Unprecedented USA Student Loan Debt

[longknife]

American college students have run up a mere 1.2 trillion dollars in loan debts!


So what? Just a mere drop in the bucket in liberals' efforts to create a state of dependency upon government. And, they want Obama to bail those poor students out. Why should they assume responsibility for themselves now?


The 18 sobering facts about this subject are @ 18 Sobering Facts About The Unprecedented Student Loan Debt Crisis In The United States

 

[Steven_R]

One solution is to only offer loans for certain degrees and programs that have the likelihood of paying the loans back. STEM fields, medical, veterinary, MBAs, those kinds of things. If someone wants to get a degree in Womyn's Studies or Medieval French Lit. or Puppetry or some other degree that involves a BA, then the student can find a different way to pay for their degree.

 

[Moonglow]

Why should we give the 1% low interest loans, but students must pay 10% for a loan??

 

[Steven_R]

Why are every other kind of debts dischargeable in a bankruptcy except student loans?

I realize the whole reason for the change was because people would get through med school or law school, file BK, and then get off, but it makes no sense to soak someone with 60 grand in debt and let them get a degree that won't get them a job making more than 30k a year and not let them be able to discharge it if they simply can't pay the bills.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Banks got a HUGE Bailout, why not Bailout the Students?

You know what an Economic "shot in the arm" that would be?

That's probably why it won't happen.

 

[Samson]

American college students have run up a mere 1.2 trillion dollars in loan debts!


So what? Just a mere drop in the bucket in liberals' efforts to create a state of dependency upon government. And, they want Obama to bail those poor students out. Why should they assume responsibility for themselves now?


The 18 sobering facts about this subject are @ 18 Sobering Facts About The Unprecedented Student Loan Debt Crisis In The United States

Interestingly, there was only one specific degree mentioned among the "18 Sobering Facts;"

#12 Debt for law school students has risen dramatically over the past decade or so…

J.D.s certainly don’t come cheap. It’s almost unheard of to attend law school without taking out significant loans. What’s more, the average debt load is mounting: in 2001-2002, JDs borrowed on average $46,500 at public law schools and $70,000 at private law schools; by 2011, those numbers rose to $75,700 and $125,000, respectively
​

Guess what Obama taught: Law

Guess who funds the federal student loan program: The Legislature

The 113th Congress is in session. But, who are they? Lawyers, mostly.

A cool diagram of the 113th Congress - The Washington Post

Lawyers Helping produce MORE LAWYERs = 1.2 trillion dollars in loan debts!

 

[Samson]

Gee

Lawyers making more Lawyers:

#12 Debt for law school students has risen dramatically over the past decade or so…

J.D.s certainly don’t come cheap. It’s almost unheard of to attend law school without taking out significant loans. What’s more, the average debt load is mounting: in 2001-2002, JDs borrowed on average $46,500 at public law schools and $70,000 at private law schools; by 2011, those numbers rose to $75,700 and $125,000, respectively​

 

[DGS49]

There are many commodities in life that seem to be priced according to a "Pain Threshhold" with no regard to the cost.

Cars and houses are good examples. Low interest rates, leasing, extended payment terms...prices go up dramatically, simply because those innovations have given the public a tolerance for higher prices.

The same thing goes for what we blissfully call, "Higher Education." More grants and scholarships, more and different kinds of loans, deferred and longer payback periods, and people believe they can "afford" to spend more on a college education. But when the economy turns sour and the typical graduate (with a degree in English Lit) finds that she can't get a decent job she feels cheated.

One of the wisest things Congress ever did was to re-write the Bankruptcy laws so that student debt could not be discharged. Prior to that time, it was fairly common for a medical student to run up a large mountain of student-loan debt, then declare bankruptcy shortly after being licensed.

The REAL problem with student loan debt is the juxtaposition of (a) 19-year-olds who know NOTHING about money management and (b) parents who want to be "friends" to their children and can't say, "NO!" Kid says I want to go to an expensive private college to study Philosophy, and parents do everything they can to allow the kid to get what he wants. Brain-dead idiots.

I financed my college with (a) personal savings and summer earnings, (2) GI Bill, (iii) employer contributions, and (D) one small student loan that was paid off before I graduated. My parents contributed not a dime (they were not in a position to). I went to Community College for two years, then Univ of Pittsburgh, then Duquesne Law School. Graduated with no (student) debt.

The same thing might not be possible now, but you should see the looks I get when I suggest to friends that their Little Darlings might consider going into the military service for a few years, to help pay for their college education (like I did), or go to community college for a couple years. Bring out the smelling salts!

 

[initforme]

Going into the military is only acceptable for those that want to serve. It should not be forced upon those college bound. The number in my town going into the military is a tiny minute percentage of what it used to be. Out of an average of 200 graduates we have about 1 or at most 2 per year enlisting. Community college is a good option however.

 

[Unkotare]

Kid says I want to go to an expensive private college to study Philosophy, and parents do everything they can to allow the kid to get what he wants.

What's wrong with that?

 

[Henrik]

The Education system should be the same today to cover the budget but everybody should be able to loan the full cost of their education from Federal Student Aid. Today you can loan max 129000 dollar or something if you are graduate or professional, that should cover up all cost for peoples education.

The state should support stipendium as today to also cover people's eduaction.

 

[Zander]

Education is an INDUSTRY. It's job is to sell parents that the only way for their perfect offspring to become even more perfect is by acquiring an expensive college education (and the debt). They've done a bang up job!

 

[Delta4Embassy]

College costs today are doing to our young what indentured servitude used to do to blacks. Why go to college if to do so you have to start your career so in debt you're looking at decades of being forced to take jobs you didn't even study for?

 

[jwoodie]

The Government/Education complex has preyed on naive students just as the mortgage industry preyed on unsophisticated home buyers. There is no need to incur huge educational debts for anything other than medical school.

 

[DGS49]

You can't blame the students for wanting to go to a beautiful campus for 4 or 5 years with no responsibilities and nothing to worry about but STD's. ANY 19-YEAR-OLD would want that.

But this is where the role of parents comes into play. You are not their friend. You are not their enabler. Your job is to employ your own life experience to guide the student on a rational course of behavior, considering costs and payback.

It's the parents who are 90% responsible.

 

[initforme]

If one doesn't go to college then how is one to avoid working for low wages for some idiot business owner for two years?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

If one doesn't go to college then how is one to avoid working for low wages for some idiot business owner for two years?

I know plenty of people who have avoided it. I guess they are just that much smarter than you.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

The federal government needs to scale back the amount of loan money they dish out to students. That's what has fueled this bubble. Like almost everything else when the government gets involved they fuck everything up.

 

[initforme]

"I know plenty of people who have avoided it. I guess they are just that much smarter than you."

Have to stoop to TRYING to bash someone because you don't agree. Smart you are. I got myth degree. I was able to walk out on 2 different jobs in my career when I was needed most and found a better job right away because of that degree. Two of the berst days of my life. I owe my employers nothing, not even loyalty, only a good days work. One can do that with a degree. In the war of employee versus employer, I won two battles before I made my own business.

 

[waltky]

Granny says dey gonna make it easier for students to get into debt...
Department of Education Lowers Credit Standards for PLUS Loan Eligibility
Oct 24, 2014 — The Department of Education (ED) unveiled a plan on October 22 to make it easier for students and parents with compromised credit histories to take out Parent PLUS loans, the student loan that requires a parent or guardian co-signer.

“The Department’s top priority is to ensure more students can access and successfully complete a postsecondary education," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "The updated borrowing standards for the PLUS loan program demonstrate our commitment to ensuring families have access to the financing they need to reach their goal, while being good stewards of taxpayer money." New ground rules are held hostage to the Higher Education Act, which generally requires ED to wait until July to implement regulations that come out by November 1, which would extend the wait for the new rules to go into effect.
But ED said that it would push for the new standards “as soon as possible.” Some 37,000 parents and graduate students are expected to qualify that would be left out under the old standard. The PLUS loan dispute can be traced to 2011, when ED raised borrowing standards with little fanfare, leading to an increase in rejected loan applications from students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Pressure from the HBCUs led to an August draft rule for PLUS loans that would allow applicants with less than $2,085 in some kinds of overdue debt to pass a credit check. The application process will be streamlined, and ED will only go back two years instead of five when it looks into a borrower's or co-signer's credit history.
Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), co-chair of the Congressional Black Caucus Education Task Force praised the new, relaxed standards for PLUS loans, which he said would "eliminate some of the financial barriers that have limited families from federal student loan eligibility." Lost in the shuffle was the news that ED will start to calculate — and publish — the annual cohort default rate for schools receiving PLUS loans as it does for Stafford loans. That information will shed light on how many borrowers are benefiting from the loan program’s new rules—and how many are getting in over their heads.

Some observers say that the re-jiggered PLUS Loan eligibility standard still lacks a debt-to-income requirement that will not prevent borrowers who are credit-worthy when they apply from eventually incurring more debt than they can repay when left to their own devices.
Department of Education Lowers Credit Standards for PLUS Loan Eligibility - MainStreet