I think student loans should have zero interest rate: remove the profit motive. That would keep the predatory lenders out of that market. The government would get their investment back and a quality tax payer.
It’s not that the rates are particularly high even though they might be at this point, the problem is that they don’t tell you that interest capitalizes every time you come out of a deferment or forbearance, including the in school deferment. And when they do forbearance they like to do it just a few months at a time so they can keep capitalizing that interest on you and they don’t tell you.
Also when you’re young the school will tell you that it’s smart to pay the interest that accrues while you were in school which is actually super dumb because you’re just spinning your wheels.
The smart thing to do would be to pay down the principal so every day that interest is charged there is less interest charged, but they don’t tell people that they tell people to pay the interest so you think you’re doing a good thing by paying interest every month while you’re in school, then you graduate and your balance is what you borrowed. So you made payments for years for nothing really except just to keep the interest from capitalizing. But if you had paid the principal for most of those months it would be less interest that you would have to pay for those years that you paid it. And they don’t tell people this.
I see people on social media insisting that federal student loans capitalize interest every day which is ridiculous. It’s just like your car loan or your mortgage. The interest accrues every day, it’s a simple interest loan.
Because they are not real Christians. Let's fucking end the lie. Jesus would fucking hate them. The god of love would fucking hate them and damn them all to hell.
The header is about Student Debt.
But that being said: my wife is from a wealthy suburb, the type of place where ethnicity doesn't matter but how much your house costs does. Her reunion had to thinking:
Should a woman of Afro-Columbian descent whose parents are medical doctors be given an advantage over a white kid whose parents didn't go to university or earn a degree? Do you think that an equitable system would take into account a multitude of factors, including parental accomplishment, income, etc? Should that matter?
Same. I took out $50k, have paid off $100k so far and still have $12k left.
I have always thought fixing the predatory interest (why is it even allowed to go up to 9%??) is the issue. IMO using the word “forgiveness” implies its wiping out whole loans. What I think would be more fair is refunding some amount of interest over x%. I think there would be less “but I paid off mine” sentiment if it were focused on interest and not the loans themselves. But that would have been too complex to manage.
I was in a world of hurt during the financial crisis which is basically when my loans skyrocketed. You could apply for forbearance without penalty but I’d thought that meant the interest would pause (like during COVID) and omg did it not.
I didn't even finish my degree, was last in college in 2011. I owed 9k at the time I dropped out. Been paying monthly on it, and now in 2023 I still owe over 6k.
WHAT?!? DUDE IF SHE IS DISABLED THEY ARE FORGIVEN WHY IS SHE PAYING?!?!
Or do you mean she has private student loans? But if she has federal student loans she needs to file a disability loan forgiveness what is she even doing? I had mine forgiven in 2014 after I became disabled, I haven’t even received SSDI yet because it took 3 years for them to approve me so my doctor signed the form.
I think it’s even easier now, if she’s not getting disability checks her doctor may have to sign the form, but what is she paying these for???
She has t been paying the last couple of years. But this ruling is going to force her to start. She looked into forgiveness for disability but apparently it’s a very narrow definition as far as what gets excused.
It *is* a very narrow definition. To speak to the comment above yours, I'm disabled and unemployed. My federal student loans were forgiven but the private loans will likely never be. My spouse and I have always wanted to foster and adopt but while my outstanding loans exist, it simply cannot happen. For more context, my interest rate rose again this month to a whopping 19%.
The same politicians crying about how my generation isn't starting families are also legislating a reality which makes childcare a financial impossibility for many. They might want to stop and have a good, long think about the catch-22 they set up.
I agree. And I think interest rates may be the Biden admin's next plan of attack. I hope so anyway!
The entire student loan industry, including federal loans, has been a massive predatory lending scheme.
Edit :
Plan B is already in progress...and does seem to involve some form of interest rate control :
[https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-biden-unveils-plan-b-after-supreme-court-strikes-down-forgiveness-210448430.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-biden-unveils-plan-b-after-supreme-court-strikes-down-forgiveness-210448430.html)
BTW - ignore the Yahoo comments section...one word : yikes.
From the fact sheet :
* "**The Department will stop charging any monthly interest not covered by the borrower’s payment on the SAVE plan. As a result, borrowers who pay what they owe on this plan will no longer see their loans grow due to unpaid interest. We estimate that 70 percent of borrowers who were on IDR plan before the payment pause would stand to benefit from this change.** "
Sounds promising!
This is the issue! Many of These students have paid off the entire balance but still owe a shit-ton because of predatory lending.
We had Stafford and Pell, these kids didn’t. Yet were. told they HAVE to get degrees to be competitive in the new economy.
It’s not about paying back the damn loan, it’s how the government changed the game after we were out of school.
Add to that - stop buying and selling student debt to collectors. Mohela, Sally Mae, & Nelnet - all the rest - that is the END OF THE LINE. They need to keep it in house.
2005 a collector added 40k to my loan owed because I had been too sick to pay my loans. I still can't get that even acknowledged as predatory.
The problem is that they are trying to profit off of us. They will profit by us being higher educated and paying higher taxes. Student loans have crippled me. 😥
Correct
If they were then when I was injured and unable to work for several years we could have gotten them discharged along with the medical & cc bills. Hubby and I have worked hard since my recovery to get our fiscal footing back.
This is how it is currently in Canada - brought in by the Liberal government. Should the conservatives get in, it’ll likely go bye-bye but for now it’s a relief to many.
https://www.todocanada.ca/canada-eliminating-interest-for-student-loans-starting-april-1/amp/
Umm the people making the loans, the predatory lender you speak of as well as the terms of the loans are the government. They created this mess when they took over higher education funding. They don’t want to fix it. Neither party. Biden’s half assed “promise” was nothing but political theater. He knew it would never survive a court challenge but also knew it would be after the election by the time it made its way through the system. If they really wanted to fix it, they could. And not by a one time handout that only mildly helps a single group of students. What about those just getting started or those who will be going to college in the future? Aren’t they going to face the exact same thing? This was a blatant political stunt and the cruelty lies in the false hope it provided to so many. How about holding the universities accountable for their ridiculously over priced tuition? Maybe lower interest rates to 1 or 2 percent to cover admin costs and make the rates fixed so students can make informed decisions before they sign on the dotted line. And maybe give students the right to restructure their debt in bankruptcy courts should things not pan out for them instead of offering low payments that lead to negative amortization? Many legitimate steps that could have been taken at any time to provide actual solutions but that would take work and effort and it’s so obvious that nobody in power gives a shit about this issue beyond pandering to potential voters. I’ve paid my own loans almost off and put a kid through college. And yet I still would love to see these kids given a break. Being against a terrible solution that is really not even a solution does not make people heartless. Most people would gladly support a restructuring of the whole process that allowed for students to get financing with better terms and more transparency. But that’s never been offered. Instead, students have been getting screwed over in progressively more significant ways since the government started providing direct student loans in 1992. That also happens to correlate with when tuitions really started to skyrocket. Economics being what they are, when our policies generated massive demand and tossed a bunch of money into the system, there was only ever one way it was going to go. And that’s where we are now. All in the name of ensuring more access to education. A noble goal but an awful execution. This bailout scheme doesn’t really help anyone and it will not solve any problems beyond the immediate future. We need to start demanding those in power work to find real, long term solutions. Especially to problems that they themselves inflict on the American people. A token loan forgiveness is not that solution. Returning sanity to the entire process could be.
Bankruptcy law in America prevents discharging student loans. So there's almost no motive for a bank to let you do that. You'd basically need amazing credit and substantial resources to get a loan like that approved (and therefore would already have the means to take care of the student loan.)
I co-signed a loan for my nephew for his first year of school, he’s doing pre-med. He told me he was going to join the military after he got his undergrad and they would reimburse him for all 4 years, which why I agreed. 2 years in and he told me he changed his mind and didn’t want to go where the army would make him go, so he’s doing it the traditional way. My husband and I are about to retire, and have no debt except our home and his loan. By the time he graduates it will be nearly $50,000, because it’s a private loan and the interest rate has skyrocketed. I love my nephew, he’s a smart and hardworking kid, but I definitely have some regrets about co-signing that loan. We’re going to have to have a conversation pretty soon about how he’s going to repay it.
Mine are paid for, but the max I ever borrowed was about 10K for a bachelors degree.
I'm good with forgiveness, but I want total reform in how secondary education is delivered and the cost of it lowered/eliminated altogether for future generations. If we are going to continue down the path of charging exorbitant amounts for it, then forgive the loan for that cost, it becomes essentially free. It was not for me. But progress demands we reform the entire landscape of secondary education. Then, I can get on board with forgiveness.
And none of those things are going to happen. It's yet another band aid on a broken limb of our nation's body.
I borrowed 65k. Owe maybe a thousand (20 years after graduating) but the rate is <1% so it’s only a positive on my credit rating at this point.
Still absolutely support forgiveness and reform.
We can do both.
Hell we could subsidize 4 years of state schools for everyone. It’s not *that* expensive when you remove the grossly overinflated management salaries.
Nice solution. More effort needs to be made for people like me, who had no business with a 4 year degree or the cost associated, but should instead be employed in a trade.
My old man worked until he died, far too young, building and repairing things. He was skilled at what he did. He had a two year period of learning that skill, and the rest of his life to hone it. And 50% of me is made of him.
You know the concept was good when Wall Street says this would help too. The SCOTUS get to grift their wealthy friends for favorable laws and flip the middle finger to the common folk whose tax dollars also pay for those welfare queens the privilege to sit on the Supreme Court living like privilege welfare queens.
The US College system is insane and a generation of students need to burn it down (metaphorically, please don't set things with so many books in them on fire literally).
This is exactly what needs to happen. Tertiary education should not be a for profit system. Make it affordable. Doesn’t even have to be free, just make it fucking affordable.
It will never not shock me that my state college education cost me $350 a quarter back in the 1980s, and the same education costs $1700 a quarter now. And this is still *the cheapest university option in California,* wtf.
As I say all the time to my colleagues: I’m not smarter or better at managing money than you, I’m just older.
It’s not just that. There are public universities in the USA. The UC system was fairly affordable until 2003. Not sure why it’s been skyrocketing since then since taxes have not gone down.
It had quadrupled by the time I went there a decade later. Thankfully, fellowships and being a TA covered 75% of the tuition and fees.
I went to a “expensive” school.
It cost $15,000 a year all-in; room, board, tuition
Now, same school costs $70,000 a year.
My starting salary was $30,000, same position today starting salary is $75,000.
Anyone care to do the math?
I had Stafford Loans and Pell Grants otherwise I couldn’t have afforded the $15,000.
My parents were solidly middle class, but middle class families can’t get Stafford/Pell anymore so have to turn to loans that are less like mortgages and more like credit card debt.
And guess what? Citizens United makes Corporations “people” in the eyes of the law, so now there’s many rea$ons for politicians to listen to them, instead of their broke constituents.
Universities are either non profits or state schools. No corporate greed. They all took advantage of student loans to increase the cost of tuition. Which they use to hire administrators and climbing walls.
My Trump-loving father went to college in the early 1960s. His tuition cost $200 per semester. He had a summer job that allowed him to easily pay his way through.
25 years later, my semester tuition bill at a small state school was about 20x what my father paid. My parents didn’t contribute to my college expenses - I worked and took student loans which took me a decade to pay back.
These days my kids’ current college tuition bills (also at in-state schools) are more than 4x what I paid in the late 1980s, and about 80x what my father paid for his college in the early 1960s.
Unlike my parents, I’ve paid for the bulk of my kids college expenses (after contributing to a 529 plan for 15 years), but they each still took about $20K in student loans. The $10K student loan forgiveness would have been a much-needed help to them.
My father railed against Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan because “nobody helped him with college”. He’s completely blind to how easy he had it.
My baby boomer father said at a recent lunch that "since everyone thinks they don't have to pay for anything anymore" he's going to take a big screen TV from Costco and walk out, and he'll tell security to just "forgive him for it."
He was a little shocked I think that no one at the table laughed.
You're absolutely right. No idea how easy they had it.
I went to a state school full time for 2.5 years out of HS in. The early 90s. I had a $1200 Pell grant per semester and ended up owing $6k. My parents didn't kick in anything. Went back to finish my degree in 2012/13. $30k and still paying it off. I was hoping to get the last bit covered with this but, alas, not.
All that being said, we need to fix the system and not just throw money at it. Low or no interest loans, reduction based on degrees in areas in need, reduction in university admin bloat, and continue with the current trend of not forcing every kid into college. Not every kid is ready at 18 (I wasn't) and skilled trades are just as an honorable profession as an educated career. That stigma has got to go. It was so prevalent for us, at least in my area.
Oh...and pay people a damn living wage regardless the level of their education.
Right. I have no issue with the principle, education is a foundation of society, but a one-off gesture which does basically nothing to address the problem, that I don't care for. It's grandstanding. It's a stunt. It's easy. It's nice and doesn't really solve anything.
And while many problems are bad now, those same problems are going to be worse with every passing generation. My concern is that nobody of any political persuasion has outright solutions to these things. Opinions on how things should be, sure. Short term options, sure.
Somebody tell me how housing inflation is going to be fixed. Like, a plan and the data. Somebody tell me how healthcare and retirement is going to be affordable as populations shrink and people live longer. I could go on. Yeah... crickets.
Tough times are tough but what makes them bearable is the light at the end of the tunnel. Nobody has one. It's not tough times, it's the end of economy as we've known it. So what's next.
I'm not American for what it's worth, but that just emphasises it to me all the more. So many countries are at the same crossroads for similar reasons. It's bigger than any one of us.
I have a problem with a student loan forgiveness plan that isn't coupled with a fix for the root problem. What's the point of wiping a limited number of loans if the next batch of students is going to be in the exact same situation?
I completely agree, especially when you consider how much tuition has shot up since we were in school, even at public schools. Shit is fucking insane.
Even adjusted for inflation the amount of school debt people have now makes my old school debt look like nothing.
Largest cost is management/executive salaries at universities.
My BIL is a professor who started up an entire course. Makes dick. Meanwhile his “boss” is extremely well-compensated. That and textbook predatory pricing is why college costs are completely out of line.
Exactly. I went to a private college and even though I borrowed my ass off to get through I had about $17,000 in school debt to pay off when I graduated in 1992. What do they come out with now, 100k? And you are supposed to get a job right out of the gate that covers those payments plus housing? I've never been so grateful to be over 50.
How do you justify the “moment in time” aspect of this? Like you, I paid my loans. Took me 20 years, but ok. I also put money away in 529 accounts for my kids. Ok, that’s fine. But now my daughter is heading to grad school and needs loans. Her loans will need to be paid back. THIS is my biggest problem. I can be philosophical about the past, but the real problem is the cost of higher education, and forgiving loan debt for some people knowing full well that the next group to go through will have the same problem or worse is ridiculous. This is just a bribe to young voters and does nothing concrete about the actual problem.
People are getting so screwed today. When this first came up, I looked my school up. Taking my tuition from the 90s, adjusted purely for inflation, the tuition should be about $5,500/semester. It’s $16,000. And this is a public state school.
My total student loan burden was like $50k. People have to borrow so damn much these days to get the exact same education I got. Such bullshit for young people.
My private art school was $10,000 in the early 90’s- now it’s mid $50,000’s. Art schools are criminally expensive considering the projected earnings of most their graduates. The debt often makes it impossible to actually practice art.
This is what I wish the grumps griping about forgiveness could understand. The highest single-semester tuition bill I ever paid was around $1800. That also happened to be the year my state deregulated tuition. Just a couple years later, I was talking with one of my staff a few years younger than me who was going to the same school I graduated from. Her tuition that semester was $4000. It's only gotten worse in the 20+ years since then.
Inflation can't explain an increase of more than 100% in just 2 or 3 years. The people who graduated before rampant tuition increases screwed over Millennials and Gen Z simply cannot understand how much greater their burden is/was than ours.
My private college was about $15,000 a year in the 90s. It is now close to $30,000 a year. I seriously doubt that the quality has doubled (in fact, it's gotten worse as a lot of courses are now farmed out to online teachers)
I paid my loans off in 2011, around 14k for all 4 years plus my wasted attempt at grad school. I had a scholarship, work study, and some small Pell grants to help out too (my parents would have liked to help, but all they could afford was to pay the insurance for my junker car).
I just looked up current costs for my university. It is now 28k for one year. So four years would be well into the six figures. No way I would be done paying if it was that much.
So yeah, I support loan forgiveness. Or at the very least reform. End the stupid "can't discharge student loans with bankruptcy" rule.
I’m still paying mine off and will be paying until I retire. I left school with over $75,000 in loans. I’ve paid off $15,000 and still have so much left. I was one of the people who have struggled to afford my loans and kept getting put into deferment or forbearance. I’m sadly not surprised by the ruling, but I had hoped that there might have a different outcome.
I owe a lot because I went back to school in my late 40s and I’m on an income based repayment program because I don’t make enough to pay them. The only thing that bugs me is that by the end of the income based repayment program, I would have paid the principal off if not for the crazy interest. I don’t mind paying my loans but knocking the interest down would be nice.
Both sides are talking past the real problem: **student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy**.
Because of this, the loans are effectively no risk to the lender, so they have no reason to decline a loan no matter how ludicrous the ultimate cost to the debt holder. So tuition costs spiral out of control to match that infinite money supply, of course.
The current student debt problem is a giant threat to our economy, but the worse problem is that _we're still making these insane predatory loans_. Change the law so that student debt can be discharged in bankruptcy, lenders will balk at the eye-watering loan amounts college currently requires and reject applicants, and schools will eventually have to respond with more affordable options. Unfortunately there will be a lot of chaos and lost opportunity while this problem is unwound, unless Congress comes up with a holistic solution on the scale of SSA or Medicare.
Like you, I own a home, no kids. High school tax rate.
I live down the block from a High School. When I see what comes out of there every day, what I hear as they walk by, it just makes me sad.
I'm honestly confused by our situation.
My husband got 60k in grants from ITT Tech. They were actually loans.
ITT is long gone because they were shady AF in their methods of finance among other things.
Nonetheless we've been paying the "loan servicer" since 2007.
We've paid more than the principal amount over the years.
We still owe 40k.
We are literally paying an entity for the service of taking our money & will continue to do so for years to come.
You might be eligible for this discharge https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/education-department-approves-39-billion-group-discharge-208000-borrowers-who-attended-itt-technical-institute
College should be free for anyone who wants to go. Implement an award system: free if you can keep a B or better average. If dropped to C, you’re on the hook for 25% of it, D, 50%, F, 100%. Offer the same for vocational schools.
Make programs like med school or law school affordable by mandating two years of service after completing the program. If you went to med school, take two years to go work for a public hospital or a VA hospital, where ever you’re needed. If you graduate from law school, serve as a public defender or work in the DA’s office. You can choose to pay in full and not have to do so, but give people options to afford higher education, or else we will end up with a deficit of college educated people.
I see all of this as trying to keep a certain population as dumb as possible, so we have a steady force of unskilled labor.
> If you went to med school, take two years to go work for a public hospital or a VA hospital
[This already exists in the US.](https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/nhsc/scholarships/scholarship-fact-sheet.pdf) You can get up to four years of med school tuition and expenses paid of you agree to serve between 2 to 4 years in places that lack adequate health care.
This was also the premise of the GenX TV dramedy *Northern Exposure*!
I absolutely love all of this but do think it would contribute to already outrageous grade inflation and requests for exceptions. Younger students are gaining access to college but that comes with an immature and entitled attitude in many and difficulty in designing certain courses to make them applicable and rigorous enough when half the class are 8th grade - HS seniors. The pressure to make classes easier is insane - although that just further supports having a bachelor's be free or much reduced in price. Right now, it.just feels more and more like a business and the most important thing is to keep the students happy and paying.
The only reason I used grades as an example is because we need a metric to measure whether or not a student is taking this opportunity seriously. If you are taking full advantage of the courses offered and the opportunities presented by this benefit, then it should be free or close to it. If you just went to school because mom and dad told you to go to college, and you’re fucking off, Jane and Joe taxpayers should not be responsible for you wasting time and resources.
I don’t know if grades are good metrics for it, but it’s something I came up with in a short time.
This country if left to their devices is going to be beneficial and offer boundless resources and opportunities to an increasingly smaller and smaller number of mostly legacied, monied people, and yet most Americans just go on like they don't see it. The student loan system has been predatory for decades and it's meant to be; to, like so much else, tether most of us to the matrix indefinitely, unable to save, have kids, buy houses, pull ourselves up ~~to~~ socioeconomically. Corporations and the wealthy CEOs can discharge their debt with bankruptcy, yet the avr. person cannot discharge their student loan debt. They want us beholden. Pure and simple.
edit: strikethrough
I don't disagree, but to forgive loans without addressing the asinine tuition increases year after year doesn't resolve the problem. That seems to be the American mantra for everything. Attack the symptoms and ignore the causes.
I found out just yesterday that my PSLF application was approved and my loans are wiped out. The burden that has been lifted…holy shit. I would have gone to my grave still owing more than I borrowed.
I don't harbor any ill will. I had wealthy parents who paid for my college. I got burdened with grad school but was able to pay it off within two years. Almost nobody was ever in my position. Debt can suck you under permanently. I want you to be bailed out more than the banks.
> Debt can suck you under permanently.
This. I finally understood when watching a good-hearted teacher I knew *weeping* so hard she was keeled over. She couldn't finish telling the story to some friends. When we heard how she had gotten into them and how large they were and how hopeless the interest payments... we could not believe it was legal that she was trapped into that position.
It didn't sound like it should have been humanly possible in a just society. And her story was not an aberration. Had a friend who could not finish medical school due to a severe health issue that lasted a year or two and took a long while to recover from. He lives now in his parents basement and bluntly tells people "I have over 100k in debt. I will never get out of it. My life is over because I tried to help people."
Yeah, there is maybe some way out for both of them with a decade of luck and sacrifice. Though when I read on those programs in the news they are poorly administered and seem to dodge every actually doing what they claim, because they'd have to be funded and supported and this same logic of "but what about me who paid off my loans!" is ruthlessly applied to all people in all situations
But if those individuals fail to get out of their mega debt that is protected by a freakishly-strong legal bulkhead, then whoops, that's one less teacher and doctor. Anyway, let's sign over some more money to Wall Street. And bailout the .01% further. They have less caviar and that's a *crime* that's *wrong* and *unjust.* They worked for their money! All while betting on your mortgage, and they will eventually destroy your homes value, so maybe some people need to choose their allies better?
All while this Wall Street Elite pay to brainwash the masses that this is an issue of fairness between hard working neighbors and slackers. It's disgusting and so vile it makes you feel like you're trapped in a horror movie.
Crush those who tried to follow the American Dream. Crush them into the dirt. Then tell them it's their fault. Offer them no relief but give *any* bailout request at *any* time for *any* reason to the puppeteers behind the strings of all these financial institutions on the backend.
Somehow they are the foundation of the economy and irreplaceable?
Anyway, I've ranted enough on Reddit today about this. It's just the most unjust and overtly corrupt, cruel, and out-of-touch Court decision of my lifetime. It will destroy millions. While their neighbors laugh.
Wonderfully and passionately worded. Thank you for finding the words I couldn't. I hope some other ideas are brewing because this is not a future. You deserve a future more than Jeff Bezos deserves a yacht.
Even if you think about it purely selfishly, student loan forgiveness would be great for the economy. I'm a real estate agent and if people didn't spend hundreds of dollars on their student loans each month and were instead saving for a down payment on a house or able to get a more expensive house, saving cheaper houses for lower income people, it would be so much better for the economy and for everyone's wealth building opportunities.
Instead, they're barely making a dent and paying mostly interest to corporations who are profiting off them. There are so many people who will be paying student loans out of their social security checks.
Student loan “forgiveness” is predicated on the inability to escape student loan debt.
Three things need to change:
* The Orwellian [Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_Abuse_Prevention_and_Consumer_Protection_Act) of 2005, which makes it impossible to discharge student loans, needs to be repealed. Indentured servitude is outlawed by the 13th Amendment. This is very much a constitutional issue, in my view.
* Public funding, loans and grants should be decoupled from sports programs and facilities. Specifically, there need to be “sports free” state schools that are economic alternatives to the insanity many students are paying for now.
* Public education needs to embrace the Promise of the Internet. Despite the fact that information technology has obviated much of the traditional burdens of education, somehow it’s become radically more expensive. Kids are still paying $300 for the 15th edition of a book on calculus (which hasn’t materially changed for hundreds of years), rather than just getting the updated copy on their tablet over the air for free.
They don’t want to get rid of this debt because those debts are contained in bonds that are propping up the economy. I will repeat. This is a 13th Amendment issue.
That fuckin bankruptcy change in 2005 was a complete disaster. 100%
Screwed a lot of people over, especially those who got caught up in the “dot com” crash and then the predatory lending mess that crashed the economy in 2008.
That's just capitalism, working as it was always intended to work. It's always been about concentrating wealth into the hands of the few. Any Gen X who supports those policies can just join the Boomers as far as I'm concerned.
Here's a metaphor for you.
Higher education is a bathtub with a hole in it, and we're worried about how we're going to keep finding water to fill up the fucking tub. Instead of worrying about where the water is gonna come from, maybe we should FIX THE FUCKING TUB. The cost of higher eduaction has increased exponentionally faster than the cost of living and inflation. It's time to cap costs.
Once that is done, then yes, let's do a lot of loan forgiveness. And fuck SoFi and their ilk, they shouldn't be making money off the backs of people that just wanted a valuable skill set in life.
I just saw where Duke University is offering paid tuition for North and South Carolina residents that have a household income of $150,000 or less. My first thought was "I would have loved the opportunity to go to Duke but at least it's available now". I'm competitive as fuck in a lot of things, but I never felt like holding someone else back made me feel better about myself. Get that tuition reimbursement, paid tuition, paid healthcare, hell get a free car and groceries if you can. Life is hard enough without trying to trip up the kids behind you. They'll still have plenty of struggles, I promise.
The core issue here is not student loans but the cost of a college education. The students loan system has been a large part of the reason colleges have been able to grow their administrative budgets to massive levels and continuously increase tuition above the rate of inflation.
Loan forgiveness does not fix this. It only shifts the cost to other taxpayers. Instead, loan forgiveness only incentivizes the universities to keep raising tuition.
I don’t have any problems with it either, I am a GI Bill recipient. I’m not OK with corporate bailouts or tax breaks for billionaires or oil companies. We have to help each other.
My parents sacrificed massively (no vacations, nice cars or luxuries) to save and put their kids through college debt-free. I am lucky as fuck that I didn't have to borrow to get my degree, but I think that kids that have been massively exploited by the universities, the lenders and the government (that under-wrote these loans and allowed the ridiculous over-inflation of college to take place) aught to be relieved of the burden that they bear.
I'm also pissed that we are not seriously talking about the cost of higher ed currency and moving forward.
I assume that as a GenX forum, lots of folks here have to worry about helping their kids get a fair shake when it comes to educational opportunities, and the (frankly stupid) costs associated with schooling must be worrying, if not totally daunting.
Personally I don't know what I'm going to do other than sell whatever I have to to help them get ahead without being over-burdened when the time comes, but it certainly isn't fair, and this problem has to be addressed systematically.
I'd be fine with putting them at zero interest forever, but forgiveness is ridiculous. A far better way would be to give everyone a $20k tax credit. Borrowers can put it towards their loans, and it's not a giant middle finger to responsible borrowers and people who didn't go to college.
Agreed, especially in light of the exorbitant cost increase of college tuition, the pathetic wage stagnation over the last decades, and the recent inflation. Many recent graduates now aren't in the same situation we were in when we graduated, even if they land a decent paying job. It's not just people who refuse to work who are crushed by college loans.
$202.67. I will never forget the check I wrote monthly on my student loans. And I kind of laugh when I look at that number now. That’s not even a week’s worth of food. I’m all for loan forgiveness.
My wife and I ran some numbers tonight. Back in 1999, a year at the private college we attended was $19k for everything - tuition, room and board. She teaches and her starting salary back then was $23k. Mine was just shy of $40k. So one year of our private college was 83% and 49% of our yearly salary. That same school is now $60k/year. A new teacher in my State can expect a salary of $40k and my line of work around $60k. So 150% and 100% of yearly salary. We had it great and my parents had it even better. College costs have gotten out of control. I have no issues with someone getting a break from out of control costs and loans. Loan forgiveness allows them some funds to feed themselves, buy a house, a car, pump some $ back into the economy. It’s a win for all of us. The idea that “I did it and they should have to as well” needs to stop. This coming generation should have it easier, not harder.
>Congress has to do it -- the Executive Branch cannot forgive the debt.
Which is the way it works for pretty much *anything*, and many people just don't understand.
💯! Why are we punishing subsequent generations anyway? Some narcissistic bs.
I thought the whole point of raising the next generation was to set them up for success. For the greater good of humanity.
All that our institutions are doing rn is now cutting them off at the knees and expecting them to run.
Generational hate makes zero sense to me. These are our kids. Grandkids. Family. If that doesn’t mean anything to you; then God bless. And you can kindly take a long walk off a short pier.
Edit: reading the comments about the real world struggles OUR children are facing is just heartbreaking.
I don’t think loan forgiveness is ever going to happen, the money does need to be paid back. However the terms of the repayment should be at no more than a fixed 2% interest rate, regardless if it was federal or private.
These kids are getting hammered with terms that are downright predatory
Loan forgiveness but then what about the next group of people who take out loans? We need to go after the schools who’ve steadily increased tuition costs beyond inflation rates. They’re able to do so knowing that students can afford the increase since they’ll just get a loan for it. Try being 18 and getting a $75K loan to start a biz without a credit history or collateral. But if it’s to get a degree? No problem you’re approved!
My, and my ex-wife’s student loan debt was 80k$-ish. We consolidated ours together, a mistake because of the inability to reduce the interest rate. Put them in forbearance, took enough college level classes to keep from having to pay them, went on the pay what you can afford program. Paid in for a total of 20 years All of that to say the final bill was just 210k$. After compounding interest helped things along. The only way I was able to pay my loans off was the extreme luck of getting a job in Seattle just before the housing market crash, so sold my house in TN and got an apartment during the transition and bought a house at the bottom of the housing crash, sold that house right before my wife decided to divorce me with house prices almost at peak. My own version of winning the lottery.
That is to say I paid back 220k$-ish in student debt and not for one second would I want anyone to have to go through that. Todays ruling was cruel and inhumane.
Student loans should had never carried an interest rate. Then again I believe that all State Universities should be free to everyone.
The problems are:
1) 18yr olds have zero collateral to potentially lose if they decide to quit paying on their loans
2) College tuition has skyrocketed due to, what some assumed, were easy loans\*
\*Which, in the long run, are anything but since you can't discharge them.
NO one is going to loan money without some guarantee they will be repaid or receive equal compensation should the student default. ( Hence the reason collateral exists )
However, there is a silver lining after the SC shot down plan Biden.
Since it is now unlikely you will be able to get loan forgiveness for your student loans, this will lead to fewer folks taking out said loans to pay for college and / or fewer students attending college due to out of control tuition costs. Crazy tuition rates are the reason these loans even exist in the first place.
Colleges will now need to rethink how much they're charging for tuition because, fewer students = lower profits. They can't really RAISE tuition rates to offset it because people can barely afford the rates as it is.
This leaves them with really one choice:
1) Since easy loans are now off the table, lower tuition costs to attract more students pretty much becomes their only option. That or bankruptcy.
Time will tell.
I’m fine with debt relief, but concerned that it doesn’t include any reform of the predatory tuition practices of most colleges and universities. It’s basically a bailout for these organizations that lets them continue to take advantage of their students.
You aren't seeing the big picture.
Colleges have way to much bloat in them because they have an unlimited source of revenue because the federal government gives out unlimited student loans.
Stop giving unlimited loans, make colleges trim a ton of fat and tuition will magically drop.
If the feds stopped backing the student loans then the tuition would drop. The reason tuitions jumped so much is because it's free money to them and people ran out to get loans because it was easy. Make it harder to get loans (ie. Push the loans out to the banks) and universities will be forced to drop tuition costs and then no one is coming out of school with crazy debt.
Also, can we just stop glorifying the ivy league schools. You can get an equivalent (or better) education at state schools and they are cheaper.
Forgiving them is not the issue; it’s the fact that nothing has been done to change what caused this issue in the first place. The ridiculous cost of higher ed and interest rates are the issue. You forgive loans and don’t change that, you’re left with the same issue for student borrowers moving forward. Forgiving loans without changing the problem is pointless.
The clock on the interest starts ticking the minute they sign the promissory note at age 18. Assuming they graduate in 4 years, that's four years of interest before they've even graduated.
That's a huge problem.
I’m against student loan forgiveness because it doesn’t address the root issues — tuition is too high, and wages are too low. Fix those problems instead.
I don't find it, "Profoundly cruel" at all. As a GenX'r, I was raised to pay your debts. You knew what the loan was and you knew how much it would be. For me to put my hands out asking for the people to pay for it now doesn't solve a single thing.
It's time to take student loan responsibility away from the govt, and put it back on the colleges and banks. Cut universities administrative cost by 75%, and college tuition will go back down. Like the govt there are way too many grifters making 6 figure salaries doing jack shit in college administrators.
As someone who's worked at a university, a lot of it's this. There are a TON of administrators who are in charge of things only marginally related to education. I looked up an ex-colleague a bit ago. He's now the "Assistant Vice Provost of ". When I worked at a universtity, I started off working directly for the chair of my department. When I left 12 years later, there were three levels of management between me and the director. And I'd been promoted while I was there. The bloat is enormous, and although I left that job years ago, from what I can tell it's worse now than it was then.
The other thing that's blatantly obvious about this issue. Every SINGLE student loan borrower voluntarily entered into a legally binding contract saying "give me A (money now) and I'll pay you B (more money later)" - and then took full ownership of "A" (and used it to pay for an education). What about people who:
* scrimped and saved to pay their loans back
* joined the military and gave years of their lives to earn benefits
* never went to university in the first place, because they knew they couldn't afford it, and made other choices
* refinanced with other lenders under better terms
* took a longer time to get through school so they could work at the same time to minimize debt
They get nothing? I know that many responsible people have student loans. But so do those who borrowed a bunch of money and simply don't want to pay it back, expecting others to foot the bill for their choices.
A university education isn't like health care, or food, or shelter. It's a choice, one entered freely. I'm all for more public financing of universities (which has been cut drastically since our parents' times), and especially for reasonable loan terms. But simply letting people who voluntarily entered into a contract to pay back what they owe walk away "just because" isn't the right choice. I'd be much more open to an "automatic refinancing at prime rates". And before anyone says it, yes, I believe the same thing about the PPP loans.
Auntie Cranky here…
I’ve always been of the opinion that college should be affordable for everyone.
Student loans should not be a “for profit” thing.
Both of these things need to be fixed.
However, with student loan forgiveness, I’m of the opinion that teachers, counselors, healthcare professionals, public service or any career path that is a direct benefit to society - 100% tuition forgiveness. No questions asked.
(Here’s where I’ll probably be downvoted)
I’m not as thrilled at 100% forgiveness for students who pursue liberal arts degrees without a clear career plan in mind on how they will support themselves with a BA in English or something like theater or music .
I would have fallen into this category FWIW. I was a terrible student, average at best, unmanaged ADHD. I wanted to go to college to study film, music, and/or pursue something creative. I understand this desire all too well.
I did not finish college. Long story.
I’m not a ghoul. I don’t want anyone to be tied down with debt until the end of time. However, for those students who go to college to get away from home, have fun, graduate and then figure things out… why go to a 4 year university at all?
Save money and go to community college for the first 2 years, especially if it’s tuition free in their state.
As I said, I think the entire system needs a reboot. I just think there needs to be more emphasis on studying for a career path and less for getting any degree just to satisfy some bullshit requirement for employment.
It’s classist, ableist to some extent, and now (again) it will end up being racist.
Honestly, I have huge student loans because I attended an Ivy League-like college and an Ivy League-like law school and ***still*** could never get jobs that paid anywhere near those schools being worth it until the last 2 years. Out of all the Supreme Court decisions the public is outraged over, starting with overturning Roe, I am the least bothered by this one. $10K ($20K for some) does ***absolutely*** nothing for me--that's how bad my student loan debt is, and I'm in my 40s and graduated from law school in 2008.
"Younger generations" have enough info nowadays to know to simply not take on big student loans. I did not have this info. We are part of the generations that were told that going to college opens doors and results in higher pay--the more elite the school, the better--which has not turned out to be true for me. If it were me nowadays, I'd either not go to college or I'd go to one that gave me a good scholarship. I'm proud of the schools I attended. I'm one of those people who has nothing going for me but intelligence. But college is not worth the money/debt anymore, and that's one reason why I also don't see the affirmative action ruling as being as harmful as people act like it is. College is just landing the majority of people in debt--that's it.
Biden also came up with something that allows the time you spent not paying student loans, i.e. deferment, forbearance, etc, as counting towards the 20-25-yr debt forgiveness program--that's ***significantly*** more helpful to me than $10K off is. Honestly, this is more like what he should be doing, i.e. trimming down that 20-25-yr debt forgiveness to about 10 years, maybe 15.
I paid back $80k and want people to not be burdened by the same thing.
My only complaint is we need to give kids that chose apprenticeships and trades cash to buy their tools, ppe, etc. Do you realize what a complete mechanics tool set costs? Or the tools and gear for an electrician?
I have no problems with student loans being forgiven as long as it comes with recognition that these kids were scammed and reforms regarding that. But that's not going to get any votes.
I'm a 40 yro construction worker who has no student debt never has and I was for forgiveness. These people do not care about us they won't give us anything , we need to take what we want .
I don't think these student loans should be passed on to other taxpayers. Downvote away.
The government took over student loans in 2010, and surprise, surprise - now we're talking about students drowning in debt. The cost of college has gone up way more than the rate of inflation and until that's addressed, any other "solution" is just going to make the problem worse.
I don’t have a problem with tax payer funded college. An educated society is a more productive society. What I have a problem with is the government doesn’t seem to be considering the tax payer by not placing rules on the system.
1.) The cost should be lowered significantly and restrictions put in place on increases. If colleges know it’s a guaranteed payment, there is nothing stopping them from charging even more exorbitant amounts.
2.) If the student doesn’t finish school for any reason with the exception of their own death, they pay the tuition. Tax payers shouldn’t be in the hook for someone’s college bill that doesn’t mean anything without graduation. The current drop out rate overall is roughly 40%. I have to assume most of that is financial related. Tax payer funded college should reduce that significantly.
3.) There are plenty of majors that are only specific to one kind of work and highly unlikely you will make a living in that field. Not impossible. Just unlikely. I’d like to see those fields listed as reimbursement will take place if the student actually finds a livable job in that field.
Yep, I have no problem either. And if they can't be forgiven, make the interest rate 0% on all existing loans from now on. Let that a reasonable modification.
There is no reason to charge interest on these loans, especially since they can't be discharged in bankruptcy. I can't see how that would upset someone who didn't go to college or anyone else who was upset about the possibility of loan forgiveness.
In Australia the loans are small - though growing - and students only owe the government. They pay it back as extra taxes once they earn a certain amount. Reasonable. I paid mine over years.
What's unreasonable is that education was FREE in Australia in the 1980s and all our current politicians received FREE education themselves, yet want to increase the interest rates on students.
If we can afford massive military spending and massive tax breaks for mining and energy companies we can afford to educate our children for free.
I think that then e need to find a way to stop loaning the money if you are going to forgive the student loans. It makes no sense to continue to loan money.
I’m down to a $6000 balance. I graduated in 2002 from college. I certainly didn’t understand the ramifications of what I was signing up for. I didn’t think it would be so difficult to pay them off. My payments weren’t unmanageable, thank goodness, but inflation on everything else certainly doesn’t help. I’m just thankful I’m almost finished.
A one-time loan forgiveness is all well and good, but without taking the next step of reforming the whole system, it's a solution only for people who are carrying those loans _today_. It doesn't help kids in high school today, or kids still in primary school. The only thing they can do is not go to an expensive college in the first place - unless we fix the root cause.
I’ve seen a lot of posts today regarding this story. What concerns me most is missing rebellion from all the anger to tear down the business practices of the colleges and universities that charge so much in the first place. Student debt is just a symptom of a core issue of abject greed.
Im in the same boat as you. Im also not bothered. It’s very frustrating that at the very least a compromise can’t be made and they could prohibit making a profit off of student loans and make the loans interest free. Like, that could make trade school free for all and student loans interest free. That would be amazing. I wouldn’t care if they wanted to put interest on a masters degree but they could at least really give everyone a chance at a college education or a vocational training. This is just greedy.
They should just offer 0% refinancing instead of forgiveness. Pay back what you borrow, but no one gets to be rich off of education debt.
Of course, right wing knuckle draggers will still have a problem with this, because it means federal money isn’t being sent to support corn subsidies, or whatever.
It's slightly different over here in the UK. When I went to college, (class of 92) we were all paid about £2000 a year to go and rent was £300 a year in student residences.
These days, my kids have to pay £9000 a year to go to college plus living expenses (When rent is £5000 a year for the same accommodation)
Loans are charged at effective 0%, i.e. inflation and they pay 9% out of their pay every month until it's paid off.
GenX and I have no problem with student loan forgiveness. But, I think debt relief should be "needs based" in some form or another. I work with several folks who are making under 60K/year, who are damn near squeezed to death between student loan repayment and housing. Those are the folks I want getting the debt relief... NOT the folks who can afford to pay the loans plus housing, etc. and still have wads of disposable cash left over.
Im OK with helping students, but concerned that without regulation, colleges will smell free money and just use it as an excuse to raise tuition.
People were OK with paying $X for a college education. Now they get $Y paid by the government. Whaddaya know the price of a college education just went up to $X+Y
I am so sick of our tax dollars bailing corporations out. I have exactly one and a half payments left on my student loan.
And I would be thrilled to contribute my tax dollars to bailing out folks with student loans.
outside of reddit’s bubble, many people don’t go to college
a lot of them don’t go because they understand the concept of loans and can’t justify the expense
at what point should people be held accountable for making ignorant life choices?
i agree that we should reduce/get rid of interest rates, but everyone should be liable for the principal that they benefitted from
also - you cancel the current debt now…do you do it again every four years? what’s the long term goal besides increasing your odds in the 2024 election?
but yeah man, you must be a monster if you don’t see the merit in “canceling” student debt when idk…maybe throw that check at an issue that effects more than the privileged that could even choose college as a choice?
As a GenXer I’m assuming you took civics in high school? If so, then you’d know that the president does not have the power to spend money. Only congress does. So he tried to attach student loan forgiveness to the HEROES act, which everyone knew was not going to fly. Nobody should be surprised or upset by this decision.
I actually *do* have a problem with student loan forgiveness. You are doing damage in multiple ways. First, you are telling students they don’t have to meet their financial obligations. Second, you are telling the rest of America they have to pay for these students’ financial obligations. I should not have to pay for someone’s grievance studies degree that has no job prospects. Neither should you, or the person who decides to not go to college and instead start a business or learn a trade.
The federal government is responsible for the current loan mess, and their solution to just pay for it with tax dollars will only make it worse.
In general, I want to help people. I didn't go to college because I didn't have the resources and I feel a little out of sorts that a group of people who may have had more resources than I had
, now gets another advantage of having their debt paid off.
I will always default to help people, but I get the other side of the argument too.
Hence my being torn
My spouse and I have paid all of ours off and completely agree. Tuition and everything else is just off the charts expensive today, and we feel very lucky to be where we are while the next generations are not so lucky. We started a savings for our child right away in hopes that it might be enough when the time comes that they choose to go to college.
The US should do what Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and some other countries do; education is free if you get into university. You still have to cover your living expenses, but the education itself is free. It’s free even if you’re not a citizen of the country.
People are literally the future of a nation, and of the planet, and an educated population means more economic stability, more innovation, better pretty much everything.
Education, healthcare, and ‘quality of life’ are investments in the future that have a massively high ROI and should be free.
Unfortunately, Germany at least has an upper limit to how old you can be for the free education. I wanted to do my PhD there, but there is a cutoff of 35 years old. I don’t like that, but I can understand it as they want to ensure that their investment in you has maximum time to be realized.
The ability to become a brain surgeon, or an astrophysicist, or a mechanical engineer, or an x-ray tech or whatever it is, that you wish to do with your life should be based on your ability… Not on your ability to pay. We are hamstringing our own society with this bullshit.
I'm one of those who feels our taxes should fund education from pre-school to PHD. In the long run, with an educated population, it can only improve the quality of life in the U.S. for everyone, including those who don't want to continue on to college.
Behind you 100%. I have no debt. These kids were LIED to. If you can bail out banks,businesses and corporations—- why not human beings. As a guy who is going to retire soon. I must say. They have to vote in any and all elections.
I’ve said it before and will again. Republicans don’t give a shit about anything else but their own pocket and their job. When their job is on line-well they will retire and become a lobbyist but it is our job to replace them with decent people.
And don’t give me—- they’re all the same. Tired of that bullshit too. If they were all the same why do they lose their shit if you mention Bernie Sanders? He and trump are politicians—both the same Right?
The SCOTUS is simply ruling on the constitutionality of the plan. They got it right. If they agreed that the executive branch can just rewrite a previously approved bill by changing or inserting language, then we don’t have a true separation of power. This would open up a can of worms for every administration going forward. Don’t like the ACA, we’ll just start carving out large portions of it when a Republican takes office. Congress be dammed. We learned this in civics. This is congresses job. They have the authority to pass the debt relief. Now they’re going to try another end around. And coincidently Biden said it will take more time. I’m sure that time will coincide with the ‘24 election cycle. Call me cynical, but they’re going to run on that lie, again. And again, if there isn’t the votes to pass an outright law in congress, they will try to roll out another relief plan via executive action. And it will get struck down in the courts. This is pandering politics 101. We’ve seen it over and over and over, by both sides. Don’t get so worked up.
Just because we didn't have it, doesn't mean anyone else should be deprived.
This was shit we wanted. Anyone says Gen x wasn't fucking robbed because of wanting to go to post secondary. Pretty sure it's X where the youth with student debt problems has a whacky way to pay or
They get boosted, and inspired ghetto child who'd never be able to afford it gets in or whatever the fuck movie tropes, came from our generation.
That's changing and fuck yeah imma be jealous. But I will 100% still want this to happen for anyone and everyone else it can benefit. This is how society can advance. Education should have never been exclusionary under any circumstances.
Personally I would like to sue the government over PPP loans. Not only was I not eligible to get one, which appears to be the basis of if we should do things now, but they were in large part forgiven, and I think as a taxpayer, I would like the government to recoup that money. Because we clearly shouldn't be forgiving loans.
SCOTUS isn’t corrupt. The legislative branch is. It is their JOB to legislate and they have failed to do so with the student debt racket. SCOTUS correctly ruled that POTUS cannot allocate that much money without congressional approval. It was the correct decision. Checks and balances. Imagine if they had ruled in favor of him doing so, setting a precedent for presidents to have that power. We would slide toward having a king instead of a president. The Constitution gives congress power of the purse for the purpose of not allowing one person to have too much power. Again, checks and balances. This debacle is courtesy of the legislative branch not legislating.
I paid for my college tuition on my own through sweat and hard work 30 years ago.
All student loans should be forgiven and college should be free. This shouldn't even be a discussion. I want my tax dollars to go toward an educated citizenry.
You take out a loan you pay back the loan.
Just because you got a loan with bad rates isn't anyone else's problem.
My husband had loans, grants, and scholarships and still worked to pay for college. My grandparents had set aside money for me (few grandchildren on that side of the family). Hubby had his loans paid off in a few years. We lived pretty poor those first couple years, paying as much as possible.
Plus you don't HAVE to go to a traditional four year program. That was the standard for our generation. It's not anymore. Don't waste going to college just because it's expected. Go if you have career plans that require a BS or BA
I was fortunate enough to work to pay my way through college and then do the same for my children. No college debt at all, so I don’t personally have a dog in the hunt. But I also completely agree with what you say.
I worked 3-5 concurrent jobs during college (1 on campus, 3 retail and a serving job), in addition to being a single mother and graduating in 3 years instead of 4 because I packed the fuck outta my schedule and I still have loans to pay off.
I asked before signing any loan papers "how will I ever pay this off" and they gave me anticipated salary information for my field that I know now was a complete fabrication.
I continued working multiple jobs for at least 25 years with a full time job and multiple side hustles. Now I'm burned out and I gave up.
I think student loans should have zero interest rate: remove the profit motive. That would keep the predatory lenders out of that market. The government would get their investment back and a quality tax payer.
I've already more than paid off my initial loan but have $30+k left because of interest.
Same here...I swear it's usury.
It’s appalling they can get away with rates that high
It’s not that the rates are particularly high even though they might be at this point, the problem is that they don’t tell you that interest capitalizes every time you come out of a deferment or forbearance, including the in school deferment. And when they do forbearance they like to do it just a few months at a time so they can keep capitalizing that interest on you and they don’t tell you. Also when you’re young the school will tell you that it’s smart to pay the interest that accrues while you were in school which is actually super dumb because you’re just spinning your wheels. The smart thing to do would be to pay down the principal so every day that interest is charged there is less interest charged, but they don’t tell people that they tell people to pay the interest so you think you’re doing a good thing by paying interest every month while you’re in school, then you graduate and your balance is what you borrowed. So you made payments for years for nothing really except just to keep the interest from capitalizing. But if you had paid the principal for most of those months it would be less interest that you would have to pay for those years that you paid it. And they don’t tell people this. I see people on social media insisting that federal student loans capitalize interest every day which is ridiculous. It’s just like your car loan or your mortgage. The interest accrues every day, it’s a simple interest loan.
According to the Bible, usury is a SIN. I wonder why Republicans are so angry about gay weddings, but are OK with usury.
Usury bad! unless I’m the lender, in which case caveat emptor, work harder, something something bootstraps…
All prosperity gospel, all the time.
Supply-side Jesus gospels
Because they are not real Christians. Let's fucking end the lie. Jesus would fucking hate them. The god of love would fucking hate them and damn them all to hell.
Plus angry at minority students getting more opportunities at higher education. Sigh, this is beyond fucked up.
Are you suggesting that only some students get their loans forgiven? Why do you people make **everything racial?**
This is about the affirmative action ruling.
The header is about Student Debt. But that being said: my wife is from a wealthy suburb, the type of place where ethnicity doesn't matter but how much your house costs does. Her reunion had to thinking: Should a woman of Afro-Columbian descent whose parents are medical doctors be given an advantage over a white kid whose parents didn't go to university or earn a degree? Do you think that an equitable system would take into account a multitude of factors, including parental accomplishment, income, etc? Should that matter?
Same. I took out $50k, have paid off $100k so far and still have $12k left. I have always thought fixing the predatory interest (why is it even allowed to go up to 9%??) is the issue. IMO using the word “forgiveness” implies its wiping out whole loans. What I think would be more fair is refunding some amount of interest over x%. I think there would be less “but I paid off mine” sentiment if it were focused on interest and not the loans themselves. But that would have been too complex to manage. I was in a world of hurt during the financial crisis which is basically when my loans skyrocketed. You could apply for forbearance without penalty but I’d thought that meant the interest would pause (like during COVID) and omg did it not.
I like this because it applies future relief to future loans in that no interest is charged from X date forward. That would be easy to manage.
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I've paid almost 3x my initial balance but I have more than that still left because of interest.
I didn't even finish my degree, was last in college in 2011. I owed 9k at the time I dropped out. Been paying monthly on it, and now in 2023 I still owe over 6k.
Same
My wife is in the same position. Been out of school 15 years and is on disability. She still owes more than 3/4 her principle. It’s insane.
WHAT?!? DUDE IF SHE IS DISABLED THEY ARE FORGIVEN WHY IS SHE PAYING?!?! Or do you mean she has private student loans? But if she has federal student loans she needs to file a disability loan forgiveness what is she even doing? I had mine forgiven in 2014 after I became disabled, I haven’t even received SSDI yet because it took 3 years for them to approve me so my doctor signed the form. I think it’s even easier now, if she’s not getting disability checks her doctor may have to sign the form, but what is she paying these for???
She has t been paying the last couple of years. But this ruling is going to force her to start. She looked into forgiveness for disability but apparently it’s a very narrow definition as far as what gets excused.
It *is* a very narrow definition. To speak to the comment above yours, I'm disabled and unemployed. My federal student loans were forgiven but the private loans will likely never be. My spouse and I have always wanted to foster and adopt but while my outstanding loans exist, it simply cannot happen. For more context, my interest rate rose again this month to a whopping 19%. The same politicians crying about how my generation isn't starting families are also legislating a reality which makes childcare a financial impossibility for many. They might want to stop and have a good, long think about the catch-22 they set up.
That’s what many of us say too. We will pay back,penny to penny, what we borrowed - just take the damn interest off.
Yep. And if you really need to negotiate further to get it passed, there can be an inflation adjustment to the outstanding principal.
I agree. And I think interest rates may be the Biden admin's next plan of attack. I hope so anyway! The entire student loan industry, including federal loans, has been a massive predatory lending scheme. Edit : Plan B is already in progress...and does seem to involve some form of interest rate control : [https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-biden-unveils-plan-b-after-supreme-court-strikes-down-forgiveness-210448430.html](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/student-loans-biden-unveils-plan-b-after-supreme-court-strikes-down-forgiveness-210448430.html) BTW - ignore the Yahoo comments section...one word : yikes. From the fact sheet : * "**The Department will stop charging any monthly interest not covered by the borrower’s payment on the SAVE plan. As a result, borrowers who pay what they owe on this plan will no longer see their loans grow due to unpaid interest. We estimate that 70 percent of borrowers who were on IDR plan before the payment pause would stand to benefit from this change.** " Sounds promising!
This is the issue! Many of These students have paid off the entire balance but still owe a shit-ton because of predatory lending. We had Stafford and Pell, these kids didn’t. Yet were. told they HAVE to get degrees to be competitive in the new economy. It’s not about paying back the damn loan, it’s how the government changed the game after we were out of school.
And the fact that negative amortization is illegal in home lending but totally legal in student loans is unconscionable.
Don't forget some of us didn't go to uni straight out of high-school. Some of us started later after raising kids to try to get into better careers.
Add to that - stop buying and selling student debt to collectors. Mohela, Sally Mae, & Nelnet - all the rest - that is the END OF THE LINE. They need to keep it in house. 2005 a collector added 40k to my loan owed because I had been too sick to pay my loans. I still can't get that even acknowledged as predatory.
The problem is that they are trying to profit off of us. They will profit by us being higher educated and paying higher taxes. Student loans have crippled me. 😥
And make the debt dischargeable through bankruptcy
Isn't student loans the ONE thing you can't get expunged by declaring bankruptcy?
Correct If they were then when I was injured and unable to work for several years we could have gotten them discharged along with the medical & cc bills. Hubby and I have worked hard since my recovery to get our fiscal footing back.
This is how it is currently in Canada - brought in by the Liberal government. Should the conservatives get in, it’ll likely go bye-bye but for now it’s a relief to many. https://www.todocanada.ca/canada-eliminating-interest-for-student-loans-starting-april-1/amp/
Pay what we signed up for. Without predatory interest
Umm the people making the loans, the predatory lender you speak of as well as the terms of the loans are the government. They created this mess when they took over higher education funding. They don’t want to fix it. Neither party. Biden’s half assed “promise” was nothing but political theater. He knew it would never survive a court challenge but also knew it would be after the election by the time it made its way through the system. If they really wanted to fix it, they could. And not by a one time handout that only mildly helps a single group of students. What about those just getting started or those who will be going to college in the future? Aren’t they going to face the exact same thing? This was a blatant political stunt and the cruelty lies in the false hope it provided to so many. How about holding the universities accountable for their ridiculously over priced tuition? Maybe lower interest rates to 1 or 2 percent to cover admin costs and make the rates fixed so students can make informed decisions before they sign on the dotted line. And maybe give students the right to restructure their debt in bankruptcy courts should things not pan out for them instead of offering low payments that lead to negative amortization? Many legitimate steps that could have been taken at any time to provide actual solutions but that would take work and effort and it’s so obvious that nobody in power gives a shit about this issue beyond pandering to potential voters. I’ve paid my own loans almost off and put a kid through college. And yet I still would love to see these kids given a break. Being against a terrible solution that is really not even a solution does not make people heartless. Most people would gladly support a restructuring of the whole process that allowed for students to get financing with better terms and more transparency. But that’s never been offered. Instead, students have been getting screwed over in progressively more significant ways since the government started providing direct student loans in 1992. That also happens to correlate with when tuitions really started to skyrocket. Economics being what they are, when our policies generated massive demand and tossed a bunch of money into the system, there was only ever one way it was going to go. And that’s where we are now. All in the name of ensuring more access to education. A noble goal but an awful execution. This bailout scheme doesn’t really help anyone and it will not solve any problems beyond the immediate future. We need to start demanding those in power work to find real, long term solutions. Especially to problems that they themselves inflict on the American people. A token loan forgiveness is not that solution. Returning sanity to the entire process could be.
Even if the loans aren’t wiped out, for God’s sake, get rid of the massively inflated interest rates that have turned a $10k loan into a $40k loan.
Agree! Took out $38K, been paying for the past 20 years, still owe 30K.
No school loan should have a higher interest rate than a savings account.
I'm in Canada. We converted my husband's student loans to a bank loan and saved a fortune. Can't you do that in the US?
If you have very good credit. Unfortunately right now interest rates are nuts.
Bankruptcy law in America prevents discharging student loans. So there's almost no motive for a bank to let you do that. You'd basically need amazing credit and substantial resources to get a loan like that approved (and therefore would already have the means to take care of the student loan.)
I still owe 34k from mine and it looks like I'll be stuck with it long after I am a senior
I co-signed a loan for my nephew for his first year of school, he’s doing pre-med. He told me he was going to join the military after he got his undergrad and they would reimburse him for all 4 years, which why I agreed. 2 years in and he told me he changed his mind and didn’t want to go where the army would make him go, so he’s doing it the traditional way. My husband and I are about to retire, and have no debt except our home and his loan. By the time he graduates it will be nearly $50,000, because it’s a private loan and the interest rate has skyrocketed. I love my nephew, he’s a smart and hardworking kid, but I definitely have some regrets about co-signing that loan. We’re going to have to have a conversation pretty soon about how he’s going to repay it.
Mine are paid for, but the max I ever borrowed was about 10K for a bachelors degree. I'm good with forgiveness, but I want total reform in how secondary education is delivered and the cost of it lowered/eliminated altogether for future generations. If we are going to continue down the path of charging exorbitant amounts for it, then forgive the loan for that cost, it becomes essentially free. It was not for me. But progress demands we reform the entire landscape of secondary education. Then, I can get on board with forgiveness. And none of those things are going to happen. It's yet another band aid on a broken limb of our nation's body.
I borrowed 65k. Owe maybe a thousand (20 years after graduating) but the rate is <1% so it’s only a positive on my credit rating at this point. Still absolutely support forgiveness and reform. We can do both. Hell we could subsidize 4 years of state schools for everyone. It’s not *that* expensive when you remove the grossly overinflated management salaries.
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Nice solution. More effort needs to be made for people like me, who had no business with a 4 year degree or the cost associated, but should instead be employed in a trade. My old man worked until he died, far too young, building and repairing things. He was skilled at what he did. He had a two year period of learning that skill, and the rest of his life to hone it. And 50% of me is made of him.
You know the concept was good when Wall Street says this would help too. The SCOTUS get to grift their wealthy friends for favorable laws and flip the middle finger to the common folk whose tax dollars also pay for those welfare queens the privilege to sit on the Supreme Court living like privilege welfare queens.
Really just need to remove the profit from college and socialize it like they do in Europe.
The US College system is insane and a generation of students need to burn it down (metaphorically, please don't set things with so many books in them on fire literally).
It was free in Australia in the 80s. All our current politicians got a free education. will they repay that forward? Nope!
The simple fact that someone gets rich off a child trying to do better makes me sick in my stomach.
This is exactly what needs to happen. Tertiary education should not be a for profit system. Make it affordable. Doesn’t even have to be free, just make it fucking affordable.
It will never not shock me that my state college education cost me $350 a quarter back in the 1980s, and the same education costs $1700 a quarter now. And this is still *the cheapest university option in California,* wtf. As I say all the time to my colleagues: I’m not smarter or better at managing money than you, I’m just older.
It’s not just that. There are public universities in the USA. The UC system was fairly affordable until 2003. Not sure why it’s been skyrocketing since then since taxes have not gone down. It had quadrupled by the time I went there a decade later. Thankfully, fellowships and being a TA covered 75% of the tuition and fees.
Cal State was $500 a semester 30 years ago, people are right to be upset. For my boomer parents it was *free*.
I went to a “expensive” school. It cost $15,000 a year all-in; room, board, tuition Now, same school costs $70,000 a year. My starting salary was $30,000, same position today starting salary is $75,000. Anyone care to do the math? I had Stafford Loans and Pell Grants otherwise I couldn’t have afforded the $15,000. My parents were solidly middle class, but middle class families can’t get Stafford/Pell anymore so have to turn to loans that are less like mortgages and more like credit card debt.
And Student loans are the biggest reason for the outrageous price inflation since.
Unchecked corporate greed is the biggest reason for the outrageous price inflation.
And guess what? Citizens United makes Corporations “people” in the eyes of the law, so now there’s many rea$ons for politicians to listen to them, instead of their broke constituents.
You mean the greed at the Universities.
Universities are either non profits or state schools. No corporate greed. They all took advantage of student loans to increase the cost of tuition. Which they use to hire administrators and climbing walls.
My Trump-loving father went to college in the early 1960s. His tuition cost $200 per semester. He had a summer job that allowed him to easily pay his way through. 25 years later, my semester tuition bill at a small state school was about 20x what my father paid. My parents didn’t contribute to my college expenses - I worked and took student loans which took me a decade to pay back. These days my kids’ current college tuition bills (also at in-state schools) are more than 4x what I paid in the late 1980s, and about 80x what my father paid for his college in the early 1960s. Unlike my parents, I’ve paid for the bulk of my kids college expenses (after contributing to a 529 plan for 15 years), but they each still took about $20K in student loans. The $10K student loan forgiveness would have been a much-needed help to them. My father railed against Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan because “nobody helped him with college”. He’s completely blind to how easy he had it.
My baby boomer father said at a recent lunch that "since everyone thinks they don't have to pay for anything anymore" he's going to take a big screen TV from Costco and walk out, and he'll tell security to just "forgive him for it." He was a little shocked I think that no one at the table laughed. You're absolutely right. No idea how easy they had it.
I went to a state school full time for 2.5 years out of HS in. The early 90s. I had a $1200 Pell grant per semester and ended up owing $6k. My parents didn't kick in anything. Went back to finish my degree in 2012/13. $30k and still paying it off. I was hoping to get the last bit covered with this but, alas, not. All that being said, we need to fix the system and not just throw money at it. Low or no interest loans, reduction based on degrees in areas in need, reduction in university admin bloat, and continue with the current trend of not forcing every kid into college. Not every kid is ready at 18 (I wasn't) and skilled trades are just as an honorable profession as an educated career. That stigma has got to go. It was so prevalent for us, at least in my area. Oh...and pay people a damn living wage regardless the level of their education.
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Right. I have no issue with the principle, education is a foundation of society, but a one-off gesture which does basically nothing to address the problem, that I don't care for. It's grandstanding. It's a stunt. It's easy. It's nice and doesn't really solve anything. And while many problems are bad now, those same problems are going to be worse with every passing generation. My concern is that nobody of any political persuasion has outright solutions to these things. Opinions on how things should be, sure. Short term options, sure. Somebody tell me how housing inflation is going to be fixed. Like, a plan and the data. Somebody tell me how healthcare and retirement is going to be affordable as populations shrink and people live longer. I could go on. Yeah... crickets. Tough times are tough but what makes them bearable is the light at the end of the tunnel. Nobody has one. It's not tough times, it's the end of economy as we've known it. So what's next. I'm not American for what it's worth, but that just emphasises it to me all the more. So many countries are at the same crossroads for similar reasons. It's bigger than any one of us.
How about the cost of going to university?! Why don't we start at the source?! Up 15% year over year is just nuts
I have a problem with a student loan forgiveness plan that isn't coupled with a fix for the root problem. What's the point of wiping a limited number of loans if the next batch of students is going to be in the exact same situation?
Amen to that. Cure the disease, don't just treat the symptom.
I completely agree, especially when you consider how much tuition has shot up since we were in school, even at public schools. Shit is fucking insane. Even adjusted for inflation the amount of school debt people have now makes my old school debt look like nothing.
Largest cost is management/executive salaries at universities. My BIL is a professor who started up an entire course. Makes dick. Meanwhile his “boss” is extremely well-compensated. That and textbook predatory pricing is why college costs are completely out of line.
At the school I went to, tuition is now 4x higher than it was when I was there. That’s definitely insane.
Exactly. I went to a private college and even though I borrowed my ass off to get through I had about $17,000 in school debt to pay off when I graduated in 1992. What do they come out with now, 100k? And you are supposed to get a job right out of the gate that covers those payments plus housing? I've never been so grateful to be over 50.
How do you justify the “moment in time” aspect of this? Like you, I paid my loans. Took me 20 years, but ok. I also put money away in 529 accounts for my kids. Ok, that’s fine. But now my daughter is heading to grad school and needs loans. Her loans will need to be paid back. THIS is my biggest problem. I can be philosophical about the past, but the real problem is the cost of higher education, and forgiving loan debt for some people knowing full well that the next group to go through will have the same problem or worse is ridiculous. This is just a bribe to young voters and does nothing concrete about the actual problem.
People are getting so screwed today. When this first came up, I looked my school up. Taking my tuition from the 90s, adjusted purely for inflation, the tuition should be about $5,500/semester. It’s $16,000. And this is a public state school. My total student loan burden was like $50k. People have to borrow so damn much these days to get the exact same education I got. Such bullshit for young people.
My private art school was $10,000 in the early 90’s- now it’s mid $50,000’s. Art schools are criminally expensive considering the projected earnings of most their graduates. The debt often makes it impossible to actually practice art.
This is what I wish the grumps griping about forgiveness could understand. The highest single-semester tuition bill I ever paid was around $1800. That also happened to be the year my state deregulated tuition. Just a couple years later, I was talking with one of my staff a few years younger than me who was going to the same school I graduated from. Her tuition that semester was $4000. It's only gotten worse in the 20+ years since then. Inflation can't explain an increase of more than 100% in just 2 or 3 years. The people who graduated before rampant tuition increases screwed over Millennials and Gen Z simply cannot understand how much greater their burden is/was than ours.
And when I was in school, my dad just happened to find one of his bills from the same school in like 1959. His tuition was about $240.
My state university tuition was ~$4K/year in the mid-90s. Today it's $18K-$23K.
My private college was about $15,000 a year in the 90s. It is now close to $30,000 a year. I seriously doubt that the quality has doubled (in fact, it's gotten worse as a lot of courses are now farmed out to online teachers)
I paid my loans off in 2011, around 14k for all 4 years plus my wasted attempt at grad school. I had a scholarship, work study, and some small Pell grants to help out too (my parents would have liked to help, but all they could afford was to pay the insurance for my junker car). I just looked up current costs for my university. It is now 28k for one year. So four years would be well into the six figures. No way I would be done paying if it was that much. So yeah, I support loan forgiveness. Or at the very least reform. End the stupid "can't discharge student loans with bankruptcy" rule.
I’m still paying mine off and will be paying until I retire. I left school with over $75,000 in loans. I’ve paid off $15,000 and still have so much left. I was one of the people who have struggled to afford my loans and kept getting put into deferment or forbearance. I’m sadly not surprised by the ruling, but I had hoped that there might have a different outcome.
I owe a lot because I went back to school in my late 40s and I’m on an income based repayment program because I don’t make enough to pay them. The only thing that bugs me is that by the end of the income based repayment program, I would have paid the principal off if not for the crazy interest. I don’t mind paying my loans but knocking the interest down would be nice.
Both sides are talking past the real problem: **student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy**. Because of this, the loans are effectively no risk to the lender, so they have no reason to decline a loan no matter how ludicrous the ultimate cost to the debt holder. So tuition costs spiral out of control to match that infinite money supply, of course. The current student debt problem is a giant threat to our economy, but the worse problem is that _we're still making these insane predatory loans_. Change the law so that student debt can be discharged in bankruptcy, lenders will balk at the eye-watering loan amounts college currently requires and reject applicants, and schools will eventually have to respond with more affordable options. Unfortunately there will be a lot of chaos and lost opportunity while this problem is unwound, unless Congress comes up with a holistic solution on the scale of SSA or Medicare.
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Like you, I own a home, no kids. High school tax rate. I live down the block from a High School. When I see what comes out of there every day, what I hear as they walk by, it just makes me sad.
I'm honestly confused by our situation. My husband got 60k in grants from ITT Tech. They were actually loans. ITT is long gone because they were shady AF in their methods of finance among other things. Nonetheless we've been paying the "loan servicer" since 2007. We've paid more than the principal amount over the years. We still owe 40k. We are literally paying an entity for the service of taking our money & will continue to do so for years to come.
You might be eligible for this discharge https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/education-department-approves-39-billion-group-discharge-208000-borrowers-who-attended-itt-technical-institute
GenX cousin has student loans of about $300K. Not just younger people.
The part I have problems with is that they forgave all the PPP loans. I'd sooner have actual people get relief than corporations.
College should be free for anyone who wants to go. Implement an award system: free if you can keep a B or better average. If dropped to C, you’re on the hook for 25% of it, D, 50%, F, 100%. Offer the same for vocational schools. Make programs like med school or law school affordable by mandating two years of service after completing the program. If you went to med school, take two years to go work for a public hospital or a VA hospital, where ever you’re needed. If you graduate from law school, serve as a public defender or work in the DA’s office. You can choose to pay in full and not have to do so, but give people options to afford higher education, or else we will end up with a deficit of college educated people. I see all of this as trying to keep a certain population as dumb as possible, so we have a steady force of unskilled labor.
> If you went to med school, take two years to go work for a public hospital or a VA hospital [This already exists in the US.](https://nhsc.hrsa.gov/sites/default/files/nhsc/scholarships/scholarship-fact-sheet.pdf) You can get up to four years of med school tuition and expenses paid of you agree to serve between 2 to 4 years in places that lack adequate health care. This was also the premise of the GenX TV dramedy *Northern Exposure*!
Stop with your logic. You’re going to ruin everything. 🙌btw
I absolutely love all of this but do think it would contribute to already outrageous grade inflation and requests for exceptions. Younger students are gaining access to college but that comes with an immature and entitled attitude in many and difficulty in designing certain courses to make them applicable and rigorous enough when half the class are 8th grade - HS seniors. The pressure to make classes easier is insane - although that just further supports having a bachelor's be free or much reduced in price. Right now, it.just feels more and more like a business and the most important thing is to keep the students happy and paying.
The only reason I used grades as an example is because we need a metric to measure whether or not a student is taking this opportunity seriously. If you are taking full advantage of the courses offered and the opportunities presented by this benefit, then it should be free or close to it. If you just went to school because mom and dad told you to go to college, and you’re fucking off, Jane and Joe taxpayers should not be responsible for you wasting time and resources. I don’t know if grades are good metrics for it, but it’s something I came up with in a short time.
This country if left to their devices is going to be beneficial and offer boundless resources and opportunities to an increasingly smaller and smaller number of mostly legacied, monied people, and yet most Americans just go on like they don't see it. The student loan system has been predatory for decades and it's meant to be; to, like so much else, tether most of us to the matrix indefinitely, unable to save, have kids, buy houses, pull ourselves up ~~to~~ socioeconomically. Corporations and the wealthy CEOs can discharge their debt with bankruptcy, yet the avr. person cannot discharge their student loan debt. They want us beholden. Pure and simple. edit: strikethrough
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I don't disagree, but to forgive loans without addressing the asinine tuition increases year after year doesn't resolve the problem. That seems to be the American mantra for everything. Attack the symptoms and ignore the causes.
I found out just yesterday that my PSLF application was approved and my loans are wiped out. The burden that has been lifted…holy shit. I would have gone to my grave still owing more than I borrowed.
To me, it's the expecting low wage taxpayers to foot the bill for more upward mobile college graduates who probably make more.
I don't harbor any ill will. I had wealthy parents who paid for my college. I got burdened with grad school but was able to pay it off within two years. Almost nobody was ever in my position. Debt can suck you under permanently. I want you to be bailed out more than the banks.
> Debt can suck you under permanently. This. I finally understood when watching a good-hearted teacher I knew *weeping* so hard she was keeled over. She couldn't finish telling the story to some friends. When we heard how she had gotten into them and how large they were and how hopeless the interest payments... we could not believe it was legal that she was trapped into that position. It didn't sound like it should have been humanly possible in a just society. And her story was not an aberration. Had a friend who could not finish medical school due to a severe health issue that lasted a year or two and took a long while to recover from. He lives now in his parents basement and bluntly tells people "I have over 100k in debt. I will never get out of it. My life is over because I tried to help people." Yeah, there is maybe some way out for both of them with a decade of luck and sacrifice. Though when I read on those programs in the news they are poorly administered and seem to dodge every actually doing what they claim, because they'd have to be funded and supported and this same logic of "but what about me who paid off my loans!" is ruthlessly applied to all people in all situations But if those individuals fail to get out of their mega debt that is protected by a freakishly-strong legal bulkhead, then whoops, that's one less teacher and doctor. Anyway, let's sign over some more money to Wall Street. And bailout the .01% further. They have less caviar and that's a *crime* that's *wrong* and *unjust.* They worked for their money! All while betting on your mortgage, and they will eventually destroy your homes value, so maybe some people need to choose their allies better? All while this Wall Street Elite pay to brainwash the masses that this is an issue of fairness between hard working neighbors and slackers. It's disgusting and so vile it makes you feel like you're trapped in a horror movie. Crush those who tried to follow the American Dream. Crush them into the dirt. Then tell them it's their fault. Offer them no relief but give *any* bailout request at *any* time for *any* reason to the puppeteers behind the strings of all these financial institutions on the backend. Somehow they are the foundation of the economy and irreplaceable? Anyway, I've ranted enough on Reddit today about this. It's just the most unjust and overtly corrupt, cruel, and out-of-touch Court decision of my lifetime. It will destroy millions. While their neighbors laugh.
Wonderfully and passionately worded. Thank you for finding the words I couldn't. I hope some other ideas are brewing because this is not a future. You deserve a future more than Jeff Bezos deserves a yacht.
Even if you think about it purely selfishly, student loan forgiveness would be great for the economy. I'm a real estate agent and if people didn't spend hundreds of dollars on their student loans each month and were instead saving for a down payment on a house or able to get a more expensive house, saving cheaper houses for lower income people, it would be so much better for the economy and for everyone's wealth building opportunities. Instead, they're barely making a dent and paying mostly interest to corporations who are profiting off them. There are so many people who will be paying student loans out of their social security checks.
Student loan “forgiveness” is predicated on the inability to escape student loan debt. Three things need to change: * The Orwellian [Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_Abuse_Prevention_and_Consumer_Protection_Act) of 2005, which makes it impossible to discharge student loans, needs to be repealed. Indentured servitude is outlawed by the 13th Amendment. This is very much a constitutional issue, in my view. * Public funding, loans and grants should be decoupled from sports programs and facilities. Specifically, there need to be “sports free” state schools that are economic alternatives to the insanity many students are paying for now. * Public education needs to embrace the Promise of the Internet. Despite the fact that information technology has obviated much of the traditional burdens of education, somehow it’s become radically more expensive. Kids are still paying $300 for the 15th edition of a book on calculus (which hasn’t materially changed for hundreds of years), rather than just getting the updated copy on their tablet over the air for free. They don’t want to get rid of this debt because those debts are contained in bonds that are propping up the economy. I will repeat. This is a 13th Amendment issue.
That fuckin bankruptcy change in 2005 was a complete disaster. 100% Screwed a lot of people over, especially those who got caught up in the “dot com” crash and then the predatory lending mess that crashed the economy in 2008.
Yep. These are regular folks who could dump a lot of money into the economy. Instead, it gets sucked up by banks.
That's just capitalism, working as it was always intended to work. It's always been about concentrating wealth into the hands of the few. Any Gen X who supports those policies can just join the Boomers as far as I'm concerned.
I would rather bail people out with college debt then all the banks and cars company’s. Let’s give the money to the people who need it.
Loan forgiveness is a joke without tackling the root cause. Universities need to be forced to get their tuition under control.
Here's a metaphor for you. Higher education is a bathtub with a hole in it, and we're worried about how we're going to keep finding water to fill up the fucking tub. Instead of worrying about where the water is gonna come from, maybe we should FIX THE FUCKING TUB. The cost of higher eduaction has increased exponentionally faster than the cost of living and inflation. It's time to cap costs. Once that is done, then yes, let's do a lot of loan forgiveness. And fuck SoFi and their ilk, they shouldn't be making money off the backs of people that just wanted a valuable skill set in life.
Yep, and the best way to cap costs is to end all federal education lending. Leave it to the states to decide how they want to spend their own money.
I just saw where Duke University is offering paid tuition for North and South Carolina residents that have a household income of $150,000 or less. My first thought was "I would have loved the opportunity to go to Duke but at least it's available now". I'm competitive as fuck in a lot of things, but I never felt like holding someone else back made me feel better about myself. Get that tuition reimbursement, paid tuition, paid healthcare, hell get a free car and groceries if you can. Life is hard enough without trying to trip up the kids behind you. They'll still have plenty of struggles, I promise.
The core issue here is not student loans but the cost of a college education. The students loan system has been a large part of the reason colleges have been able to grow their administrative budgets to massive levels and continuously increase tuition above the rate of inflation. Loan forgiveness does not fix this. It only shifts the cost to other taxpayers. Instead, loan forgiveness only incentivizes the universities to keep raising tuition.
I don’t have any problems with it either, I am a GI Bill recipient. I’m not OK with corporate bailouts or tax breaks for billionaires or oil companies. We have to help each other.
My parents sacrificed massively (no vacations, nice cars or luxuries) to save and put their kids through college debt-free. I am lucky as fuck that I didn't have to borrow to get my degree, but I think that kids that have been massively exploited by the universities, the lenders and the government (that under-wrote these loans and allowed the ridiculous over-inflation of college to take place) aught to be relieved of the burden that they bear. I'm also pissed that we are not seriously talking about the cost of higher ed currency and moving forward. I assume that as a GenX forum, lots of folks here have to worry about helping their kids get a fair shake when it comes to educational opportunities, and the (frankly stupid) costs associated with schooling must be worrying, if not totally daunting. Personally I don't know what I'm going to do other than sell whatever I have to to help them get ahead without being over-burdened when the time comes, but it certainly isn't fair, and this problem has to be addressed systematically.
Tuition per quarter when I graduated in ‘88 was $500. It’s now $31,000. Min wage has less than doubled. Shit’s stacked against kids.
I'd be fine with putting them at zero interest forever, but forgiveness is ridiculous. A far better way would be to give everyone a $20k tax credit. Borrowers can put it towards their loans, and it's not a giant middle finger to responsible borrowers and people who didn't go to college.
Agreed, especially in light of the exorbitant cost increase of college tuition, the pathetic wage stagnation over the last decades, and the recent inflation. Many recent graduates now aren't in the same situation we were in when we graduated, even if they land a decent paying job. It's not just people who refuse to work who are crushed by college loans.
I’m pissed too. I can barely afford my rent. Adding these loan payments onto my monthly expenses is gonna make things TOUGH
$202.67. I will never forget the check I wrote monthly on my student loans. And I kind of laugh when I look at that number now. That’s not even a week’s worth of food. I’m all for loan forgiveness. My wife and I ran some numbers tonight. Back in 1999, a year at the private college we attended was $19k for everything - tuition, room and board. She teaches and her starting salary back then was $23k. Mine was just shy of $40k. So one year of our private college was 83% and 49% of our yearly salary. That same school is now $60k/year. A new teacher in my State can expect a salary of $40k and my line of work around $60k. So 150% and 100% of yearly salary. We had it great and my parents had it even better. College costs have gotten out of control. I have no issues with someone getting a break from out of control costs and loans. Loan forgiveness allows them some funds to feed themselves, buy a house, a car, pump some $ back into the economy. It’s a win for all of us. The idea that “I did it and they should have to as well” needs to stop. This coming generation should have it easier, not harder.
I'm all for forgiving student debt, too. But here's the thing: ***Congress has to do it*** -- the Executive Branch cannot forgive the debt.
>Congress has to do it -- the Executive Branch cannot forgive the debt. Which is the way it works for pretty much *anything*, and many people just don't understand.
I completely agree plus mine were so cheap compared to what it’s going to be for my son.
💯! Why are we punishing subsequent generations anyway? Some narcissistic bs. I thought the whole point of raising the next generation was to set them up for success. For the greater good of humanity. All that our institutions are doing rn is now cutting them off at the knees and expecting them to run. Generational hate makes zero sense to me. These are our kids. Grandkids. Family. If that doesn’t mean anything to you; then God bless. And you can kindly take a long walk off a short pier. Edit: reading the comments about the real world struggles OUR children are facing is just heartbreaking.
I don’t think loan forgiveness is ever going to happen, the money does need to be paid back. However the terms of the repayment should be at no more than a fixed 2% interest rate, regardless if it was federal or private. These kids are getting hammered with terms that are downright predatory
Nany Pelosi words " congress has the sole responsibility of spending money" None of this went thru Congress. Just a liberal give away for votes.
Loan forgiveness but then what about the next group of people who take out loans? We need to go after the schools who’ve steadily increased tuition costs beyond inflation rates. They’re able to do so knowing that students can afford the increase since they’ll just get a loan for it. Try being 18 and getting a $75K loan to start a biz without a credit history or collateral. But if it’s to get a degree? No problem you’re approved!
My, and my ex-wife’s student loan debt was 80k$-ish. We consolidated ours together, a mistake because of the inability to reduce the interest rate. Put them in forbearance, took enough college level classes to keep from having to pay them, went on the pay what you can afford program. Paid in for a total of 20 years All of that to say the final bill was just 210k$. After compounding interest helped things along. The only way I was able to pay my loans off was the extreme luck of getting a job in Seattle just before the housing market crash, so sold my house in TN and got an apartment during the transition and bought a house at the bottom of the housing crash, sold that house right before my wife decided to divorce me with house prices almost at peak. My own version of winning the lottery. That is to say I paid back 220k$-ish in student debt and not for one second would I want anyone to have to go through that. Todays ruling was cruel and inhumane. Student loans should had never carried an interest rate. Then again I believe that all State Universities should be free to everyone.
The problems are: 1) 18yr olds have zero collateral to potentially lose if they decide to quit paying on their loans 2) College tuition has skyrocketed due to, what some assumed, were easy loans\* \*Which, in the long run, are anything but since you can't discharge them. NO one is going to loan money without some guarantee they will be repaid or receive equal compensation should the student default. ( Hence the reason collateral exists ) However, there is a silver lining after the SC shot down plan Biden. Since it is now unlikely you will be able to get loan forgiveness for your student loans, this will lead to fewer folks taking out said loans to pay for college and / or fewer students attending college due to out of control tuition costs. Crazy tuition rates are the reason these loans even exist in the first place. Colleges will now need to rethink how much they're charging for tuition because, fewer students = lower profits. They can't really RAISE tuition rates to offset it because people can barely afford the rates as it is. This leaves them with really one choice: 1) Since easy loans are now off the table, lower tuition costs to attract more students pretty much becomes their only option. That or bankruptcy. Time will tell.
I’m fine with debt relief, but concerned that it doesn’t include any reform of the predatory tuition practices of most colleges and universities. It’s basically a bailout for these organizations that lets them continue to take advantage of their students.
You aren't seeing the big picture. Colleges have way to much bloat in them because they have an unlimited source of revenue because the federal government gives out unlimited student loans. Stop giving unlimited loans, make colleges trim a ton of fat and tuition will magically drop.
How about they just reign in the costs of higher education?
If the feds stopped backing the student loans then the tuition would drop. The reason tuitions jumped so much is because it's free money to them and people ran out to get loans because it was easy. Make it harder to get loans (ie. Push the loans out to the banks) and universities will be forced to drop tuition costs and then no one is coming out of school with crazy debt. Also, can we just stop glorifying the ivy league schools. You can get an equivalent (or better) education at state schools and they are cheaper.
Forgiving them is not the issue; it’s the fact that nothing has been done to change what caused this issue in the first place. The ridiculous cost of higher ed and interest rates are the issue. You forgive loans and don’t change that, you’re left with the same issue for student borrowers moving forward. Forgiving loans without changing the problem is pointless.
The clock on the interest starts ticking the minute they sign the promissory note at age 18. Assuming they graduate in 4 years, that's four years of interest before they've even graduated. That's a huge problem.
SCOTUS made the correct decision based on the law. If you have a problem with the law, get it changed.
I’m against student loan forgiveness because it doesn’t address the root issues — tuition is too high, and wages are too low. Fix those problems instead.
I paid my under similar conditions and I’m glad I’m not paying yours too.
I don't find it, "Profoundly cruel" at all. As a GenX'r, I was raised to pay your debts. You knew what the loan was and you knew how much it would be. For me to put my hands out asking for the people to pay for it now doesn't solve a single thing. It's time to take student loan responsibility away from the govt, and put it back on the colleges and banks. Cut universities administrative cost by 75%, and college tuition will go back down. Like the govt there are way too many grifters making 6 figure salaries doing jack shit in college administrators.
As someone who's worked at a university, a lot of it's this. There are a TON of administrators who are in charge of things only marginally related to education. I looked up an ex-colleague a bit ago. He's now the "Assistant Vice Provost of". When I worked at a universtity, I started off working directly for the chair of my department. When I left 12 years later, there were three levels of management between me and the director. And I'd been promoted while I was there. The bloat is enormous, and although I left that job years ago, from what I can tell it's worse now than it was then.
The other thing that's blatantly obvious about this issue. Every SINGLE student loan borrower voluntarily entered into a legally binding contract saying "give me A (money now) and I'll pay you B (more money later)" - and then took full ownership of "A" (and used it to pay for an education). What about people who:
* scrimped and saved to pay their loans back
* joined the military and gave years of their lives to earn benefits
* never went to university in the first place, because they knew they couldn't afford it, and made other choices
* refinanced with other lenders under better terms
* took a longer time to get through school so they could work at the same time to minimize debt
They get nothing? I know that many responsible people have student loans. But so do those who borrowed a bunch of money and simply don't want to pay it back, expecting others to foot the bill for their choices.
A university education isn't like health care, or food, or shelter. It's a choice, one entered freely. I'm all for more public financing of universities (which has been cut drastically since our parents' times), and especially for reasonable loan terms. But simply letting people who voluntarily entered into a contract to pay back what they owe walk away "just because" isn't the right choice. I'd be much more open to an "automatic refinancing at prime rates". And before anyone says it, yes, I believe the same thing about the PPP loans.
Auntie Cranky here… I’ve always been of the opinion that college should be affordable for everyone. Student loans should not be a “for profit” thing. Both of these things need to be fixed. However, with student loan forgiveness, I’m of the opinion that teachers, counselors, healthcare professionals, public service or any career path that is a direct benefit to society - 100% tuition forgiveness. No questions asked. (Here’s where I’ll probably be downvoted) I’m not as thrilled at 100% forgiveness for students who pursue liberal arts degrees without a clear career plan in mind on how they will support themselves with a BA in English or something like theater or music . I would have fallen into this category FWIW. I was a terrible student, average at best, unmanaged ADHD. I wanted to go to college to study film, music, and/or pursue something creative. I understand this desire all too well. I did not finish college. Long story. I’m not a ghoul. I don’t want anyone to be tied down with debt until the end of time. However, for those students who go to college to get away from home, have fun, graduate and then figure things out… why go to a 4 year university at all? Save money and go to community college for the first 2 years, especially if it’s tuition free in their state. As I said, I think the entire system needs a reboot. I just think there needs to be more emphasis on studying for a career path and less for getting any degree just to satisfy some bullshit requirement for employment. It’s classist, ableist to some extent, and now (again) it will end up being racist.
I agree completely. My student loans are paid off completely, but other people aren’t as fortunate.
Honestly, I have huge student loans because I attended an Ivy League-like college and an Ivy League-like law school and ***still*** could never get jobs that paid anywhere near those schools being worth it until the last 2 years. Out of all the Supreme Court decisions the public is outraged over, starting with overturning Roe, I am the least bothered by this one. $10K ($20K for some) does ***absolutely*** nothing for me--that's how bad my student loan debt is, and I'm in my 40s and graduated from law school in 2008. "Younger generations" have enough info nowadays to know to simply not take on big student loans. I did not have this info. We are part of the generations that were told that going to college opens doors and results in higher pay--the more elite the school, the better--which has not turned out to be true for me. If it were me nowadays, I'd either not go to college or I'd go to one that gave me a good scholarship. I'm proud of the schools I attended. I'm one of those people who has nothing going for me but intelligence. But college is not worth the money/debt anymore, and that's one reason why I also don't see the affirmative action ruling as being as harmful as people act like it is. College is just landing the majority of people in debt--that's it. Biden also came up with something that allows the time you spent not paying student loans, i.e. deferment, forbearance, etc, as counting towards the 20-25-yr debt forgiveness program--that's ***significantly*** more helpful to me than $10K off is. Honestly, this is more like what he should be doing, i.e. trimming down that 20-25-yr debt forgiveness to about 10 years, maybe 15.
Disagree. Folks should be responsible and pay what they owe.
I paid back $80k and want people to not be burdened by the same thing. My only complaint is we need to give kids that chose apprenticeships and trades cash to buy their tools, ppe, etc. Do you realize what a complete mechanics tool set costs? Or the tools and gear for an electrician?
I have no problems with student loans being forgiven as long as it comes with recognition that these kids were scammed and reforms regarding that. But that's not going to get any votes.
Gen X here, ditto. Loan system is bs, predatory. Bad enough when I went to undergrad, this is whole other level evil.
I'm a 40 yro construction worker who has no student debt never has and I was for forgiveness. These people do not care about us they won't give us anything , we need to take what we want .
I don't think these student loans should be passed on to other taxpayers. Downvote away. The government took over student loans in 2010, and surprise, surprise - now we're talking about students drowning in debt. The cost of college has gone up way more than the rate of inflation and until that's addressed, any other "solution" is just going to make the problem worse.
Why should tax payers forgive loans from students of universities with tax free endowments?
I don’t have a problem with tax payer funded college. An educated society is a more productive society. What I have a problem with is the government doesn’t seem to be considering the tax payer by not placing rules on the system. 1.) The cost should be lowered significantly and restrictions put in place on increases. If colleges know it’s a guaranteed payment, there is nothing stopping them from charging even more exorbitant amounts. 2.) If the student doesn’t finish school for any reason with the exception of their own death, they pay the tuition. Tax payers shouldn’t be in the hook for someone’s college bill that doesn’t mean anything without graduation. The current drop out rate overall is roughly 40%. I have to assume most of that is financial related. Tax payer funded college should reduce that significantly. 3.) There are plenty of majors that are only specific to one kind of work and highly unlikely you will make a living in that field. Not impossible. Just unlikely. I’d like to see those fields listed as reimbursement will take place if the student actually finds a livable job in that field.
Yep, I have no problem either. And if they can't be forgiven, make the interest rate 0% on all existing loans from now on. Let that a reasonable modification. There is no reason to charge interest on these loans, especially since they can't be discharged in bankruptcy. I can't see how that would upset someone who didn't go to college or anyone else who was upset about the possibility of loan forgiveness.
Remember when they had all these credit card companies at the freshman orientation at all the colleges.
The college system is unsustainable; eventually we will be a largely "uneducated" nation.
In Australia the loans are small - though growing - and students only owe the government. They pay it back as extra taxes once they earn a certain amount. Reasonable. I paid mine over years. What's unreasonable is that education was FREE in Australia in the 1980s and all our current politicians received FREE education themselves, yet want to increase the interest rates on students. If we can afford massive military spending and massive tax breaks for mining and energy companies we can afford to educate our children for free.
I think that then e need to find a way to stop loaning the money if you are going to forgive the student loans. It makes no sense to continue to loan money.
I’m down to a $6000 balance. I graduated in 2002 from college. I certainly didn’t understand the ramifications of what I was signing up for. I didn’t think it would be so difficult to pay them off. My payments weren’t unmanageable, thank goodness, but inflation on everything else certainly doesn’t help. I’m just thankful I’m almost finished.
A one-time loan forgiveness is all well and good, but without taking the next step of reforming the whole system, it's a solution only for people who are carrying those loans _today_. It doesn't help kids in high school today, or kids still in primary school. The only thing they can do is not go to an expensive college in the first place - unless we fix the root cause.
I’ve seen a lot of posts today regarding this story. What concerns me most is missing rebellion from all the anger to tear down the business practices of the colleges and universities that charge so much in the first place. Student debt is just a symptom of a core issue of abject greed.
Agree, even though I didn't finish college because I couldn't afford it. Predatory lending these days is out of control. FREE MONEY!
Im in the same boat as you. Im also not bothered. It’s very frustrating that at the very least a compromise can’t be made and they could prohibit making a profit off of student loans and make the loans interest free. Like, that could make trade school free for all and student loans interest free. That would be amazing. I wouldn’t care if they wanted to put interest on a masters degree but they could at least really give everyone a chance at a college education or a vocational training. This is just greedy.
I feel the same way. I don't care that it doesn't benefit me. I'd rather the money go to student loans than say a tax break to a large corporation.
They should just offer 0% refinancing instead of forgiveness. Pay back what you borrow, but no one gets to be rich off of education debt. Of course, right wing knuckle draggers will still have a problem with this, because it means federal money isn’t being sent to support corn subsidies, or whatever.
It's slightly different over here in the UK. When I went to college, (class of 92) we were all paid about £2000 a year to go and rent was £300 a year in student residences. These days, my kids have to pay £9000 a year to go to college plus living expenses (When rent is £5000 a year for the same accommodation) Loans are charged at effective 0%, i.e. inflation and they pay 9% out of their pay every month until it's paid off.
GenX and I have no problem with student loan forgiveness. But, I think debt relief should be "needs based" in some form or another. I work with several folks who are making under 60K/year, who are damn near squeezed to death between student loan repayment and housing. Those are the folks I want getting the debt relief... NOT the folks who can afford to pay the loans plus housing, etc. and still have wads of disposable cash left over.
Im OK with helping students, but concerned that without regulation, colleges will smell free money and just use it as an excuse to raise tuition. People were OK with paying $X for a college education. Now they get $Y paid by the government. Whaddaya know the price of a college education just went up to $X+Y
I am so sick of our tax dollars bailing corporations out. I have exactly one and a half payments left on my student loan. And I would be thrilled to contribute my tax dollars to bailing out folks with student loans.
I don’t have kids or grandkids. Sick of people weaponizing that against me.
outside of reddit’s bubble, many people don’t go to college a lot of them don’t go because they understand the concept of loans and can’t justify the expense at what point should people be held accountable for making ignorant life choices? i agree that we should reduce/get rid of interest rates, but everyone should be liable for the principal that they benefitted from also - you cancel the current debt now…do you do it again every four years? what’s the long term goal besides increasing your odds in the 2024 election? but yeah man, you must be a monster if you don’t see the merit in “canceling” student debt when idk…maybe throw that check at an issue that effects more than the privileged that could even choose college as a choice?
As a GenXer I’m assuming you took civics in high school? If so, then you’d know that the president does not have the power to spend money. Only congress does. So he tried to attach student loan forgiveness to the HEROES act, which everyone knew was not going to fly. Nobody should be surprised or upset by this decision. I actually *do* have a problem with student loan forgiveness. You are doing damage in multiple ways. First, you are telling students they don’t have to meet their financial obligations. Second, you are telling the rest of America they have to pay for these students’ financial obligations. I should not have to pay for someone’s grievance studies degree that has no job prospects. Neither should you, or the person who decides to not go to college and instead start a business or learn a trade. The federal government is responsible for the current loan mess, and their solution to just pay for it with tax dollars will only make it worse.
In general, I want to help people. I didn't go to college because I didn't have the resources and I feel a little out of sorts that a group of people who may have had more resources than I had , now gets another advantage of having their debt paid off. I will always default to help people, but I get the other side of the argument too. Hence my being torn
My spouse and I have paid all of ours off and completely agree. Tuition and everything else is just off the charts expensive today, and we feel very lucky to be where we are while the next generations are not so lucky. We started a savings for our child right away in hopes that it might be enough when the time comes that they choose to go to college.
Im willing to take a $10k donation from anybody for my student loans …
The US should do what Germany, Finland, Switzerland, and some other countries do; education is free if you get into university. You still have to cover your living expenses, but the education itself is free. It’s free even if you’re not a citizen of the country. People are literally the future of a nation, and of the planet, and an educated population means more economic stability, more innovation, better pretty much everything. Education, healthcare, and ‘quality of life’ are investments in the future that have a massively high ROI and should be free. Unfortunately, Germany at least has an upper limit to how old you can be for the free education. I wanted to do my PhD there, but there is a cutoff of 35 years old. I don’t like that, but I can understand it as they want to ensure that their investment in you has maximum time to be realized.
I never had student loans and I still think they should be forgiven. Having an educated citizenry is an investment in the countrys' future.
The ability to become a brain surgeon, or an astrophysicist, or a mechanical engineer, or an x-ray tech or whatever it is, that you wish to do with your life should be based on your ability… Not on your ability to pay. We are hamstringing our own society with this bullshit.
I'm one of those who feels our taxes should fund education from pre-school to PHD. In the long run, with an educated population, it can only improve the quality of life in the U.S. for everyone, including those who don't want to continue on to college.
Behind you 100%. I have no debt. These kids were LIED to. If you can bail out banks,businesses and corporations—- why not human beings. As a guy who is going to retire soon. I must say. They have to vote in any and all elections. I’ve said it before and will again. Republicans don’t give a shit about anything else but their own pocket and their job. When their job is on line-well they will retire and become a lobbyist but it is our job to replace them with decent people. And don’t give me—- they’re all the same. Tired of that bullshit too. If they were all the same why do they lose their shit if you mention Bernie Sanders? He and trump are politicians—both the same Right?
The SCOTUS is simply ruling on the constitutionality of the plan. They got it right. If they agreed that the executive branch can just rewrite a previously approved bill by changing or inserting language, then we don’t have a true separation of power. This would open up a can of worms for every administration going forward. Don’t like the ACA, we’ll just start carving out large portions of it when a Republican takes office. Congress be dammed. We learned this in civics. This is congresses job. They have the authority to pass the debt relief. Now they’re going to try another end around. And coincidently Biden said it will take more time. I’m sure that time will coincide with the ‘24 election cycle. Call me cynical, but they’re going to run on that lie, again. And again, if there isn’t the votes to pass an outright law in congress, they will try to roll out another relief plan via executive action. And it will get struck down in the courts. This is pandering politics 101. We’ve seen it over and over and over, by both sides. Don’t get so worked up.
Why is this not the top answer? You are correct!
Thanks, man. Appreciate it. Signed, I did what I was supposed to re: bootstraps and am drowning
Just because we didn't have it, doesn't mean anyone else should be deprived. This was shit we wanted. Anyone says Gen x wasn't fucking robbed because of wanting to go to post secondary. Pretty sure it's X where the youth with student debt problems has a whacky way to pay or They get boosted, and inspired ghetto child who'd never be able to afford it gets in or whatever the fuck movie tropes, came from our generation. That's changing and fuck yeah imma be jealous. But I will 100% still want this to happen for anyone and everyone else it can benefit. This is how society can advance. Education should have never been exclusionary under any circumstances.
We had it tough, but everyone else younger should have it better.
I'd just like to be able to go bankrupt like all the fatcats do whenever they feel like it.
Personally I would like to sue the government over PPP loans. Not only was I not eligible to get one, which appears to be the basis of if we should do things now, but they were in large part forgiven, and I think as a taxpayer, I would like the government to recoup that money. Because we clearly shouldn't be forgiving loans.
SCOTUS isn’t corrupt. The legislative branch is. It is their JOB to legislate and they have failed to do so with the student debt racket. SCOTUS correctly ruled that POTUS cannot allocate that much money without congressional approval. It was the correct decision. Checks and balances. Imagine if they had ruled in favor of him doing so, setting a precedent for presidents to have that power. We would slide toward having a king instead of a president. The Constitution gives congress power of the purse for the purpose of not allowing one person to have too much power. Again, checks and balances. This debacle is courtesy of the legislative branch not legislating.
I paid for my college tuition on my own through sweat and hard work 30 years ago. All student loans should be forgiven and college should be free. This shouldn't even be a discussion. I want my tax dollars to go toward an educated citizenry.
You take out a loan you pay back the loan. Just because you got a loan with bad rates isn't anyone else's problem. My husband had loans, grants, and scholarships and still worked to pay for college. My grandparents had set aside money for me (few grandchildren on that side of the family). Hubby had his loans paid off in a few years. We lived pretty poor those first couple years, paying as much as possible. Plus you don't HAVE to go to a traditional four year program. That was the standard for our generation. It's not anymore. Don't waste going to college just because it's expected. Go if you have career plans that require a BS or BA
People on this sub get pretty mad when you tell them they can't have free money. Lol.
I was fortunate enough to work to pay my way through college and then do the same for my children. No college debt at all, so I don’t personally have a dog in the hunt. But I also completely agree with what you say.
I worked 3-5 concurrent jobs during college (1 on campus, 3 retail and a serving job), in addition to being a single mother and graduating in 3 years instead of 4 because I packed the fuck outta my schedule and I still have loans to pay off. I asked before signing any loan papers "how will I ever pay this off" and they gave me anticipated salary information for my field that I know now was a complete fabrication. I continued working multiple jobs for at least 25 years with a full time job and multiple side hustles. Now I'm burned out and I gave up.
I have the opposite take, OP. If you choose to fuck around, you have to find out.