Things are bad.
So bad, President Obama has all but skipped the “I’m sorry, I’ll change” step to the “I’ll get you everything you’ve ever wanted” stage.
Obama outlined one of his big initiatives in his State of the Union speech last week, a reform of student loan forgiveness.
Now, student loans borrowers are required to pay 15 percent of their discretionary income toward their debts, and the debts can be forgiven after 25 years.
Under the president’s proposal, the amount of discretionary income required toward the loans would decrease to 10 percent. After 20 years, the loans would be forgiven. It will also be forgiven if the borrower works 10 years in public service.
While this initiative may sound great, there are a few problems with this proposal.
Let’s start with the most obvious.
It promotes students taking out the maximum amount of loans.
I have an extremely handsome and intelligent friend (wink, wink) who hasn’t always used his student loan money for tuition and living expenses.
At times, he’s used it to fund his growing collection of video games, and at one point, a minor substance abuse problem.
As I’ve seen my own debt increase, I’ve become a more cautious borrower.
I’ll attend law school next fall, and I made a pact with myself to take out the minimum amount of student loans possible. Now why wouldn’t I borrow the farm and get a government job — i.e. public service — if this comes to pass?
Others will also forgo trying to find employment and attend graduate school, where the cost of tuition is higher, as is the percentage of those borrowing.
In 2003-2004, 65 percent of graduate students borrowed money compared to about 35 percent of undergraduate students, according to a U.S. Department of Education report.
Here’s another problem.
There are two groups of people who will unfairly shoulder this debt — those who found a way to fund their own education and those who simply decided not to attend.
More than 72 percent of Americans don’t hold a bachelor’s degree, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released last January.
We’re also unwittingly punishing a disproportionate population of the country. That same report shows the two minority groups with the fewest college graduates are African Americans and Hispanics.
Earning a college degree is an investment in one’s self that yields a substantial increase in earnings over one’s lifetime, a higher quality of living and a longer lifespan.
“In the United States of America, no one should go broke because they chose to go to college,” Obama said.
No, they shouldn’t.
But they’re not entitled to have those who didn’t choose to take out student loans pay them back.
Mr. President, how else do you plan to pander to the American people, use your office to get a college football playoff?
Scott D’Amico is a political science and sports media senior.
18 comments
On your other points: Good for you that you got out of OSU without any loans. The fact that it took you 7 (or 6) years tells me nothing, and while I hardly believe it was ONLY because you took it slowly to pay out of pocket, that’s not the issue. The issue is your incredible naiveté. Chances are you come from a low-middle income home with both parents working, are white, and came through the American education system. Open your eyes, girl. What if you come from a poverty-laden part of New York City, or the trailer part outside of Salt Lake City, or live in a one bedroom apartment with 12 siblings in Minneapolis and only mom or dad is around? You think you’ll have the luxury of all the things you enjoy/have enjoyed? Hell no. Quit thinking pseudo-rural Oklahoma is America. If you were able to get out of OSU without any debt, THIS BILL IS NOT FOR YOU. It’s for those who DON’T go to college because they know they would never be able to pay the loan payments, and whose brains are subsequently wasted. And it is to entice the best and the brightest (because who wouldn’t want to see their loans forgiven after 10 years instead of 20) to public service, something we dearly need.
This bill will cost 7.5 billion dollars. That’s 20 bucks for every American. You don’t think a 20 dollar investment is worth, five years down the road, revitalizing American competitiveness in math and the sciences, and allowing us to regain the market shares in technology and hard sciences that we have been bleeding for the last 8 goddamn years to the Germans, Chinese, Japan and India? I don’t care if the American family with 3 kids has to wait six months to add a Wii to their Xbox and PS3 collection to pay the hundred dollars they would contribute to this bill, and I don’t care if Wall Street Brokers X has to forego his 3 dollar latte every morning for a week. Let’s be real people.
some degree of safety net when it comes to worrying about student loans.
Qualified tuition + expenses are generally well controlled. The formula is simple - it is tuition + minimal cost of living in a particular location. Perhaps people should be asked to document their living expenses (rent, gas, etc...) to prevent some of the exploitation you encountered.