to pick up the tab for other people's degrees? Sorry, no.

But big auto, banks, businesses under PPP, farmers affected by tariffs— these all deserve buyouts more than kids getting a college degree. We worked hard to get our kids through without loans, and I’m not saying I agree with college loan forgiveness— especially without strings attached. But, the hypocrisy of bailing out businesses and not student loans is gross.

+1

Just a reminder that all of you complaining about the interest rate of student loans have Obama to thank for that.

Prior to the government taking over the student loans, the interest rate was much lower.

The government needs to get out of the student loan business.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is the interest rate on government student loans? Think government borrowing rate is about 4.5%. Is interest on student loans much higher and if so why?

Current rates, which are set by Congress:

Undergraduate Students:
Direct Subsidized Loans: 6.53% (for those demonstrating financial need).
Direct Unsubsidized Loans: 6.53% (no financial need requirement).

Graduate or Professional Students:
Direct Unsubsidized Loans: 8.08%.

Parents and Graduate/Professional Students:
Direct PLUS Loans: 9.08%.

These rates are fixed for the life of the loan. They cannot be refinanced with the federal government. You can refinance with a private lender, but you lose all the protections of federal student loans (eg, PSLF program, income based repayments, etc.)

Why is the rate for undergrads 50% higher than the government’s cost of borrowing? is this meant to cover admin cost and defaults?

To pay for the contractor loan servicing companies and debt collectors. The government has to pay extra to these companies to buy back any loans in default.