Should the government "erase" the student debt?

[boumalo]

Had to share it :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4n6nJ8FiF4

The government is considering erasing the student debt which means it would go into debt to pay them back then provide more public education which means it will go more into debts and raise the costs of college!

[Southpaw0]

Yes, plain and simple

[shogdite]

Sounds good to me, don't think anybody should have to pay for their own education.

[lynn_402]

Sounds good to me, don't think anybody should have to pay for their own education.

The price of education in the United States is too high, leaving people unable to study without having a ridiculous debt, but having the state take care of all of the student's education bills can create even more problems. Imho, paying for educations makes the student give more value to his efforts, and it's a good incitative for him not to fail his classes or take more years of university than necessary.

Canada's system seems fine, where the student pays about 25% of his tuition fees.
The rest is paid by the state as an investment to get a population which has a better intellectual value.

[shogdite]

Sounds good to me, don't think anybody should have to pay for their own education.

The price of education in the United States is too high, leaving people unable to study without having a ridiculous debt, but having the state take care of all of the student's education bills can create even more problems. Imho, paying for educations makes the student give more value to his efforts, and it's a good incitative for him not to fail his classes or take more years of university than necessary.

Canada's system seems fine, where the student pays about 25% of his tuition fees.
The rest is paid by the state as an investment to get a population which has a better intellectual value.

Yeah I agree it can give students more incentive to study hard if you have to pay student fees,  but that's assuming they'll have the money or potential future earning to pay off the debt.

[Bitcoin Magazine]

good for banks, good for govt.  invest in FAS

[lynn_402]

Sounds good to me, don't think anybody should have to pay for their own education.

The price of education in the United States is too high, leaving people unable to study without having a ridiculous debt, but having the state take care of all of the student's education bills can create even more problems. Imho, paying for educations makes the student give more value to his efforts, and it's a good incitative for him not to fail his classes or take more years of university than necessary.

Canada's system seems fine, where the student pays about 25% of his tuition fees.
The rest is paid by the state as an investment to get a population which has a better intellectual value.

Yeah I agree it can give students more incentive to study hard if you have to pay student fees,  but that's assuming they'll have the money or potential future earning to pay off the debt.

If the debt is not ridiculous like the one in the United States, that's not a problem since their education should provide them with better means to make money.

In Quebec, tuition fees are about 3000$ per year, which I believe is easy to pay-back as soon as you get a job, and it's a good incencitive to be serious about what you study.

[leex1528]

Unfortunately this will never happen.  Don't say you think the Government is actually thinking about doing this

It would be absolutely amazing if it did!

Some people will bitch about it being unfair, how do you decide when the cut off is.


It is absolutely insane how much you have to pay.  I know from experience...I don't even have it that bad.

There are couples who have over 100,000 in student loan debt.  Basically it means they pay $800+ a month for 20 years if not longer. They need to be looked at and re-evaluated...Hopefully in like 2 years they will be good.

[RodeoX]

Sure go ahead it.... Wait, you mean with the tax money I sent them?
Hell no!

Why should the government do that? They did not help with my tuition, nor did they pay off my home loan. So I should not have to pay off someone's loan then compete for jobs against them. If a student can't pay off their loans then they should drop out.
Welcome to the real world. 

[leex1528]

Sure go ahead it.... Wait, you mean with the tax money I sent them?
Hell no!

Why should the government do that? They did not help with my tuition, nor did they pay off my home loan. So I should not have to pay off someone's loan then compete for jobs against them. If a student can't pay off their loans then they should drop out.
Welcome to the real world. 

So when did you graduate college, how much loans did you acquire?  What % were you getting charged. 

My guess is you have no idea what is happening to college students at the moment or how unfair it is to be a younger person.  Just a guess but that is what it sounds like, My guess is you are around 45-50.

[RodeoX]

Sure go ahead it.... Wait, you mean with the tax money I sent them?
Hell no!

Why should the government do that? They did not help with my tuition, nor did they pay off my home loan. So I should not have to pay off someone's loan then compete for jobs against them. If a student can't pay off their loans then they should drop out.
Welcome to the real world. 

So when did you graduate college, how much loans did you acquire?  What % were you getting charged. 

My guess is you have no idea what is happening to college students at the moment or how unfair it is to be a younger person.  Just a guess but that is what it sounds like, My guess is you are around 45-50.

You are right about my age! But I as a teacher I am aware of the ballooning student debt and the unholy laws that preclude debt elimination. However, that does not lead me to the idea that the government should pay off the loans. Loans are contracts entered into freely. You obligate yourself when you sign.
It is unfair to young people that so many of our systems and policies have an utter disregard for the future. But that is the world we all have to live in now. If you are like me and dislike this reality then let's change the world. That's a much better option than asking for a bailout without changing the conditions that led to the problem.

[leex1528]

You are right about my age! But I as a teacher I am aware of the ballooning student debt and the unholy laws that preclude debt elimination. However, that does not lead me to the idea that the government should pay off the loans. Loans are contracts entered into freely. You obligate yourself when you sign.
It is unfair to young people that so many of our systems and policies have an utter disregard for the future. But that is the world we all have to live in now. If you are like me and dislike this reality then let's change the world. That's a much better option than asking for a bailout without changing the conditions that led to the problem.

I don't know about them paying it off...But they need to be looked at.  I know my brother and his wife have well over $130,000 dollars in student debt.  Some have even more than that.  Basically you need a full time job just to pay for your student loans. 

My biggest problem is the way the government pays for students from different countries to fly out here, provides them money to live, free housing, and free college.  Yet the rest of us are paying 8% loans for the next 20 years of our life...trying to get by. 

Interest rates need to be reduced and so does the overall cost of tuition.  Schools don't need to make as much money as they do.

What they should do is reduce the interest rate for the entire loans you receive to 0% for the duration  and 12 months after you get out of college(either graduate or not)  This will at least give people a chance to pay some on the principal as they can.  They also need to reduce the rate, would be nice to get about a 4% loan instead of the whopping 8 the government gives out.

This along with say, $10,000 dollar deduction for a 4 year degree(so roughly $2,500 a year)  would help out tons. 

But they also need to help the people that are currently in debt as well, as to that the only solution is to either change the interest rate by a lot, or have the government pay off a certain % of loans...

I would love to get this changed.

[RodeoX]

I don't know about them paying it off...But they need to be looked at. 
...

I think we are basically in agreement. Something has to be done or we may loose our global advantage in education. I would start by not taking a loan under those terms. Rates must have a market and if enough people refuse to pay more than 4% then that will become the rate. (assuming it is still profitable).

A lot of blame also lies with the schools. They are used to spending as much as they like and expecting that students will accept rate hikes and keep paying. That era is gone. Schools are going to have to get lean and competitive to survive.

Bottom line for me is that these changes are going to come from students who refuse contracts and not from government. It is not the governments role to protect you from your own bad decisions by giving you money taken from people who made better choices.

[leex1528]

Schools don't need to make as much money as they do.

That's not how it works.

Please elaborate, that is exactly how it works.  The higher the tuition the higher the loan amount you have to have.  You don't think schools make money on Tuition?  Please explain, would love to hear

[leex1528]

I think we are basically in agreement. Something has to be done or we may loose our global advantage in education. I would start by not taking a loan under those terms. Rates must have a market and if enough people refuse to pay more than 4% then that will become the rate. (assuming it is still profitable).

A lot of blame also lies with the schools. They are used to spending as much as they like and expecting that students will accept rate hikes and keep paying. That era is gone. Schools are going to have to get lean and competitive to survive.

Bottom line for me is that these changes are going to come from students who refuse contracts and not from government. It is not the governments role to protect you from your own bad decisions by giving you money taken from people who made better choices.

I agree with you, but the hard part is, getting the first group of people to do it.  It is extremely hard to get a job without a college degree.  Since historically the rates have gone up, the tuition has also gone up, people are even scared to wait so they can get locked in. 

What happens to the people that wait a few years and essentially go on Strike from school?  Well they lose a few years of education pretty much, that isn't very fair for them.

Unfortunately I think the only way to fix this is to have the government step in and take care of it, lower the cost of tuition, more grants/scholarships, lower the rates, pay some of the current loans off for students.  Make it easier to life, it will pick the economy up in such a good way.

[Benjig]

 
They say that education is for the public good, but the schools fail to teach the most important things that would help the species. Things like financial responsibility, logic, the socratic method, and critical thinking are barely taught even in college for most degrees. Reciting course material doesn't make you smart, being able to see things as they are does.

[boumalo]

You guys need to watch the video in the first message : erasing students debt means the government will go into debt so people who didn't go to college pay for those who did
The students have more debt through the government debt than students debt and the price of tuition is going up because of the state intervention; going to college to do a job that doesn't need a college degree is inefficient; the middle class has been shrinking as more and more people go to college!

[leex1528]

You said, "Schools don't need to make as much money as they do." That doesn't make any sense. Who decides how much a business "needs" to make? No one. Supply and demand determines the price at which a business can sell it's goods (in this case, education).

When the government started subsidizing education, the price which the schools could ask naturally went up. More demand = higher price.

Why I agree with Supply and Demand aspect of it and the who decides part slightly....

Do you honestly believe that?  Are you one of those people who think Professional athletes don't get paid enough for what they do?  I am all for supply and demand, but at certain points.  There is just being greedy and taking too much money.

[CEG5952]

Government subsidies are to blame for the high price of schooling already. They caused the problem, I fully expect them to make it worse by continuing to meddle with it.

Indeed. It will only get worse. Cost of university in the USA is already sky high, and with crap for-profit schools like Phoenix University churning out millions of useless degrees, the value continues down....

[cp1]

People are too selfish to try and do what's best for everyone.