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Biden promised student loan forgiveness when he campaigned for president. Up till now he has only forgiven a very small part for a few students.
Quote:
President Joe Biden promised to lessen the $1.7 trillion student-debt crisis during his campaign, promising debt cancellation and reforms of key student-loan programs.
Politicians say all sorts of things and make many different promises to various groups to get people to vote for them.
A lot of people have heartburn with any student loan forgiveness. Especially pissed off are people that saved for tuition and have no student debt & people that never went to college having to shoulder the financial burden for others.
Also part of getting an education is paying for books, supplies, housing and food. Some colleges have dorms and students pay rent to the college. A lot of student debt money went to pay these incidental items that are not direct education related.
Would people be more inclined to debt forgiveness or not charging interest on the tuition portion of the debt? Borrowers would still be on the hook for any money borrowed over and above the cost of tuition. It doesn't seem fair to forgive living expenses for students for 4 or more years.
An example would be someone owing $25K in student loans. $16K of that is tuition, the balance for other expenses. The borrower would owe the entire principal and interest on the $9,000 that was spent on living expenses. A portion of the $16K tuition money would be forgiven or else eliminate the interest portion of that money.
I suspect the reason that there hasn't been any movement of student loan forgiveness is due to its' overall unacceptability to those who don't have any student debt. Trying to find a solution that satisfies both sides often results in inaction on the issue.
Or does anyone have other ideas that they think might appeal to both groups?
My thought would be to forgive a certain percentage of student loan debt. This would help provide relief from the skyrocketing cost (well beyond inflation) to attend college while still leaving a level of responsibility commensurate with how much one went into debt for.
Nothing is going to appeal to everyone. But just basing it on tuition, you run into similar issues.
There are people that chose less expensive colleges because they did not want to go into debt. Many went through a 2 year Community College first to minimize the cost. Many worked their way through college.
Why should these people be forced to subsidize someone who knew that the college they were going to was more expensive and that they were going to fund it through Student loans?
Nothing is going to appeal to everyone. But just basing it on tuition, you run into similar issues.
There are people that chose less expensive colleges because they did not want to go into debt. Many went through a 2 year Community College first to minimize the cost. Many worked their way through college.
Why should these people be forced to subsidize someone who knew that the college they were going to was more expensive and that they were going to fund it through Student loans?
These are good points. I think in an effort to be fair, perhaps calculate what tuition would cost in a given state if the student had gone to state college and went the community college route. Whatever that basic cost is could be the fixed amount forgiven to anyone still owing on their loans. If someone went the fancy private school route, then they shouldn't expect a full loan forgiveness, they could have gone the more affordable route.
But for sure, there is no way to come to any solution that will appeal to all. Doesn't mean the whole concept should be scrapped, especially since it was a campaign promise.
I got a ton of student loan debt. Lower interest to some nominal amount or get rid of it would be fine with me. It’s one thing to charge the high costs but to also allow Congress to set interest at 8%+ profiting off young adults is a problem. I know for years I’ve paid a lot of my income into my loans only for the principal to grow.
I expect to see more traction on this as we get closer to November elections, either in 2022 or 2024. This is the sort of campaign promise that doesn't go away, but it can be holstered for later use to boost approval ratings or climb the polls. I doubt he'll wipe away all debt, because someone has to pay the tab and there will be a consequence when $1.7 trillion is at stake.
There has to be some sort of regulation in place that prevents colleges from hiking tuition rates if Uncle Sugar is paying the bill. Otherwise these universities can charge with impunity. There should also be exceptions made for certain degree programs. I don't feel it's fair for tax payers to pay tuition for someone who wants a liberal arts degree at a pricey private college when they could have gotten the same degree from a state or online university. You want that degree in Art History or Gender Studies, get it from a state university or pay for it yourself. Students need to do their research and develop realistic expectations about how their degree will be marketable for a living wage.
Make the school give out the loan to the potential student and the loan interest can only be 1%.
The government should get out of student loan business. No more grants, etc. If the tuition is too high then less students will attend. College is expensive due to admins going bonkers on the campus.
The government should provide a tax incentive for job training. This way you don't need a 4 year degree for some office jobs. A business certificate and job training for suffice for accounting, finance, management, and marketing.
1.5 to 2 years of university core then 2 years of your major doesn't really equal to mastery of a "major". You receive less class time in college. it's only 16 weeks to master 5 to 6 classes in a semester. It is somewhat of a joke.
There is another group that opposes student loan forgiveness not yet mentioned, the group that I am in. Those who at one time had huge student loans and struggled and scrimped and packed in to apartments with several roommates in order to pay them off. I did the hard work to pay mine off I shouldn't now have to help others pay theirs off.
From that perspective it's the same as those that elected not to go to college - maybe they took out a loan to open a landscaping business. They rolled the dice on an investment too, why is their gamble less worthy? I understood that when I went to college - and then later for post graduate school - that I was taking loans and that it was an investment, and a gamble that it would be worth it. That's how people need to approach them.
I don't think there is any forgiveness scheme that will satisfy those that oppose it outright.
There is another group that opposes student loan forgiveness not yet mentioned, the group that I am in. Those who at one time had huge student loans and struggled and scrimped and packed in to apartments with several roommates in order to pay them off. I did the hard work to pay mine off I shouldn't now have to help others pay theirs off.
From that perspective it's the same as those that elected not to go to college - maybe they took out a loan to open a landscaping business. They rolled the dice on an investment too, why is their gamble less worthy? I understood that when I went to college - and then later for post graduate school - that I was taking loans and that it was an investment, and a gamble that it would be worth it. That's how people need to approach them.
I don't think there is any forgiveness scheme that will satisfy those that oppose it outright.
I think this is true. People should not be rewarded for not honoring the terms of the loan that they took out. Student loan forgiveness only makes suckers out of the people who actually do honor the terms of their loans and pay them off.
It also makes the students and their parents who actually saved and paid for college out of pocket feel like suckers.
People need to end this bizarre fascination with FREE things and getting something for nothing. Who is going to pay for your student loan? Look in the mirror - that's who.
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