I’m a Biden guy without question, but I think this student loan forgiveness idea is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

It promotes bad behavior on the art of both students and institutes of higher learning.

If they’re so bad then maybe they shouldn’t be offered any longer. Has anyone stopped making these loans?

I think the political problem Biden has is that he spent four years promising student loan forgiveness six ways to Sunday and all of this was interspersed with court battles.

His policy positions on student loan forgiveness seem like a jumbled mess at this point.

In general, I agree with student loan forgiveness, but I have not read the latest details… I guess know would be a good time to do that.

Lower the interest rate to near zero to make them less profitable to hold and watch people be able to pay them down...

If you’re gonna forgive these loans you need to stop making them.

The current program makes no sense.

Public education should extend to all the way to a Doctorate.

If you maintain passing grades, education should be look upon as an investment in the stability of the future of the world.

You want to attend a private school? Pay up.

All of the above is true! The current program makes no sense. It is usury. Unlike other loans, you can put your payments "on pause." This was intended to allow students to return to school and not have to keep paying their student loans. This was also done during COVID and Is in place now. Unfortunately, many if not most thought that meant that their entire loan went on hiatus, which wasn't true. Their interest continued to accrue monthly. That unpaid interest will be added back into the principal amount.

I generally believe that a rising tide takes all ships, and adjusting or refinancing student loans makes a lot of sense to me. This would allow more graduates to, you know, buy stuff. We're a capitalist society and we actually want this. More money, more taxes, more savings for big ticket items, all good things.

I totally agree with markj - public education should be seen as an investment. The reverse appears to be happening now - voucher programs that allow people to send their kids to private schools (esp religious ones) on the taxpayer, for example.

I think the biggest things we could do to help increase the educated/employable populace are:

1. Increase the amount of state and federal support (as an investment)
2. Create a technical track where folks who don't want to go to college can get trained in a whole tone of skilled trades, nursing, etc. without the sneering "oh, they didn't go to college" part of the equation
3. Make basic "adulting 101" classes required in high school, to cover things like budgets, balancing your checkbook, how loans work (and how much they will end up costing you to pay off), don't mix colors with whites in your laundry, etc.

OK, rant over.

quote:

This was also done during COVID and Is in place now.

Do you mean that student loans are still in the covid pause? I don't believe that's the case...

quote:

Unfortunately, many if not most thought that meant that their entire loan went on hiatus, which wasn't true. Their interest continued to accrue monthly. That unpaid interest will be added back into the principal amount.

Here, also I don't think this is right. I thought it depended on the type of loan someone had, so federal loans were not accruing interest during the covid pause, but private loans were....
If I'm remembering right... lemme go ask google.

Yes, I believe my memory is correct: 1) the covid pause ended last fall.

2) federal loans did not accrue interest during the covid pause.

But it looks some (maybe all?) private loans did accrue interest during the pause. Which is awful to have those distinctions and probably made things even more confusing.

It's a mess, really.