Forgive Student Loans?

[Wireless1]

Also, you need to ask yourself why in the world should college cost that much? That is an indication that the system is badly in need of reforming... or finding some other way.

3 Kids, 2 finished, and I paid for one to live on campus. Tuition went from $1200 per semester to >$6K per semester from start to finish at UT

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can at least recover a tangible asset if you default on a conforming home loan. But if you default in your $100K debt for your ancient middle eastern basket weaving studies degree with a minor in Latin there is absolutely NOTHING worth value to recover. That is why this will never happen. But yes I agree with you if the debt was made extinguishable by bankruptcy then we’d see all of these stupid useless degrees or over priced degrees vanish over night.

Really, we should only be giving out assistance for certain degree fields. Arts and humanities degrees should not even be on the table. That would be a start. Oh, and environmental science/environmental engineering degrees...

 

[NorthDallas40]

Really, we should only be giving out assistance for certain degree fields. Arts and humanities degrees should not even be on the table. That would be a start. Oh, and environmental science/environmental engineering degrees...

Eh I won’t go that far. We’re still a free society and people get to follow their dreams. But if we remove the lender payback guarantee I think the goal you’re pointing to will largely take care of itself.

 

[ButchPlz]

Really, we should only be giving out assistance for certain degree fields. Arts and humanities degrees should not even be on the table. That would be a start. Oh, and environmental science/environmental engineering degrees...

A rolling assessment of what is actually needed in a state's economy would be nice, but would certainly be corrupted by companies lobbying the government to create a glut of supply to drive down labor costs.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

Eh I won’t go that far. We’re still a free society and people get to follow their dreams. But if we remove the lender payback guarantee I think the goal you’re pointing to will largely take care of itself.

The majority of these arts and humanities fields do not need college degrees.

I'm not sure what you mean in the highlighted, because most of the arts and humanities courses I was required to take in college were topics that could have been covered in high school or today could be covered on Youtube for free.

 

[NorthDallas40]

The majority of these arts and humanities fields do not need college degrees.

I'm not sure what you mean in the highlighted, because most of the arts and humanities courses I was required to take in college were topics that could have been covered in high school or today could be covered on Youtube for free.

On the bolded my inference was that government support for degree loans would be per a government approved degree list. My apologies if that wasn’t your intent. If a young adult can convince a lender that their degree is worth the loan in a lender environment where their loan isn’t guaranteed then more power to them that’s all. But removal of payback protection will largely remove frivolous student loans.

And it will be absolutely devastating to the over crowded liberal arts professorship population

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

On the bolded my inference was that government support for degree loans would be per a government approved degree list. My apologies if that wasn’t your intent. If a young adult can convince a lender that their degree is worth the loan in a lender environment where their loan isn’t guaranteed then more power to them that’s all. But removal of payback protection will largely remove frivolous student loans.

And it will be absolutely devastating to the over crowded liberal arts professorship population

I guess I can agree to settle for that if it comes up. I'm just still concerned that too many of these young people will still manage to find a way to finance a bogus degree program and still end up with mountains of debt, meanwhile, the middle aged and older snakes with the banks and universities will hold their feet to the fire some other way.

 

[C-south]

There should be no loan forgiveness and severe penalties if somehow they are. If anything these loans should’ve consisted of 2 years at a juco or community/technical college and go from there. They should also be degree specific and eliminate the liberal arts bs and such. If you want something outside of these requirements then seek another loan provider or pay your own way.

 

[OrangeTsar]

If there is student loan forgiveness than the government has to also give a rebate check to everyone who has ever paid off their student loans as required and it has to be with interest!
No way that people who took their responsibility seriously should be penalized in relation to ones who didn’t

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

3 Kids, 2 finished, and I paid for one to live on campus. Tuition went from $1200 per semester to >$6K per semester from start to finish at UT

$1200 to $6000 even stretched out over a 20 year time frame (assuming that you are saying $1200 from the time your first child was a freshman and $6000 at the time your last child left UT) is close to 9% increase per year. In no other aspect of our lives would we accept that kind of price inflation.

 

[NorthDallas40]

I guess I can agree to settle for that if it comes up. I'm just still concerned that too many of these young people will still manage to find a way to finance a bogus degree program and still end up with mountains of debt, meanwhile, the middle aged and older snakes with the banks and universities will hold their feet to the fire some other way.

If they do then that’s a failure of the lender and they will own their actuarial incompetence

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

If there is student loan forgiveness than the government has to also give a rebate check to everyone who has ever paid off their student loans as required and it has to be with interest!
No way that people who took their responsibility seriously should be penalized in relation to ones who didn’t

I wouldn't hold my breath for a rebate, much less with interest.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

If they do then that’s a failure of the lender and they will own their actuarial incompetence

Or ask the govt for a bailout when the time comes. If these guys can lend out money for homes and get bailed out, they will definitely get bailed out if your scenario comes up also. Truthfully, there is probably not a really good way of protecting ourselves from the corrupt banking/lending system we have right now.

 

[OHvol40]

There should be no loan forgiveness and severe penalties if somehow they are. If anything these loans should’ve consisted of 2 years at a juco or community/technical college and go from there. They should also be degree specific and eliminate the liberal arts bs and such. If you want something outside of these requirements then seek another loan provider or pay your own way.

While I agree that loans can/should be degree specific, the problem is with the schools themselves. For example, If the market only has room for a few dozen museum curation positions then schools should limit the number of student seats available to mirror what the job market will allow. Instead, schools just take their money (or more often, the lender’s money) and say “thanks for the $120,000, good luck.” Yes a student should bear responsibility for choosing a worthwhile concentration, but schools should also be responsible for helping to steer them in the right direction.

With all that being said, useless liberal arts degrees aren’t the problem that many here make them out to be. The top 5 most popular degrees right now:
1. Business
2. Health Professions
3. Social Sciences (economics, history, sociology)
4. Engineering
5. Biological/Biomedical Sciences

These concentrations make up a huge majority of college degrees, so beating the drum about ‘Basket weaving with a minor in Asian culture’ doesn’t really hold water, most majors now-a-days aren’t in useless fields.

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

With all that being said, useless liberal arts degrees aren’t the problem that many here make them out to be. The top 5 most popular degrees right now:
1. Business
2. Health Professions
3. Social Sciences (economics, history, sociology)
4. Engineering
5. Biological/Biomedical Sciences

Where did you get this info? Just in my electrical engineering class, we only had about 15 people graduate.

Edit: I see what is going on here. They are lumping all of these bogus degrees together in social sciences. I bet if you redid this list and broke them all down by specific majors, you would really find that engineering majors (mechanical, electrical, chemical, etc) are nowhere near the top 5.

 

[OHvol40]

Where did you get this info? Just in my electrical engineering class, we only had about 15 people graduate.

The 10 Most Popular College Majors | BestColleges

 

[hog88]

Or ask the govt for a bailout when the time comes. If these guys can lend out money for homes and get bailed out, they will definitely get bailed out if your scenario comes up also. Truthfully, there is probably not a really good way of protecting ourselves from the corrupt banking/lending system we have right now.

You have to realize just how many mortgages the federal government backs.

 

[hog88]

While I agree that loans can/should be degree specific, the problem is with the schools themselves. For example, If the market only has room for a few dozen museum curation positions then schools should limit the number of student seats available to mirror what the job market will allow. Instead, schools just take their money (or more often, the lender’s money) and say “thanks for the $120,000, good luck.” Yes a student should bear responsibility for choosing a worthwhile concentration, but schools should also be responsible for helping to steer them in the right direction.

With all that being said, useless liberal arts degrees aren’t the problem that many here make them out to be. The top 5 most popular degrees right now:
1. Business
2. Health Professions
3. Social Sciences (economics, history, sociology)
4. Engineering
5. Biological/Biomedical Sciences

These concentrations make up a huge majority of college degrees, so beating the drum about ‘Basket weaving with a minor in Asian culture’ doesn’t really hold water, most majors now-a-days aren’t in useless fields.

The schools are going to offer whatever degrees they can get paid for. I agree that the universities and high schools need to do a better job at letting kids know what their prospects are with each degree before they take their money but I don't fault the schools for providing degrees people want.

If the feds just completely got out of the student loan business you'd see a lot of these fringe degree programs go by the wayside because the private sector isn't going to loan money for degrees that won't pay back.

 

[VolStrom]

$1200 to $6000 even stretched out over a 20 year time frame (assuming that you are saying $1200 from the time your first child was a freshman and $6000 at the time your last child left UT) is close to 9% increase per year. In no other aspect of our lives would we accept that kind of price inflation.

au contraire mon frere, we do that every year with healthcare and when they have bled the turnip dry on that hill they are starting a new one with home prices.

ETA: A neighbor a few houses down just put their house up for sale. They moved in the house in August, and here less than 6 months later are asking 20% more than they paid for it. Interestingly enough, the real estate agent was driving a Porsche, which is a sore subject with me.

 

[85SugarVol]

While I agree that loans can/should be degree specific, the problem is with the schools themselves. For example, If the market only has room for a few dozen museum curation positions then schools should limit the number of student seats available to mirror what the job market will allow. Instead, schools just take their money (or more often, the lender’s money) and say “thanks for the $120,000, good luck.” Yes a student should bear responsibility for choosing a worthwhile concentration, but schools should also be responsible for helping to steer them in the right direction.

With all that being said, useless liberal arts degrees aren’t the problem that many here make them out to be. The top 5 most popular degrees right now:
1. Business
2. Health Professions
3. Social Sciences (economics, history, sociology)
4. Engineering
5. Biological/Biomedical Sciences

These concentrations make up a huge majority of college degrees, so beating the drum about ‘Basket weaving with a minor in Asian culture’ doesn’t really hold water, most majors now-a-days aren’t in useless fields.

Why would the University stop? They get paid to provide a good/service.

Much easier to corral the student loan sector. Return it to the private sector and watch the money for Communications degrees dry up.

 

[OHvol40]

The schools are going to offer whatever degrees they can get paid for. I agree that the universities and high schools need to do a better job at letting kids know what their prospects are with each degree before they take their money but I don't fault the schools for providing degrees people want.

If the feds just completely got out of the student loan business you'd see a lot of these fringe degree programs go by the wayside because the private sector isn't going to loan money for degrees that won't pay back.

While I’m not quite sure how it works now, when I was in school private lenders didn’t place any limitations on lending for specific degrees. As a matter of fact, they have fallen under scrutiny for predatory lending practices in regards to their student loans.

 

[hog88]

While I’m not quite sure how it works now, when I was in school private lenders didn’t place any limitations on lending for specific degrees. As a matter of fact, they have fallen under scrutiny for predatory lending practices in regards to their student loans.

Were the loans government guaranteed back then?

 

[AM64]

The majority of these arts and humanities fields do not need college degrees.

I'm not sure what you mean in the highlighted, because most of the arts and humanities courses I was required to take in college were topics that could have been covered in high school or today could be covered on Youtube for free.

I'm a strong believer in a couple of years of English in college (and not AP or some other adjunct while in HS) - but with much more emphasis on how to communicate in the world of business. The nonsense about preparing most students to be a literature critic needs to go. Oh, and Business majors need to understand that bullets and incomplete descriptions are dumb when it comes down to communicating - take the time to listen and learn something before making a stupid decision. Another big thing is math needs to be taken away from the artsy fartsy branch and moved into engineering - math majors don't know a damn thing about teaching math as a useful tool to people who need it. I don't know what to think about Physics and especially Chemistry. Some (not all) Physics could probably be better taught by Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Chemistry is just a wasteland devoid of all common sense (to me) as taught - and Thermo isn't a lot better - this case and that case kind of stuff drive me nuts.

 

[OHvol40]

Why would the University stop? They get paid to provide a good/service.

Much easier to corral the student loan sector. Return it to the private sector and watch the money for Communications degrees dry up.

Individual universities have no incentive to stop, their motivation is isn’t to provide graduates to supplement the need of certain market sectors, it’s purely fiscal. They would need instructed/motivated otherwise.

Likewise, private lenders generally have no such incentive to control who they lend their money to based on degree, they are incentivized to lend to students whose parents have the best credit scores. Private student loans have been around for a long time and they have set no criteria for future job prospects on their lending practices, they are primarily concerned with the co-signer’s income.

 

[OHvol40]

Were the loans government guaranteed back then?

I don’t believe so. I know when Chase was in the student loan business and then decided to dissolve that branch, they took a hit on the defaulted loans.