by Jeff Sovern
So reports MarketWatch. If the bill is enacted, students will effectively have to pay more for student loans and some schools will have a harder time helping with scholarships because their endowments will be smaller than they otherwise would be.
I agree with some of what you are saying about poorer citizens attempting to climb out of poverty, except borrowing money to attend “So Called” prestigious institutions of higher education makes you a gambler when you cannot afford to pay back the money borrowed from a pool which must be repaid for future students. There are many alternatives to expensive super hyped colleges and universities with excellent learning opportunities. The standard format for educating our population is antiquated, considering the available technologies. My wife was the first in her family to acquire an under graduate Wellesley College degree followed by a Law degree from UB law school. We received no help from the government being poor…we paid in full every dollar of cost for her education.
Unfortunately, we do a very bad job in public schools preparing students for college compared to our European counterparts. This puts ordinary students far behind, leaving them unprepared for college.
I’m not sure what you mean by “privileged students” but I have students who are the first in their families to go to college, let alone law school. Students have told me they see student loans as a way to climb into the middle class. Plenty of students with student loans come from low-income families. Aren’t they also “ordinary citizens who struggle every day to make ends meet”? I often hear people talk about how student loans are like having a mortgage without a home. I would have thought that the “privileged group who should not have special TAX breaks” is made up of the folks at hedge funds who get tax breaks under this proposal, or the other wealthy people whose taxes are going to be cut.
Catering to privileged students who qualify to borrow money for a good education followed by a long career with great salaries and health insurance for life is a hard sell to ordinary citizens who struggle everyday to make ends meet. Their are many professionals who never pay back student loan money while making hundreds of thousands in income. This is a privileged group who should not have special TAX breaks. Many other less wealthy Americans deserve tax breaks over youthful students who demand instant gratification and don’t deserve it.