Cancel student debt? The petitions begin.....

[hipeter924]

If we never went into Iraq, we could have bailed out students, and fixed the education system. Though America is at the point now that billions of dollars in additional debt to make it easier to get Americans an education, wouldn't be detrimental.

 

[MizMolly]

Cancel All Student Debt - The Petitions Begin Zero Hedge


Good idea?

Bad idea?

Cancel the debt. Big business gets bailed out, time to help out the little guys

 

[HenryBHough]

How about a package deal?

Forgive all student loans.
Refund all student loans previously repaid.
Eliminate all future student loans.
Offer, instead, minimum wage employment on WPA type projects, maybe fighting forest fires, but only to those who have been accepted by a secondary school.

 

[hipeter924]

I took a grand total of $2000 in a Stafford Loan between 1992 and 1994 to get my degree. I now make roughly $80,000 a year and support myself quite nicely. I paid that loan off 4 months EARLY back in the mud 1990's.

The moral of that story is two-fold......

1. Don't take more loans than you can repay.

2. Don't take a degree that doesn't have an immediate, paying career at the end of it.

Tell that to everyone that took out a loan in 07' or '08, as you never had to deal with a major recession* or with rapid technological changes.

You have it easy compared to those getting educated today, as for that same job you would have to take on 50-100k of debt.

Doubt someone could pay off that in 4 months today, let alone walk in off the street and expect a job.

*The 70s oil shock and even the the net crash were like pin pricks compared to the '08/09' recession.

 

[Anathema]

Tell that to everyone that took out a loan in 07' or '08, as you never had to deal with a major recession* or with rapid technological changes.

If I was 15 years younger I wouldn't have gone to college. I'd gave gone to a Vocational H'S and right into a trade.

I paid the loan off 4 months early, not in 4 months. It was a 24 month loan paid in 20 months.

 

[Unkotare]

education has a value... except to uneducated twits.

So, YOU don't value education?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

we're the only civilized country that puts a college education out of reach of most people.

are you proud of that?

Considering most people don't need one it doesn't bother me in the least.

only someone uneducated would say that.

I have an MBA.

most people understand the value of an education. we can't compete in the world with uneducated dolts who have no concept of history or law or literature or science or math.

The reason we have to fill those jobs with foreigners is because American college students aren't choosing to pursue those fields; it's not an issue of affordability. Our entire education system is broken and American children are lazy academics.

people who believe what you do are the problem in this country.

People who believe like me are realists, the outside of the box thinkers, the innovators, the people who actually make shit happen. Where are all these college educated people supposed to work? We already have a saturation of people with Bachelor's degrees who can't find employment. You don't need a college degree to be educated and there are plenty of professions that pay well which don't require one. Furthermore, there are many employers out there that do require a degree when it simply isn't necessary, so maybe we should try to change the system instead of dumping more dollars into a broken one.

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

If we never went into Iraq, we could have bailed out students, and fixed the education system. .

Actually we couldn't because that was all debt spending anyway and bailing out student debt is not the answer to the problem. It's just a temporary band-aid.

 

[Andylusion]

Cancel All Student Debt - The Petitions Begin Zero Hedge


Good idea?

Bad idea?

we're the only civilized country that puts a college education out of reach of most people.

are you proud of that?

Instead of mindless hearsay and empty claims, how about we look at the actual facts.

Top 10 Most Educated Nations - worldatlas.com

The US has the 4th highest level of education per capita in the world, behind only Japan, Israel, and Canada.

Yes, I am proud of that.

World Reputation Rankings 2013 - Times Higher Education

Out of the world wide, top 50 highest ranked institutions of learning, 28 of them are US institutions, with 7 of them being in the top 10.

Yes I am proud of that.

To claim we need to change a system that had resulted in the best international education institutions, and has one of the highest levels of educated people in the world, is pure absolute idiocy.

Top 20 countries for international students Higher Education Network The Guardian

Almost three quarter million students travel from countries all over the world, to come to America to get educations. Clearly they knew where the best education is.

 

[Andylusion]

If we never went into Iraq, we could have bailed out students, and fixed the education system. Though America is at the point now that billions of dollars in additional debt to make it easier to get Americans an education, wouldn't be detrimental.

Don't be ridiculous.

Economics 101, you reduce the price, and more people will purchase. The INSTANT that you even hint at bailout out student debt, all constraints and prudence students use now to hold their spending in check, will go out the window. We'll have trillions more in student debt, as every person in the country starts taking all the classes they can, knowing government will pay off their bills.

It's like amnesty for illegals. We tried that, and everyone flooded across the border, believing they would get citizenship. Just like when when Obama mentioned he would try and get kids under a certain age citizenship, suddenly we had thousands on thousands of kids sitting on our borders.

You tell people government will bailout student debt, and the first thing people will do is ring up as much debt as possible.

 

[bucs90]

I want a refund too!

College is a ripoff these days. Its hipsters payying 50K for cover charge to a 4 year party.

 

[timslash]

Very good idea, but it's very sad that this idea is just an utopia...
Nobody will never cancel debt for students, because it's not profitable! Because our government will never cut our military spending to teach our kids more useful things than just shooting!

 

[Anathema]

education has a value... except to uneducated twits.

Education has a value. OVER-education does not.

I'll use myself as an example.... I knew what I wanted to do for my career by the end of my Freshman year in HIGH SCHOOL. I molded my classes in high school to meet the requirements necessary to get me into the level of college I would need to fulfill that career vision. I chose a college with a two-year degree program in my career. This meant I was able to get through school faster, less expensively, and in a program focused specifically on what it was I wanted to do. A four year degree was not necessary for my career and only made sense if one was seeking to become a manager or fulfill other supervisory position. I've spent the last 20 years of my life in that career field and I've (mostly) enjoyed the experience.

In recent years some colleges have started offering 4 year degrees in my field. I've never gone back for either the Management classes or the extended degree programs. I'm where I want to be, doing what I want to do, and can easily see myself here for the next 25 years. I don't want to be a Supervisor/Manager and I'm not interested in the sort of work which requires the 4 year degree.

Under the philosophy that you're espousing, I'm a fool for not wasting another two years of my life and who knows how many thousands of dollars to expand my "Education" beyond what I ever intend to use. Are you really suggesting THAT is the way our education system should work? What's next..... Gas Station Attendants with Masters Degrees in Philosophy?

 

[DGS49]

Does anyone here understand the concept of theft?

You sign a contract stating that (1) if you - the lender - give me X amount of money, then (2) I - the borrower - will pay it back, with interest.

Without (2) the lender would never give you the money. The borrower has relied on that promise and relied on your integrity. YOU TOOK THE MONEY.

Even ASKING for forgiveness of the loan is tantamount to asking for a sanction of theft.

If, many years later, you regret your decision to borrow the money, so what? You took the money. End of story.

There are many ways to finance an education, and many ways to finance a life. You could have decided not to go to college and gone to work. Millions of high school grads do it every year. But you voluntarily chose a path that involved a need for money that you did not have. Did anyone force you to try college? To borrow the money?

Not to get personal, but I financed my college with (a) personal savings, (2) part time jobs, (iii) the GI Bill, (D) a modest student loan, (e) a modest scholarship, (6) a small loan from my grandmother ($250), and (vii) employer reimbursement of tuition costs. It took me from 1968 through 1982 to get my doctorate (law degree). When I graduated I had no school-related debt.

So you'll get no sympathy from me for your fcuking student loans. Pay up.

 

[jillian]

education has a value... except to uneducated twits.

Education has a value. OVER-education does not.

I'll use myself as an example.... I knew what I wanted to do for my career by the end of my Freshman year in HIGH SCHOOL. I molded my classes in high school to meet the requirements necessary to get me into the level of college I would need to fulfill that career vision. I chose a college with a two-year degree program in my career. This meant I was able to get through school faster, less expensively, and in a program focused specifically on what it was I wanted to do. A four year degree was not necessary for my career and only made sense if one was seeking to become a manager or fulfill other supervisory position. I've spent the last 20 years of my life in that career field and I've (mostly) enjoyed the experience.

In recent years some colleges have started offering 4 year degrees in my field. I've never gone back for either the Management classes or the extended degree programs. I'm where I want to be, doing what I want to do, and can easily see myself here for the next 25 years. I don't want to be a Supervisor/Manager and I'm not interested in the sort of work which requires the 4 year degree.

Under the philosophy that you're espousing, I'm a fool for not wasting another two years of my life and who knows how many thousands of dollars to expand my "Education" beyond what I ever intend to use. Are you really suggesting THAT is the way our education system should work? What's next..... Gas Station Attendants with Masters Degrees in Philosophy?

What is over-education?

There is always a market for gas station attendants. And I'm a big proponent of vocational schools and community colleges because not everyone is a candidate for a university education.

I think your decision not to proceed further was misguided. A liberal arts education is important. The right's contempt for education is beyond me.

My son wants to be a classical musician. In addition to his music studies, we are making him get an academic degree. Why? Because it gives him options. Because it gives him a broader world view. Because a college degree unquestionably equals higher salaries.

 

[DigitalDrifter]

I don't have a problem with having a conversation going forward about whether or not we want to provide college education the same way as we do K thru 12. But, the students right now who agreed to pay for their education, need to complete that agreement and pay up.

 

[Unkotare]

The right's contempt for education is beyond me....

Beyond you because it doesn't exist.

 

[Judicial review]

I'm a conservative and I believe all math and science/physics classes need to be free and anybody with student debt in the last 10 years due to these classes should have it eliminated or if they paid it receive a refund. However, add 1 federal condition to it. Colleges need to make algebra/basic science/humannities an elective and not mandatory for ANY degree not in Mathematics and science. Period.

I also believe student loans should have a zero % interest rate until 1 year after the student has graduated not 6 months and repayment should begin at that time with a fixed 1% interest rate.

I also believe the stafford federal loan should be increased from the basic 60,000 or whatever it is to $100,000. Eliminate pell grants all together and allow students at community colleges access to the stafford loan.

This will make EVERYBODY happy and eliminate a ton of student debt AND save every student a 1-2 years of school. Most importantly allow everybody to go to college and relocate out of poverty.

math and science like algebra and biology are taught in high school and it's redundent to force them to take it again.

 

[DGS49]

As a tight-fisted, uncompassionate, conservative, hateful, anti-education ass-hole - and former member of the Great Right Wing Conspiracy - I would be willing to fully pay for college degrees at state colleges out of taxpayer funds.

If only the top 25% of high school graduates (based on TEST SCORES) are admitted. The other 75% have no business being in college and are on their own.