Should Student Loans Be Forgiven or Enforced?

[WildcatfaninOhio]

Can we stop calling it debt forgiveness, and start calling it what it really is? Forcing someone else to pay for your stuff! It sounds great to the folks with student debt. It sounds even better to the ass-hat politicians that will be using it to “buy” support from those it helps.

It’s an idiotic plan. But this is what I’ve come to expect from both parties, Republicrats and Demublicans alike.

 

[Ed323232]

When I was 18 I would not have understood that. I'm fairly certain most kids today wouldn't either. Maybe I'm wrong. The only thing I remember from entrance counseling was that I suddenly had to write in cursive again.

Most of the posters against this went to college on daddy’s money.

 

[TCurtis75]

Why should student loans be any different than your car loan, your home loan etc? It's a debt you willingly took on, you should repay it.

In a lot of cases, it was a debt your parents took on for you. Most of the time they just provided the papers for you to sign. I didn't submit any applications as a 17/18 year old because quite frankly I didn't care at that age. My mother gave me forms to sign (as moms do for their kids) and I signed them without every really considering that this was something that I would have to pay back after graduation. I am for student loan forgiveness. Costs of higher education is constantly getting higher and higher. I know most universities are supposed to be not for profit but I have to question that with the shear amount of tuition being paid. Something has to give as many people have these student loans that they can't afford to pay and the income driven payment plans really don't help all that much.

 

[BlueBallz]

You couldn't pay off $15k any quicker than 11 years? I find that hard to believe.

Off hand, I'd say just the minimum payment was being made and deferring payments as much as possible, still hard to believe it would take that long. This is one area where "forgiveness" falls apart for me. People CAN pay off their debt with a plan, just don't have the initiative and just pay the minimum. Instead, using discretionary income to buy more stuff other than paying down debt. I stated this earlier, my niece has $10k in student loans, could very well have it paid in a few years but waiting on Biden to forgive it. In other ways, she's done a remarkable job in only having $10k after getting out of college.

 

[UKWildcats1987]

I am fine with paying what I owe as it is partially why I was able to get a higher paying job. I have car payments, child support for wife's prior-marriage kids, and a bunch other nonsense though so I will be stuck paying off loans until I'm in my mid 50s probably. Once I can shed the child support in 2031, I can replace that with the same amount in loan payoffs so maybe I will be able to pay it off a lot faster in mid 40s.

That all said, if Uncle Joe wanted to wipe 10K of it that would help me a ton...or all of it, I would take the government handout for once with a smile on my face.

 

[jameslee32]

Cap the interest rate.

 

[KYExtemper]

I'm completely opposed because it doesn't fix the structural problems that have caused the problem in the first place. It also amounts to a massive income transfer from those who didn't go to college and/or are working lower class jobs to those who already have better positions/benefits, which I think is ethically wrong.

What I'd prefer we do instead is to eliminate interest on these existing loans and then allow them to be discharged in bankruptcy.

 

[College#19]

My biggest issue are the folks that attended private schools that cost $50K to $75K+ a year when they could of gone to a public school and spent $25K or less a year. This is where I think it is unfair to those who made better financial decisions. An expensive college guarantees nothing. Hard work and smart decision making have proven time and time again to be the better choice.

 

[ukcatz12]

By the way, this is easy for “economists” who believe the government can spend whatever it pleases because it prints money. Perhaps just forgive the interest.

Good ole' Modern Monetary Theory. I think retroactively setting interest rates to 0% is actually a good compromise. I don't think young adults should pay their student loans for ten years and end up owing more than they did when they graduated.

 

[BravesRule]

It’s been mentioned already in this thread, but before talking about loan forgiveness, you have to discuss new student loan reform.

The government should not back student loans, and they should be dischargeable during bankruptcy. This would require financial institutions to evaluate lending decisions as they do any other investment. They would consider your major, the school you’re attending, etc… and make a decision based on your future earning potential.

Ultimately this would mean fewer people going to college, which honestly is the answer in many cases.

With regards to the current debt situation, I don’t believe it should be forgiven, but I can get behind the idea of eliminating all of the interest payments moving forward and only having to pay down the principal. I also believe in setting up income based monthly payments that would be capped 15% of your income, in perpetuity until the principal is paid off.

For context: My wife has some student loan debt, although we’ll pay it off entirely once they start accruing interest again.

 

[ukcatz12]

When I was 18 I would not have understood that. I'm fairly certain most kids today wouldn't either. Maybe I'm wrong. The only thing I remember from entrance counseling was that I suddenly had to write in cursive again.

Even if people understood that when they took out the loans, they didn't really understand what they were getting into. To an 18 year old being chained to a six figure loan forever is an abstract concept they don't really understand until they're in the throes of paying it off. It's hard to understand just how much it effects your day to day life once you're out of school.

 

[funKYcat75]

Question for the economists: How would the economy be affected by hundreds of thousands of young adults suddenly not having to worry about student loan payments? I realize that most folks are probably not paying any in the last year or so, but the cloud is still hanging over their heads.

 

[ukcatz12]

Ultimately this would mean fewer people going to college, which honestly is the answer in many cases.

You would somehow need to get the private sector to adjust to this as well. No more "four year degree required" for menial jobs paying $15/hr.

 

[BravesRule]

You would somehow need to get the private sector to adjust to this as well. No more "four year degree required" for menial jobs paying $15/hr.

That would happen automatically, because otherwise, they wouldn’t have employees.

 

[ukcatz12]

Question for the economists: How would the economy be affected by hundreds of thousands of young adults suddenly not having to worry about student loan payments? I realize that most folks are probably not paying any in the last year or so, but the cloud is still hanging over their heads.

I'm no economist, but eliminating student loans would be inflationary. You'd be putting money in people's hands and increasing demand on goods already in a supply crunch.

 

[Fact_Checker]

I don't know what to do with all the student loans that are out there already. What I do believe is a free market solution is to remove the protection against bankruptcy that financial institutions have on student loans. People ought to be able to bankrupt a student loan. This forces financial institutions to do real risk assessment. They will not make nearly as many student loans and they certainly will not be granting loans to go to the University of Phoenix.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Question for the economists: How would the economy be affected by hundreds of thousands of young adults suddenly not having to worry about student loan payments? I realize that most folks are probably not paying any in the last year or so, but the cloud is still hanging over their heads.

Yeah, seems kind of foolish to pay when the government keeps hanging that carrot out there. Can I buy your vote? Please let me buy your vote!!!!!

 

[BlueRaider22]

1. More edju-mah-caytion needs to be done in grade school. I think that starting in middle/high school, students should have a basic finance class every single yr. What is a mortgage? What is an amortization schedule? Basic investing and the benefits of compounding interest. Budgets, loans, credit cards renting vs owning, retirement accounts, SS, social programs, charitable donations, supply/demand, consumerism. And yes, occupations.....trade schools, salaries, college degrees, etc. This SHOULD NOT be some 1 semester elective late in HS only at some larger schools. This should be every yr.......at every school.



2. Fix the cause. As FactChecker said above, there should be risk assessment. You should not be able to take out a significant loan for an art degree. Maybe even talk about caps on the rates. Make sure that each student sees a real-time representation of what their term/payments would be as they progress through college.



3. I do think there are some out there that were deceived. These either should be forgiven......or they should be allowed to sue to get out of the loan.



4. For the majority....you can't claim ignorance. Back when I went to college, it was fairly easily to find out the job markets and salaries of varying degrees. It was fairly easy to determine what fields to go into and which to avoid. And I has zero business savvy or background. It was just common sense. I immediately cut out several occupations because I knew it wouldn't be worth it. I knew the cost, the pros/cons. I made the choice. It is my responsibility.

And I think it's even easier now. It's easier to find out the job market and pay. And there are so many more options. You can hop on some cheaper online classes and stay at home....and work while you go. There are many more trade school opportunities. Shoot, I even had my 10 yr old daughter do this recently. She mentioned that she wanted to be a writer/author. I told her to do some research about pay, life, education, etc. She did it and we had a discussion.



5. "IF" the gub'ment wants to forgive loans en masse.......well great, I still have some left and I will greatly benefit. But I'm not calling for it, nor expecting it. If it occurs, I hope it's a one time deal. I do not support "free" advanced education.

 

[Tskware]

enforced

 

[Hank Camacho]

If I could change any law in America, I'd make student loans bankruptable. The fallout would be ugly in the short term and glorious overall.

 

[weused2luvhim2]

I don’t have a problem with a one time forgiveness. Especially if someone let a kid borrow 50k to get a degree to get a 28k a year social worker job.

 

[WildcatFan1982]

My entire childhood my parents and teachers beat into my head that if I didn't go to college I'd be a loser and the best case scenario would be working a minimum wage job at McDonalds. That needs to stop. My high school was right next to a vocational school. We all thought the kids that went there were idiots and losers.

flash forward 21 years later. I'm an idiot and loser. All the people I know that went to that school are doing a hell of a lot better than I am.

 

[Deeeefense]

The word "forgiveness" is misleading. It suggests that the loans just go away. They don't go away instead the debt burden goes back to the public at large, either through taxation or additional borrowing.

I realize the student loan industry has been abusive with exceptionally high interest rates, and college raping students in tuition fees knowing the money is easy to get. Therefore I can see some sort of restructuring of the debt including reducing the interest rate to something more reasonable. Also there are programs in place now for students to receive relief from the loans including serving in the military, Americorp or other public service areas such as teaching.

https://studentaid.gov/articles/student-loan-forgiveness/

 

[Nbacats]

I'm pro forgiveness

 

[Hank Camacho]

The word "forgiveness" is misleading. It suggests that the loans just go away. They don't go away instead the debt burden goes back to the public at large, either through taxation or additional borrowing.

I realize the student loan industry has been abusive with exceptionally high interest rates, and college raping students in tuition fees knowing the money is easy to get. Therefore I can see some sort of restructuring of the debt including reducing the interest rate to something more reasonable. Also there are programs in place now for students to receive relief from the loans including serving in the military, Americorp or other public service areas such as teaching.

https://studentaid.gov/articles/student-loan-forgiveness/

Almost like politicians use language to intentionally mislead their desires.

Anyone want some "gender affirmation" surgery? (Hint: you'll get your dick or labia cut off.)

 

[Nbacats]

As a college graduate with a hefty student loan balance, I'm all for forgiveness. Expecting an 18-year old kid to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives straight out of high school is a setup for failure. It took me 10 years to figure it out. A lot of changes in majors and different coursework occurred during that time.

Hell I'm 15 years out from undergrad, 12 years out from graduate, and I haven't a ****ing clue what I want to do. I did when I finished undergrad, but then I got out because of burn out. Now I have a decent paying job, with no nights/weekends/overtime and some pretty good benefits that's going to be a tough package to beat unless I go back to school. So now it's like, do I just stick with this, do I go do something I might like more but has a compensation package that will likely be worse, or do I risk going back to school and spending thousands to potentially find out I really do not like these better compensating jobs that are in high demand around here?

 

[Nbacats]

I'm not sold on loans being used for room and board, to be honest. If you can afford the wild price of it, go for it. If not, live at home, or get a job and a crappy (relatively) cheap apartment.

A lot of people don't have the option to live at home to pursue their degree path. For example, if I wanted to do engineering, I could start out at my alma mater that I did commute to or at the local community college, but I'd have to transfer to somewhere that commuting is unfeasible unless I transferred to that cesspool known as Liberty University to finish it off.

 

[Nbacats]

Exactly this. Forgiving student loan debt is treating a symptom of the disease. First we must cure the disease.

You treat both, not one or the other.

 

[Nbacats]

I don't think they should. There are many that have been, even at a young age, fiscally responsible about it. For those that didn't take out (or took minimal) student loans, worked while in college, summers, saved, etc. What about them? Should they get paid back? What about those that already paid their student loans, should they get that back? My niece has $10k left on her student loan and could certainly pay it back but is waiting to see if it will be forgiven. When I was in college, I worked as well, would get a 2 bedroom apartment where we had 4 of us piled in. There were also those that would go the community college route for a year or two and transfer, or GI bills, etc. so there are options.

Sunk costs need not be considered for future financial and economic decision making https://www.britannica.com/topic/sunk-cost

 

[Hank Camacho]

Hell I'm 15 years out from undergrad, 12 years out from graduate, and I haven't a ****ing clue what I want to do. I did when I finished undergrad, but then I got out because of burn out. Now I have a decent paying job, with no nights/weekends/overtime and some pretty good benefits that's going to be a tough package to beat unless I go back to school. So now it's like, do I just stick with this, do I go do something I might like more but has a compensation package that will likely be worse, or do I risk going back to school and spending thousands to potentially find out I really do not like these better compensating jobs that are in high demand around here?

Congrats on your magical wish to make other people responsible for your bad decisions, I guess.

Please don't vote.

 

[Nbacats]

Can we stop calling it debt forgiveness, and start calling it what it really is? Forcing someone else to pay for your stuff!

That's called life unless we figure out a way for everyone to have a self sustaining money printing machine

 

[Nbacats]

Question for the economists: How would the economy be affected by hundreds of thousands of young adults suddenly not having to worry about student loan payments? I realize that most folks are probably not paying any in the last year or so, but the cloud is still hanging over their heads.

It could be a real boon for improving the savings situation so people can can actually afford to retire. Would encourage more people to buy homes, not delay marriage or pregnancy, etc.

 

[Nbacats]

That would happen automatically, because otherwise, they wouldn’t have employees.

Hasn't stopped them now. They still bitching and moaning left and right about not being able to hire people despite there not being a lack of applicants that should be qualified for the job.

 

[Nbacats]

Congrats on your magical wish to make other people responsible for your bad decisions, I guess.

Please don't vote.

Last I checked, no one gave you permission to leave the cage in your dominatrix's basement.

And I also don't have any student loan debt. Be a good boy, go back to your cage, and put the ball gag back in.

 

[Lexie's Dad]

There are a lot of factors at play.

What options did the student have? What was their major?

If someone attended their "dream school" and got a useless degree - I have zero sympathy.

I'm in Paducah. I followed scholarships for the least expensive college path. Lived at home. Went to PCC, then commuted to Murray to finish BS and MS. Worked the entire time.

It's possible to graduate with less debt if you sacrifice.

Should someone who went away for "the college experience" at their "dream school" and either didn't graduate or earned a worthless degree have their debt forgiven? No.

 

[Get Bucket$]

Last I checked, no one gave you permission to leave the cage in your dominatrix's basement.

And I also don't have any student loan debt. Be a good boy, go back to your cage, and put the ball gag back in.

Don’t you live live in your parent’s basement?

 

[MrHotDice]

Until the last 15-20 years you could actually work part time and pay for college. Remember anyone at UK in the 60,s, 70s, and into the 80s got out debt free. But when a year cost 20,000-25,000 a year that is when cheap money did it’s part to get so many suckers in debt, yes, suckers. Anyone who cant earn in their first year out of school what they owe then I wonder who gave them advice to borrow 100,000 dollars for a35,000 a year job.

 

[Wesley91581]

If I could change any law in America, I'd make student loans bankruptable. The fallout would be ugly in the short term and glorious overall.

I guess the flip side is kids could accrue 100k in student loan debt and file bankruptcy a week after graduation - yes that pretty much nixes any shot of buying a car/house for 10 years but maybe there needs to be a middle ground like bankruptable after 10 years if you make an effort to make timely payment during that span?

 

[WayneDougan]

But when a year cost 20,000-25,000 a year

That’s the price. Not the cost. The universities are scum.

 

[UKBrassowTipIN]

A few things. The progressives answer to this isn't a solution at all, because it does absolutely nothing to fix the real cost of tuition. "Free college" by making more ppl pay more amd more in taxes, regardless if it ls "fair share" only gives schools a greenlight to keep raising tuition more and more. Notice how none of these people will attack the universities (Liz warren doesn't want anyone touching that 400k she gets to teach 1 class at harvard)

There's a direct correlation that when the fed took over loans tuition (real cost) went up. It took risk off the schools and put it all on the student. "Free college" will just make it even worse because then it's spread out to even more wallets.

With that being said, a lot of people got put into unfair situations. I have 2 brothers...all 3 of us went to UK, theres 2 years between each of us and all three of our tuitions are different. The youngest brother got hosed.

As far as forgiveness tho, it's just not a winning policy to the country because the majority of the country has no school debt because they didnt go to school. And considering college grads on avg make more than those who don't it looks like a bailout for the wealthy from a relative standpoint.

But again, a lot of people got put in a bad position by fed incompetence. Instead of just paying upfront whatever colleges asked for allowing them to raise tuition then sticking students with it. They should've forced schools to compete for students driving price down. Schools need enrollment to exist, if loans initially were tougher to get, while developing some sort of programs for the dirt poor, prices would've been more affordable for your every day person because schools would've been forced to be affordable.