Students loans are crushing the new generation. The college education has definitely not brought the benefits promised to students due to host of factors. It is likely a good idea to forgive such loans and start afresh after sensible reforms in higher education funding.
Education is a privilege, loans are a choice. I’d argue to get a developer job I no longer need a degree
Should mortgages in US be forgiven?
That happened in 2008. The mortgages were consolidated by banks and they were all infused with cash so they can stay afloat. The entities are different in this question (people instead of banks) but the principle is the same. The question is not 'should' - because it has happened. The question of equivalence is whether we 'should forgive now'.
If the government never intervened in the past when the debts went out of control, I would have said no government shouldn't. When the government can dole out free cash to greedy wall street, I see no reason why they shouldn't in this case.
I'm mostly progressive and like the idea of free education. But forgiving loans is not a straight yes. I think it's unfair to those who were fiscally responsible. What about those who didn't take loans, or took smaller loans, and took longer to study or studied at a cheaper school to make sure they don't get into unpayable debt? Isn't it unfair to them? The very those who thoughts things through will end up with lost opportunity, while slightly less cautious folks would get a pass. Edit: I should add that I didn't study in US, so I might not have the full picture of reality. But I do have the experience of passing on a good school that I got into because of the inability to pay. Just sharing my thoughts.
We don't live in isolation. Why did the tax payer foot the bill and take on toxic assets from various banks in 2008? There is more to this. Debts when out of control become public issue - that is , since we don't live in isolation, if everyone makes the same mistake, it becomes taxpayer headache. This is why we have regulations and laws. Their purpose is to hold the banks to some basic sense of responsibility and not bring down the system if they become bad. The best answer here is to write regulations that make it not possible for bad debts becoming a large enough concern for taxpayer bailouts. (Bad debts will always be there - so I m being very particular in saying it matters to the government only when it becomes large enough concern for public bailout). If the world is crumbling in front of you, government can't sit idle and watch and the taxpayer cash is what gets used then.
You make a good point. If debts have gotten to a state where they can bring down the economy, then yes we need an answer. I m not totally opposed to it. Btw there is/was some scheme by Obama where if you had been paying off debt slowly but regularly, then you are off the hook after 10 years or so. That is a good idea too. ( I don't know the full details). As you can see my main opposition is about "fairness", but I m not totally opposed. Things that will help me vote the other way: 1. If debt is bringing down economy. 2. Or, If we can bailout in a way so that the ones really struggling get the benefit. 3. Or if we can show that most students in debt are indeed struggling, and a blanket forgiveness is needed.
If everyone can just offload their loans by waving their hands, then nobody will have learned anything and we’ll just find another way to get ourselves into crippling debt in the future. What could be done instead is expanding service subsidy programs like ROTC to other public/civilian sectors, I know Singapore has a program where the government pays for your whole education in exchange for coming back and working as a public servant for 5-6 years afterwards. 5-6 years might seem like a long time but if you’re >$150k underwater from loans or however much college is nowadays, just compare how much you’d have to save to pay it off on your own and I think it’ll come out to be a pretty good bargain.
Excellent. I did military service just to be able to pay for college. A similar civil program is needed for those where military service is not appropriate
Wouldn't forgiving student loans cause interest rates on these loans in the future to rise?
Of the people who voted “yes” how many have student loans? You don’t get to vote in this one
"College education has definitely not brought the benefits promised to students" -- who promised students any benefits from getting a college education? I'm sure it was never the people giving out these student loans. I think more should be done to protect/ teach kids before they take out these loans. Make them take a mandatory class that teaches them potential outcomes of taking student loans to help them understand the risks involved. But nothing in life is ever given for free. Forgiving student loans would just transfer the burden from one place to another. But honestly college aged students need to look outside of the box. There are tons of careers in the us that don't require a college education that will still pay 80-100k . Sure, it's not tech money, but it's plenty more than enough to provide for a family outside of tech hub cities
Why shouldn’t you be able to get this debt erased in bankruptcy court? Why is it the golden goose that can’t be touched. All other debt can. Explain the logic. Bankruptcy ruins you for 7 years minimum. It’s not a decision people take lightly. This isn’t a practice that has a record of wide abuse. Judges aren’t stupid.
A couple reasons 1) without this clause, the interest rate would skyrocket to 10% from about 3% because far fewer people would pay their education loans. 2) the value of accreditation is amortized over 40 years. Imagine not paying your mortgage but still having the right to the house 40 years later. Most people’s credit doesn’t matter until you are in your early 30s anyway when you buy your first house. So with your plan, the rational thing would be to file bankruptcy on your graduation day and pay cash for everything for a while. I’m totally fine with discharging education debt, just realize all future school loans will see a dramatic increase in interest rate because no one will provide you a student loan in the first place otherwise.
I don’t think you understand how bankruptcy court works. No judge anywhere would allow some graduating student file for bankruptcy after college. Banks will also be more hesitant about handing out loans to students getting dead end degrees. Or rather charge higher interest rates for them than other lower risk degrees. Likewise diploma mills will suffer greatly, which they should. They’re fraudulent schools after cheap money that banks don’t worry about lending because they’re guaranteed to get paid back. Seems like a win win here.
I don't believe any benefits were promised. I keep hearing people say they were promised something, but I don't believe it.