Posted on 08/13/2020 7:21:31 AM PDT by captain_dave
Subject: Solution to Student Debt Problem.
Dear Mr. President,
Young Americans have been encouraged to "go to college" and "get a degree" so they can get a good job. Unfortunately for many universities have become debt traps. They entice students and their parents with resort level amenities and tales of high paying jobs for graduates but deliver miseducation steeped in Marxism, discourage independent thought and reasoning, and deliver years and years of debt. Universities continue to raise their fees as the quality of their programs diminish.
I believe the massive overhead of student debt is an existential threat to our country. Recent graduates are struggling to pay a debt which cannot be paid because they were enticed into worthless programs with false promises of value. And with no hope of freedom from their debt enslavement, they will vote for the devil if only for a moment's respite from pain.
I propose a solution to the student debt problem: A freeze on all new student loans and a total freeze on all federal grants and contracts until universities assume the outstanding loans of their graduates and underwrite all new loans. Student loans should also be dischargeable by bankruptcy after, say, ten years. And universities that refuse to assume the loans should lose their tax exempt status.
I think the universities should assume the debts. They encouraged, maybe created this mess. Let them pay the bill.
What do you think? Do you have any good ideas? If so, let's hear them, and send them to WhiteHouse.Gov/Contact
There is evidence that college costs have risen so much, over and above rates of inflation in recent decades, precisely because of the availability of student loans.
A piece of the problem is that students and parents think of college as the ticket to the middle class and good jobs. That may have been true at one time, but isn’t exactly true today. It all depends what you get a degree in.
A degree in history or English or women’s studies does not lead to jobs and career fields. A degree in nursing or accounting does lead to good paying career fields. Ideally loans would only be given for degree fields which lead the graduates to those good paying career fields.
Ending all taxpayer funded student loans is really all that needs to be done.
Students took on the debt they did as (albeit often young) adults—and need to live by the terms they contracted for.
No existential threat of anything there.
Students need to choose wisely and consider the earning potential for the degrees they seek. Starbucks is full of employees with masters degrees in gender studies, art history, and other majors that are promoted within academia yet they have no real earning potential in the labor market. I know some of these kids and you are right, they have little hope of paying off what is essentially a mortgage based on their field of study.
I have told my kids that I will pay for most of their schooling for a real major that has earning potential and they can choose or pursue the minor of their choice (like music). Outside of that, I will not help them because there is no payoff for them when they graduate. If they wish to pursue a non-desirable major they can go into the military like I did (I was hard science).
Choose wisely.
I have a dead beat daughter who has bitched about her loan since she graduated in 2006. She has a decent degree in communications, but she doesn't want to work a full time job because " she can't do it every day" . In reality shes very quirky, supports antifa and is hard to get along with for more than 5 minutes. Shes not fat or ugly either. shes just marching to her own drum and f everybody else.... a real chip off the old block.
Actually history and English degrees are quite versatile for at least decent students.
Yes, nursing is a better ticket to employability for marginal students.
Ending all taxpayer funded student loans is really all that needs to be done.
This is a good answer also when combined with what I wrote above. There are too many students shuffled into fields of study that should be a hobby or personal interest as they are not a pathway to a good job.
These kids and their parents, if their co-signers, know the risks going in. There are no guarantees 4-6 years down the road what the economy and job market will be like.
The other side of this is I went to UC Berkeley in the 1980s for $1200 a semester and got a degree in chemical engineering
Furthermore I got paid to go to graduate school to get a degree in mechanical engineering
See the pattern here kids?
Honestly, they signed up for the debt, they should pay it back - if people are struggling to pay then extend the terms and lower the interest rate to 1%.
I paid for and am still paying for my 4 sons educations, choose the right degrees and it works out fine.
Unless the government refunds me for the college tuition I have laid out over the years, then we can talk.
“Ending all taxpayer funded student loans is really all that needs to be done.”
I would go further. Eliminate the Department of Education and all of its programs. Let the states fund public education.
Eliminate all taxpayer funded research grants to colleges and universities.
You can probably lop off 2 years of college and get better results. Concentration in the actual studies of major subjects and no BS courses. Exceptions to the 2 year rule would be Medical studies and things of that nature.
College debt = zero.
Also, I like to compare my income to peers who had a college degree and since the early 1990s, I have always made more. Now I make over double the average income of a college graduate (in my age group).
All my life, I have read books constantly, lots of non-fiction such as history, biographies and the sciences. As well as much of the classic literature.
Recently I had a relative checking out my private library who had a master's degree in something or another. He mentioned that he had never read any of those books. Though he seemed well versed in Harry Potter.
It used to be a real accomplishment to get a college degree. Now they are handing out college degrees to anybody who can pony up the tuition (or take out massive loans to pay it). As a result, college degrees have been watered down and are mostly useless.
I'll still make an exception for the medical, law and engineering fields. Those degrees by and large require a lot of work and effort and still yield a decent career (if you have the work ethic to apply yourself afterwards). There may be a few other worthwhile majors I missed.
Thay are not shuffled. They make that choice. We need to stop the infantilization of so many Americans.
Under Obama, government student loans were privatized without the student’s knowledge into private loans.
That means those loans are not on Trump’s deferment.They are also at higher interest rates.
Schools should have complete responsibility for all student loans. Invest in the students. If the school feels it can profit from handing out a lot of Lesbian Dance Theory degrees, then loan out the money and wait to be paid back.
Schools should be forced to follow a For Profit business model. No more government gravy. Try living in the real world.
I have a better solution. Pay back the money you borrowed.
BTW, I still hate you and want to violently overthrow America, and hope you die a slow painful death, but very soon. Long live the revolution! Long live Antifa! Black lives matter! George Soros is my savior! /sarc
Yes, it is a bit arbitrary, to say that a college degree is a four year degree. How did that evolve?
Many students take general or elective courses in the first and 2nd years, and concentrate on their major field in the last 2 years.
Is there some notion that students should get a well rounded education, outside of their major field?
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