12 thoughts on “Student Loan Debt”

1. I attended University in the 70’s. I paid my own way.

   Recently, a younger friend of mine committed suicide, in part, because he couldn’t repay his student loan debt for his Masters degree. He came to realize he was too old to be competitively employable.

   I later learned from his sister that he was bi-polar. I knew him for 30 years, he never spoke of it.

   Had I known, I would have phrased parts of our conversations differently.

   1. I attended University in the 80s. I paid my own way. It took seven years, working at times three jobs plus school, but I did get my Bachelors degree with honors.

      I considered student loans, but they just didn’t seem to make sense, and I saw too many of my classmates spending their loan money on beer and crap. The only debt I had at graduation was $500 on a credit card, left over from my semester in Paris. Since it was for my International Business and Economics degree (and I had swung an internship at the Paris offices of Shearson Lehman Brothers), that seemed like a worthwhile investment worthy of debt.

      At the same time, my sister continues to struggle with the debt she took on for an unfinished degree. It’s an ugly situation we’ve collectively gotten ourselves into, but I am not inclined to student debt forgiveness as it encourages imprudence and poor decisions and makes those of who work hard into chumps.

2. Loan receivers pay their own debt, problem solved.

3. This goes beyond simple financial responsibility. Allowing loans that can’t be discharged through bankruptcy is akin to slavery. Practically forcing two generations to attend over-rated universities at ridiculously inflated costs has shackled many with unpayable debt. It’s almost like a plot to re-establish indentured service.

   Perhaps it’s time for a biblical jubilee.

   1. Yes, there are other parties responsible for loans than just the recipients. Loansharking is illegal for a reason and we shouldn’t let colleges, banks, and government abuse the populace like organized crime does.

4. I didn’t get a college degree because I couldn’t afford one. If the college loans are forgiven, I want mine now, thanks. My wife would like to get back her share of her first husband’s loan repayment.

5. It seems the root cause is the lack of school choice.
   The problem is teacher’s unions.

   But it seems having faith in the voting system and corruption of Federal intel agencies is more serious issue. Maybe they should get rid of the homeland security dept mess they made- it should not be interfering with elections.

6. If the government wasn’t in the student loan business, students would have to get a loan from a bank. The majority of degrees simply wouldn’t be eligible for loans, as there’s no way to pay back a loan for most majors. Humanities would take an enormous hit.

   1. And if students couldn’t get loans for many degree programs, universities would have to make those degree programs affordable. One way would be to cut tuition, and pay for that by eliminating garbage positions. But I suspect what they would really do is subsidize the degrees in medieval French, grievance studies, etc., with higher fees on engineering and hard science degrees. Just like at many universities where men’s football and basketball programs subsidize all other sports.

      I wonder what the market would be for a “College of Engineering and Hard Science” that would offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the various engineering disciplines, physics, applied math, and maybe a few others. Have a one-semester “how to communicate effectively in English” class up front, then from there on, make effective communication part of each class with mandatory projects and reports. You could shave a year off the schedule and graduate bachelor’s degrees in three years and master’s in four.

      Naaaaaahhhhhhh! (In best Theodoric of York voice…)

7. gbaikie: The problem is teacher’s unions.

   The problem, indeed.

   If you throw in water will they float?

8. There’s a ‘them’ in there somewhere.

   Attention to detail isn’t always a thing.

9. Some good ideas there. Perverse incentives are built into the system because the people who run the system are perverse. The corruption can only go on for so long and then things change. Will they change for the better or will the Progressive Marxists rally to protect their income and indoctrination pipline?

   The price of a good or service will always attempt to rise to the base subsidy plus whatever someone is willing and able to pay.

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