“Informed consent is what is needed, not forgiveness or the ability to default on what is a personal choice. No one forced me to take that loan, just as no one forced this young woman and her parents.”
No one is contesting that. The problem is by making it impossible to discharge extensive education debt, the economy is denied the consumptive benefit that it would receive if said students were spending their money on consumer goods. Which is precisely what some of us argued back in 05 when Dubya signed off on this nonsense.
That money was already spent in the economy through the tuition and living costs of the students.
The bank or government, whoever holds the note, depends on those loans begin repaid. They need that repayment for their own business costs and to have money to invest in other businesses.
It is time for students and parents to make carefully considered decisions about higher education and the return they can expect on their investment. Students cannot keep going into massive debt for degrees that will not lead to lucrative careers or jobs.
The bank or government has made their investment in the form of the loan, they should be payed back. The students and parents took the risk, they have to deal with the failure if the student’s degree does not provide enough for them to pay it back.
Again, if the full impact of these loans is understood before they are taken out, it will hopefully cause the parents and students to rethink the value of taking the loan to make an investment with little or no return.
If we tell kids like this young woman that she and her parents can take out enormous loans for her to attend a small, expensive college to get a degree that will not afford her the ability to pay it back, that we as taxpayers will absorb the loss of her default, because “everyone should go to the college of their choice, without regard to cost”, then kids and parents will continue to take out loans they cannot repay without hesitation or guilt or a sense of responsibility.
Buyer beware.
Look at what you are agreeing to before you sign on the dotted line. Know what ALL the costs and consequences are before you shackle yourself to debt.
There’s a sucker born every minute and wolves looking to devour that sucker the minute he’s born. Don’t be a sucker.