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Folks, this isn't a black or white issue. I'm not advocating for complete forgiveness, but we need a complete overhaul of the student loan system and more avenues for borrowers who are struggling right now. Everyone's situation is unique and should be treated as such. We need to be creative to tackle these student law problems. I do believe some people warrant principal reductions or even forgiveness especially those who racked up loans from some of the shady vocational schools that were misleading and/or flat-out lying to students for years. We need to recognize our entire education system in this country is broken from public primary schooling all the way up to higher education and stop blaming individuals for trying their best to improve their standing in life under this system.
I'm really sick of the divisive rhetoric coming from some folks here on this issue. I think some of the people constantly harping for "personal responsibility" may be somewhat oblivious to what's going on right now for many. Just because you were lucky and managed to "get yours" doesn't mean the person next door can be just as fortunate and they may be working just as hard if not harder than you. I greatly wish some of you possessed the ability to empathize just a smidgen.
The people bearing the brunt of this are not the people who are well-settled into stable careers. They are the people who were in school or just starting their careers when the recession hit and jobs evaporated. Also, the people who were paying their students loans just fine previously but were laid off during the recession in fields with little opportunity for recovery are royally screwed. For example, I know many young attorneys who either had decent positions or would have easily found one less than a decade ago who are now forced to do temporary doc review work sans health insurance with weekend part-time jobs just to stay afloat. Yikes! I'd love to see some of you "personal responsibility" chest-thumpers pay off your loans when you're earning half of what you were before or projected to earn at the outset of your career yet still working your butt off.
It wasn't on City-Data but on another site where a lawyer said he was billing $600 - $1000 an hour. Perhaps an older gentleman who had a better economy. Still, to get to that point, he said both him and his wife slept on floors for years and made a number of lifestyle adjustments in order to do that. If someone could prove that the employment numbers being used to sell loans were falsified or that there were predatory practices/schools, I'm not so against working something out with that.
Folks, this isn't a black or white issue. I'm not advocating for complete forgiveness, but we need a complete overhaul of the student loan system and more avenues for borrowers who are struggling right now. Everyone's situation is unique and should be treated as such. We need to be creative to tackle these student law problems. I do believe some people warrant principal reductions or even forgiveness especially those who racked up loans from some of the shady vocational schools that were misleading and/or flat-out lying to students for years. We need to recognize our entire education system in this country is broken from public primary schooling all the way up to higher education and stop blaming individuals for trying their best to improve their standing in life under this system.
I'm really sick of the divisive rhetoric coming from some folks here on this issue. I think some of the people constantly harping for "personal responsibility" may be somewhat oblivious to what's going on right now for many. Just because you were lucky and managed to "get yours" doesn't mean the person next door can be just as fortunate and they may be working just as hard if not harder than you. I greatly wish some of you possessed the ability to empathize just a smidgen.
The people bearing the brunt of this are not the people who are well-settled into stable careers. They are the people who were in school or just starting their careers when the recession hit and jobs evaporated. Also, the people who were paying their students loans just fine previously but were laid off during the recession in fields with little opportunity for recovery are royally screwed. For example, I know many young attorneys who either had decent positions or would have easily found one less than a decade ago who are now forced to do temporary doc review work sans health insurance with weekend part-time jobs just to stay afloat. Yikes! I'd love to see some of you "personal responsibility" chest-thumpers pay off your loans when you're earning half of what you were before or projected to earn at the outset of your career yet still working your butt off.
I believe we can all agree that the system needs an overhaul.
I believe we can all agree that the economic downturn wrought all sorts of misfortune on those who have done nothing wrong.
But where is the logic of forgiving student loans of these individuals? How do you absolve debt for the unfortunate while ignoring that you're also absolving the debt of those who have willingly and eagerly walked away from that debt years ago, even before the Great Recession?
More importantly, what about those who paid their student loans off, includng untold numbers in accrued interest? Is this one of those "go sccrew yourself" moments that society is beginning to embrace in light of the new bailout mentality that we've been forced to swallow?
I expect them to weather the economic downturn just like most other American's are by doing whatever it takes to survive. If that means working 4 part time jobs, so be it. Life is not fair. Government handouts aren't the solution.
How about a 2-year freeze on re-payment of the loan. The interest would still accrue like normal but the balance remains. Currently, the borrower has to go back to school to get a similar type of deferment which just adds more debt and doesn't produce an income. That's two years, a significant amount of time. It would be a temporary relief in order for the individual to regroup.
How about a 2-year freeze on re-payment of the loan. The interest would still accrue like normal but the balance remains. Currently, the borrower has to go back to school to get a similar type of deferment which just adds more debt and doesn't produce an income. That's two years, a significant amount of time. It would be a temporary relief in order for the individual to regroup.
I could support this idea, no problem at all. As a gesture of good will, i'd add that the accrued interest should be capped at 1% in order to keep the principal from growing at monster rates during the period of unemployment.
maybe people should go to schools they can afford? I've never understood why my university has so many students from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. All three states have schools (especially Penn State) that are comparable to Maryland in most programs. And yet students actively choose to go out of state and pay out the ass for it.
I could support this idea, no problem at all. As a gesture of good will, i'd add that the accrued interest should be capped at 1% in order to keep the principal from growing at monster rates during the period of unemployment.
They should be employed as a requirement as the unemployment benefits are already available. Wouldn't matter the type of employment. I think it would be a good opportunity for them to get established without the immediate burden of the debt. And that would be $150 to $900 or whatever their monthly student-loan payment is that would be deferred for two years. This would be a one-time only type of thing. This money would also be put back directly into the economy as that portion of their income would be spent on things other than debt service. I'm up for the 1% cap on the interest rate.
They should be employed as a requirement as the unemployment benefits are already available. Wouldn't matter the type of employment. I think it would be a good opportunity for them to get established without the immediate burden of the debt. And that would be $150 to $900 or whatever their monthly student-loan payment is that would be deferred for two years. This would be a one-time only type of thing. This money would also be put back directly into the economy as that portion of their income would be spent on things other than debt service. I'm up for the 1% cap on the interest rate.
I misunderstood you....but now that I'm clear on your proposal.... I still like it. I would support this.
I believe we can all agree that the system needs an overhaul.
I believe we can all agree that the economic downturn wrought all sorts of misfortune on those who have done nothing wrong.
But where is the logic of forgiving student loans of these individuals? How do you absolve debt for the unfortunate while ignoring that you're also absolving the debt of those who have willingly and eagerly walked away from that debt years ago, even before the Great Recession?
More importantly, what about those who paid their student loans off, includng untold numbers in accrued interest? Is this one of those "go sccrew yourself" moments that society is beginning to embrace in light of the new bailout mentality that we've been forced to swallow?
I don't think the goal should be to forgive each borrower's student loans. That would not be workable, IMO. Instead, I would suggest creating some sort of framework where we can assess each struggling borrower's needs and determine which options would work best for her. It may just be a longer period of deferrment with a low interest rate for some. For others who are in significant debt but in fields with minimal chance of repayment (e.g. people in large loan debt to be chefs, social workers, etc.), then there should be the options of principal reductions based on need. The main people who I think should receive forgiveness are those who have been paying diligently for quite some time before they developed hardship and those who received loans to some of these nefarious educational institutions. Otherwise, perhaps a good method to help borrowers would be to cap the percentage of income a private student loan lender can demand each month as payment.
I think it's important to take care of our struggling student loan borrowers for the same reason we have bankruptcy laws in place. We want to give people the opportunity to make right their misfortunes and/or mistakes. We also don't want to people drowning in debt to become futher burdens of the state. Personally, I have a problem with wiping out the debts of people who rack up massive credit card debt while living way beyond their means, but providing little to no help to people who are encumbered by student loan debts as they try to pursue a career.
In regards to the people who have already paid or can pay their loans reasonably, I do not think they should matter much in this equation. The goal isn't to wipe the slate clean for everyone, but to make life manageable for the people geniunely struggling and, in turn, put more disposable income back in the hands of hard-working Americans. We need to be pragmatic about tackling this issue without demonizing people who are not as well off as some of us.
Last edited by ariesjow; 04-09-2012 at 02:03 PM..
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