Posted on 08/02/2019 10:57:45 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
1. Limit new federal student loans to:
a. $15,000/first, second, third, fourth year - college education on a state/regionally/nationally accredited engineering track or domestic licensing/certification law teacher/nursing/physician assistant track,
b. $8,000/first year - general college education,
c. $10,000/second, third, fourth year - general college education,
d. $5,000/additional year, but to no more than $40,000 for any student in total student loan indebtedness - undergraduate college education [students taking more than four years to graduate]
e. $12,000/additional year - general college education, four-year college degree already earned by the student,
f. $25,000/first/second/third year - bar acceptable, state/regionally/nationally accredited law school education,
g. $40,000/year - domestic licensing law acceptable, state/regionally/nationally accredited dentist/medical doctor education.
2. The yearly limits of shall be adjusted for inflation as are federal income tax rate thresholds.
3. Reduce the yearly limits by the higher of:
a. 20%, if the college has in the prior academic year frequently been unable to timely provide its students with courses needed to graduate in the normal timeframe to earn a degree,
b. the percentage of federal loans previously granted to the college that were in default/deferment, as determined by the federal Department of Education, at a time within the past year.
4. Semester loan limits shall be half of the yearly limits.
5. Term loan limits shall be the yearly limits divided by the usual number of terms per academic year.
6. Require colleges, and their holding companies, to co-sign associated new student loans, if federal or if federal bankruptcy student loan exemption is to be applied.
7. Limit future federal loan originations for attendance at any educational institution to the value of real property (and half that of third party publicly traded securities) fully secured to the federal Department of Education as collateral.
8. Allow new private student loans signed or co-signed by a person at the time of issue related to the student by blood, adoption or guardianship to be subject to federal bankruptcy discharge ten years or more after issue, excluding deferment periods, less:
a. one month per 1/10th interest rate percentage above four,
b. one month per 1/100th of the net loaned amount in debt add-ons, such as points, fees and charges.
There are three successful models already in place of which I am aware:
HILLSDALE COLLEGE (Michigan)-- No federal loans allowed. The college has their own group of lenders through which students may borrow. Rates are lower than the national average and default rate is near zero because college actually teaches useful skills so graduates can pay back the loans. How novel!
BANK of NORTH DAKOTA (North Dakota)-- Bank is state owned and issues the majority of the student loans for colleges in the state. Borrowing is severely limited for "fluff" majors and students not making academic progress toward graduation. The philosophy is "You play, you pay". For that reason, default rates are again near 0%.
COLLEGE of the OZARKS (Missouri)-- Every student is expected to work a certain number of hours in lieu of their tuition. Because it is in a major vacation area, most students get placed in a job related to their major. This is actual work which earns you the right to study there. No loans = zero default and graduates in high demand.
Three highly successful models which, while very different, all work.
Not a bit better. Limits are ephemeral. The only useful measure is to eliminate the federal government’s role in student loans altogether. And that is only a piece of what has to be done to begin to take the schools top to bottom back. ALL federal money to all schools and the regulations and intimidation that necessarily goes with it has to end altogether along with the Department of Education.
“So if a college accepts a student who wants to major in 8th century French poetry, fine. But then make that college share in the pain of that stupid decision”
It’s only a stupid decision if the student believes the course of study will lead to employment.
Baccalaureate education is not trade school. Anyone who thinks it is is a fool. It’s for smart people with wide-ranging interests. There is literally no field of study in the classics, including “eighth century French poetry” that is stupid in itself. Knowledge is valuable. The ability to know more about XYZ than almost anybody else gains you maturity, patience, the ability to defer gratification, and even a little wisdom.
The problem isn’t 8th century French poetry. It’s that 75% of students in 4 year bachelors programs are too stupid to benefit from what they have to offer.
And that’s the way it is.
How about just get a second job and pay it off?
Yes, indeed! The only thing missing is a reliable testing system for certifying the knowledge acquired.
In the STEM courses, very little changes from year to year. Used textbooks and the Internet would be fine. Obviously, laboratory experience and clinical rotations require brick and mortar but the rest doesn’t.
The associate who bought my practice owed a quarter of a million in student debt! It should cost a mere $25,000 to become a doctoral level professional, not a quarter a **million**!
If a job didn't require a college degree in 1950 or 1970, it doesn't need one now. And...most jobs are learned on the job now, just as in the past.
Solution: Employers could simply ask for SAT, ACT, or GED scores to determine if a person were sufficiently numerate and literate to do a job.
That can still be done with the right major. Junk majors should be eliminated or limited to students with cash up front.
My son took out very few student loans. He had some scholarships and got a college job in his field that paid very well, enough to cover his last two years of school. He also lived and still lives very frugally.
He had about $30,000 in debt, mostly to us. He paid it all of in just a few days over one year after graduation.
Solution: Employers could simply ask for SAT, ACT, or GED scores to determine if a person were sufficiently numerate and literate to do a job.
Job interviewing and hiring is a crap shoot, but there’s more to it than a test score.
That's the missing link right there. What is missing is a reliable system of testing, certification, and credentialing.
Most of the information learned in the STEM fields is rote and changes little from year to year. Obviously, laboratories and clinical rotations require brick and mortar but the rest doesn't. Honestly, now, how much does calculus, differential equations, and general chem change from year to year?
The associate who took over my practice owed a quarter of a million dollars in student debt. Wow!
Imagine if only cost $25,000 to become a doctorate level professional. And...That could be completely possible with used textbooks ( They cost pennies), free Internet courses, some brick and mortar attendance, and a system of certified testing.
Impractical, unworkable, extreme buracracy and policing of loans, increase in school administrative costs, ect, ect, ect
Much easier - no federal supported loans or grants to any degree program that will cost more than the national median cost for that same program.
That would be a shotgun full of buckshot against the REAL problem - the high cost of tuition and its awards to the extravagent and over expensive education industrial complex.
I would also limit any grants and student loans to degree programs that do not include political science, sociology or any of their offshoots that represent NOT education but merely political indoctrination.
I almost never use any of my upper level classes in my work career. I wish I learned to be a Lineman when I was 18.
HR is full of retards. My apologies to actual retards.
“The prollies shouldn’t be forced to pay for it for other people’s children.”
Agree 100%
> Baccalaureate education is not trade school. <
I must respectfully disagree. But I wish you were right. College should be a place where you can just explore, and learn new things. And maybe 30+ years ago, that was the case. Back then, a BA or BS was relatively rare, and it could get you hired into a professional position.
But today, no. Everybody and his brother had a baccalaureate. Some have it in engineering or in a science (a valuable “trade”).
And some have it it in theater. Sure, if you have a degree in theater, you have accomplished something. But why should I hire a theater major for any professional position when there are three math majors also waiting to be interviewed? Those math majors have proven themselves. They can have done the heavy lifting. The theater major? Meh!
College is expensive these days. And it is no longer very exclusive. My advice to anyone going to college today: Learn a trade there, or be prepared to live in poverty.
An old military joke:
Thirty years ago, a sergeant talking to new recruits:
Sergeant: Raise your hand if you have a college degree.
(Some recruits raise their hands.)
Sergeant: You men report to officer’s training.
Today, a sergeant talking to new recruits:
Sergeant: Raise your hand if you have a college degree.
(Many recruits raise their hands.)
Sergeant: You men can dig the first ditch.
You’ve got a good son...
Spend what you can afford. Duh!
Thanks.
The other three aren’t bad either
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