Posted on 8/17/2019, 1:50:48 PM by Kaslin
As a Millennial with student loans, the idea of a magic eraser wiping my Sallie Mae account clean sounds really good – actually too good. And when things sound too good to be true, they usually are.
When politicians say, they want to “erase,” “cancel,” or “forgive” student loan debt, what they are really talking about is redistributing personal debt. They want to transfer the balance from individual student loan accounts to an account that all Americans are on the hook for, including the over 120 million without a degree.
Blue-collar workers who entered the workforce straight after high school and didn’t go to college would be forced to foot the bill for college degrees, which would give others a leg up. On average, those with degrees earn almost $30,000 more a year than those without degrees.
Americans who went to community college and received a two year-degree would be on the hook for bachelors and masters degrees. They would be subsidizing the six-figure careers of professors, engineers, and financial analysts even though the median yearly earnings of associate degree holders is around $43,000.
Those who dreamt of going to medical school or law school but ended up forgoing because of the amount of debt they’d have to take on, like me, would be made to finance the high-cost dreams of others. On average, advanced degree students borrow three times more than undergraduates per academic year and account for 40% of all federal student loans.
The 3.6 million parents, like my mother, who worked tirelessly for years and is now excitedly within eyesight of finally paying off her Parent Plus Loans, would be back to square one. Instead of finally getting to enjoy their golden years, they’ll be working to pay for the debt of others.
Hardworking graduates who have since paid off their student loans would be back in the hole again. Those who worked tirelessly, scrimped and saved, and often went without, just so they’d finally be free of student loan debt, would once again be paying off Sallie Mae.
Plans promising to “erase,” “forgive,” or “cancel” student loan debt are too good to be true. There’s no magic eraser, just immorality.
As much as I’d like to see my student loan balance go to zero overnight, making the American people pay for my debt isn’t fair. I consented to the terms, signed on the dotted line, and cashed the checks. It was solely my name on the loan documents, and it’s exclusively my name on the bachelors degree – no one else’s.
Do I regret taking out student loans to pay for college? Without a doubt, yes. I basically purchased a $30,000 piece of paper on credit. As irritating as I may find this, it doesn’t, nor should it, change the fact that I’m personally responsible for paying back those who lent me the money to pay for it. My present regret doesn’t negate my prior consent.
No one should have to pay for the decisions I’ve made, just as I shouldn’t have to pay for those made by others. There is nothing fair about redistributing personally held debt to those who didn’t consent to it in the first place, just as there is nothing compassionate about making Americans subsidize the life choices of others. Making the public pay for private gain is downright immoral.
a unicorn .... they are so rare and so beautiful
Last sentence: “Making the public pay for private gain is downright immoral.”
Amen!!
I’m a Boomer and I don’t intend to pay any of your bills.
I wish to thank everyone for my college education and degree....I went to school on the GI Bill....
Same here.
No actually WE should be thanking you. You were willing to offer your life if needed.
LOL ...... I wasn't going to anyhow.
But ........ bravo.
I appreciate that...
As much as undergrad debt is a problem, and it is even if teenagers are signing up for the debt stupidly, the article hints at something more dumb. The proliferation of grad school schemes, often at $1000+ per credit, is a big driver of debt. There’s no correlation between a grad school course costing $4500 and an equivalent amount of economic value or knowledge gained is directly tied to the tax allowances and incentives specified by congress. The compounding debt by students who try to ride out their debt for a bit pursuing grad school while they try to get better jobs is also unique to student debt and should be eliminated.
Congress could make a big hit to that side of the scam by setting a maximum per credit cost covered by tax incentives and disallowing debt to accrue without payment while a student attends grad school. They could also cut the legs out of the debt industry by dropping support for continuing education for professions with requirements that are conveniently filled by expensive grad schools, but there aren’t any big lobbyists in Washington advocating for debt freedom. Maybe there should be.
I was going to say how can they? As they are not adults yet, but they become adults at the age of 18 and are still teenagers at eighteen and nineteen. I think that was the stupidest decision ever made.
Bless your Millennial heart but you are very rare of this opinion compared to most of the millennial idiots.
I would like to better understand how we got to a point, where so many students have so much debt?
Why wasn’t student loan debt a huge problem 40 or 50 years ago? Yes I know college is much more expensive adjusted for inflation that previous decades. But why has the cost of college gone up so much?
Some have suggested that the cost of college has increased precisely because of the availability of loans. Is that true?
I’ve also heard you can’t “work your way through college” anymore because the minimum wage jobs students have worked at, are now filled by people not born in this country, and also because the minimum wage hasn’t kept up with inflation.
Do students and families get any sort of financial counseling, both about taking out loans, and also to figure out how those loans will get paid back?
Me too, and I hope I never have to send one of them a bill because they’d probably never pay it anyway.
This is a good view of Socialism. The wealth is squandered by those who are politically connected. The ordinary people get the debt.
“Why wasn’t student loan debt a huge problem 40 or 50 years ago?”
Not only the inflation, but the steady drumbeat from everywhere that you need a college degree if you want to be anything other than a burger flipper. Many of the school counselors will tell you trash like “ It doesn’t matter what degree you get, getting a degree shows initiative” and other loads like that.
“Some have suggested that the cost of college has increased precisely because of the availability of loans. Is that true?”
Obviously, it can’t be proven categorically. However, I
wouldn’t doubt it.
“I’ve also heard you can’t “work your way through college” anymore “
I’m a millennial, I did. I tutored, I worked at Sears, and during the summer I worked as a camp counselor.
“Do students and families get any sort of financial counseling, both about taking out loans, and also to figure out how those loans will get paid back?”
Yes. Nearly everything out of said counselors mouths can be designated: A lie. Typically, they base all of their advice on far too rosy assumptions. They have to know it’s unreasonable.
Good, cause we aren’t going to
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