America is lost...

theiioftx said:
Tuition has skyrocketed due to the US government guaranteed loan program. Colleges took advantage of students plain and simple. Push that burden on the colleges. Colleges have destroyed our country.
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When I went to school the campus was pretty spartan. Gregory gym smelled and was hot. I learned to live cheap.

Now it looks like a country club. I think the colleges are competing for students so they are making everything as nice as possible.
 
lkainer said:
When I went to school the campus was pretty spartan. Gregory gym smelled and was hot. I learned to live cheap.

Now it looks like a country club. I think the colleges are competing for students so they are making everything as nice as possible.
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4 years ago my eldest son started his college tours. In WA, ID, OR and CA we did >15 college tours through their admissions office. Every school had a new student union or was building a new one that showcased amenities like climbing walls, hot tubs shaped like the state or school mascot, new instructional buildings, new athletic buildings and most importantly new dorms/cafeterias. The food in some of these schools was literally pushed as a selling point. It was mid-tier restaurant quality food. Clearly, the competition for students is so great that all but a few schools had invested heavily in infrastructure. Those couple of schools that look dated? My youngest visited both recently and they too have now added all the amenities above. Take an example Eastern Washington is now considering cutting their Top -10 FCS football team because the school is in such financial distress.

The building boom at colleges has certainly added to the expense. Whether that's due to the volume of financial aid now at their disposal, the willingness of kids/parents to pay the higher fees and/or take on debt or another reason is up to others to analyze. A "Spartan" college experience rarely exists now. With that said, the caliber of technology and quality of the facilities certainly removes any roadblocks for students.
 
With all this massive influx of $$$$$, I’m sure liberal colleges are paying their TAs a living wage plus benefits, and encouraging their unionization...
 
OUBubba said:
The argument is that wiping out loan debt wholesale will pay off a lot of loans that people are making money to pay off (doctor's, lawyers, Indian Chiefs, etc.). However, a lot of people have a small amount of loans outstanding and wiping out those loans would be an instant boost to the economy. Give a Urologist 50,000 more dollars and he's going to buy some bitcoin or some stock. Give a guy with one year of college who's a delivery driver with 3 kids and 20,000 of student debt the same "assistance" and he will invest it almost immediately in the economy.

I'm not advocating for it. Just pointing out my understanding of the economics of it.

It's really the difference between the left/right. The Trump tax cuts led to many companies buying back their own stock and shareholder growth. Those who benefited from that were the upper echelon and the deficit did NOT decrease as I was told in this forum that it would.[/
Why not stimulate the economy by making up the losses of businesses shut down under government order?
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OUBubba said:
The argument is that wiping out loan debt wholesale will pay off a lot of loans that people are making money to pay off (doctor's, lawyers, Indian Chiefs, etc.). However, a lot of people have a small amount of loans outstanding and wiping out those loans would be an instant boost to the economy. Give a Urologist 50,000 more dollars and he's going to buy some bitcoin or some stock. Give a guy with one year of college who's a delivery driver with 3 kids and 20,000 of student debt the same "assistance" and he will invest it almost immediately in the economy.

I'm not advocating for it. Just pointing out my understanding of the economics of it.

It's really the difference between the left/right. The Trump tax cuts led to many companies buying back their own stock and shareholder growth. Those who benefited from that were the upper echelon and the deficit did NOT decrease as I was told in this forum that it would.
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Paying off student loan debt benefits the top income earners the most as well. Why not stimulate the economy by making up the lost income to the people put out of work due to the Covid shutdown? I don't understand why we gave everyone $1400 when the money needs to be targeted. I can't imagine what the people who were really damaged must be thinking. The government is spending trillions and almost none of the money is getting to the right people.
 
My best friend is a retired multi millionaire. He received a $1,400 check. He went to his local beach bar and started handing out $100 tips to bartenders and waitresses.
 
lkainer said:
Paying off student loan debt benefits the top income earners the most as well. Why not stimulate the economy by making up the lost income to the people put out of work due to the Covid shutdown? I don't understand why we gave everyone $1400 when the money needs to be targeted. I can't imagine what the people who were really damaged must be thinking. The government is spending trillions and almost none of the money is getting to the right people.
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Same for all government social spending. They spend 100% to get cover the 20% that truly need it.
 
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Two days ago my daughter got a deposit to her checking account from her school for $504. I told her to call the bursar's office to see what it is. They couldn't answer and had no idea. Then she found out everyone she knows got the same depost. One of her teammates said it's "college debt relief" from the stimulus bill.

Really? $504 with no explanation nor use stipulations? Not one red cent is going to pay for school and everyone of those kids are going to party that money away. All they just learned is "woo hoo, free money from the government". Liberalism will be the death of this country.
 
I had to deal with the high interest rates as well. I could agree with zero interest in todays environment.

This quote was from the Forbes article.
"What about borrowers who aren’t doing well, financially? The federal student loan program already has a safety net for them. Using income-based repayment plans, borrowers can tie their loan payments to their earnings. Very low-income borrowers have zero payments. Income-based repayment can make life easier for distressed borrowers, but many are not aware of its existence. According to government surveys, only 43% of undergraduates know about the plans."
 
OUBubba said:
I agree with that. I could see something like assuring zero interest on student loans that are being paid timely. While I got my loans when the interest rate was way higher part of my challenge was the 8% interest. My wife and I paid ours off right before our kids started college. :)
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Somebody never learned about the time value of money, or personal accountability while they were getting all their fancy degrees.
 
lkainer said:
I had to deal with the high interest rates as well. I could agree with zero interest in todays environment.

This quote was from the Forbes article.
"What about borrowers who aren’t doing well, financially? The federal student loan program already has a safety net for them. Using income-based repayment plans, borrowers can tie their loan payments to their earnings. Very low-income borrowers have zero payments. Income-based repayment can make life easier for distressed borrowers, but many are not aware of its existence. According to government surveys, only 43% of undergraduates know about the plans."
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So you would loan your money at zero interest?
 
iatrogenic said:
I see. They have taken a universe of all income earners, not just the income earners with student debt. Yes, college grads make more on average than non-graduates, so that makes sense.
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Both sides are right on this. The bottom 50% don’t pay taxes, so it’s not correct to say the working poor will pay for upper income debt forgiveness. It is true the middle class who do pay some taxes will be paying loans from slightly higher income classes for college. But the middle class has access to these loans as well and the middle class likely has access to more grant money than upper middle class. That is why the working poor don’t have loans. For the few of them who are in college, their bills are low due to grants.
 
My easy peasy solution to education and healthcare debt: pay the loan as intended or garnish paycheck up to 10% for each debt until principal is paid off.
 
iatrogenic said:
So you are equating banks that borrow at the Fed Funds rate to individuals that borrow for college?
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Yes, I believe student loans are running near 1.5% or very close to zero. I'm not saying this should be done. Just that if incentive is needed to get people to pay I'd rather take interest to zero versus paying off the debt.

Personally I think all this stimulus has been a waste. The slow down was caused intentionally by the government shut downs and only hurt certain individuals. To make things better the government is building bridges, installing electrical vehicle charging stations, paying off blue state debt, upgrading HVAC in schools, and sending $1400 checks to everyone. $1400 is nothing to someone who had to shut down their business for a year. People who have been working are using the money to buy Chinese televisions.
 
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lkainer said:
Yes, I believe student loans are running near 1.5% or very close to zero. I'm not saying this should be done. Just that if incentive is needed to get people to pay I'd rather take interest to zero versus paying off the debt.
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Average student loan rates for the period 2006-2020 were 4.74% for undergrads, and 6.03 for grad students.

You don't need "incentive" to get people to pay. You just need access to the legal system, and a modicum of personal responsibility, which, obviously, some people lack.
 
mchammer said:
My easy peasy solution to education and healthcare debt: pay the loan as intended or garnish paycheck up to 10% for each debt until principal is paid off.
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It has the benefit of the debtor not having to worry about the debt ballooning, which can take a serious mental toll (which I am sympathetic to). Yes, the pay is docked but over time he will get used to it.
 
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mc
Good point
people willingly signed for this with the supposed promise of paying it back. What is wrong with folding it into automatic deductions?
 
Horn6721 said:
mc
Good point
people willingly signed for this with the supposed promise of paying it back. What is wrong with folding it into automatic deductions?
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Actually, they do it today but it’s not automatic. Not sure what triggers docked pay. The reason for the delay is that the bank or whomever has to write off the loan loss when the transition occurs.
 
mchammer said:
Actually, they do it today but it’s not automatic. Not sure what triggers docked pay. The reason for the delay is that the bank or whomever has to write off the loan loss when the transition occurs.
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Garnishments are a ***** for employers to maintain. In smaller companies I suspect they might have an effect on the employability of the person being garnished.
 
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