re: Reports indicate that the White House may extend the freeze on student loan payments again

You hit the nail on the head.
The system is fricked. It is drilled into every parent and child's head that they HAVE to go to college no matter what.
Then the federal government hands out loans for any major, inc ones that have no hope of producing a liveable income.
The "free money" going to colleges comes with a shite ton of bureacracry, which drives up admin and employee costs (not only salary plus office equipment but retirement packages, health insurance, etc). This all forces tuition up. Then schools are competitive with their "free gubment money" and have to create perks and build new buildings etc in order to attract more students.

Tuition increases and therefore the loan amounts increase to meet the higher tuition.

On top of that, many companies require college degrees for jobs that don't realistically need college degrees. Let's face it, majority of jobs can be trained and taught on site, on the job.

Most people in white collar positions have to get that degree just to be interviewed despite the above being true.

I'm not opposed to a broad forgiveness of $20,000 or less. Or even, as many already stated, drop the interest rates to really low or no interest.

The problem is that the federal govt, Dems in particular, are not going to cut off this feeding trough for the colleges and students pursuing impractical majors.

If largescale forgiveness occurs, there has to be serious systemic changes in how the education loan apparatus works. Otherwise, it is just dumb, destructive horseshite.

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And yet I still think something should be done. I don’t want 40M Americans to suffer

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frick them, and frick you. If you want to pay off their loans, go for it. Don't take my money to do so.

There are significant societal implications for these student loans. Young people aren’t having kids, delaying buying a home, and not investing money like their parents did. In 20-30 years we are going to have a huge crisis in our hands of too many old people and not enough young people to replace them in the system.

ETA: I have paid off my student loans. Owed 120k. The interest is criminal and needs to be reworked. I think one or two percent interest is reasonable.

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frick them, and frick you. If you want to pay off their loans, go for it. Don't take my money to do so.

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This is comical and sad on many levels. I actually proposed an alternative to forgiveness if you’d taken the time to read. And frick 40M people? That just sounds like a lack of character.

Where does “your money” go currently do you suppose? Are you going to raise a fuss about the constant tax breaks, loopholes, and bailouts the wealthy elite and corporations have access to which do nothing but make the rich richer and widen the gap. You actually view middle and lower class people, just like yourself and likely everyone you know, as the enemy and don’t see the obviousness of the truth staring you on the face. So you’re more ok with “your money” going to unnecessary interests than a neighbor on equal footing, the actual American people, because...why? You have a false sense that you’ll be one of these elites one day? Think again hoss.

Resolving this issue will benefit everyone in time. Less debt = people spending more in the economy = more jobs. Better opportunity, more entrepreneurs, more innovation...a better future. We all benefit, and our children’s and grandchildren’s generations even more so.

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I'm going to be kind of peeved that I kept paying through the pause if the whole thing gets cancelled.

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Why would you keep paying them??

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Why would you keep paying them?

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To reduce the principal more while interest was paused.

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I'm going to be kind of peeved that I kept paying through the pause if the whole thing gets cancelled.

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Try being in the graduating class a year before TOPS began.

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What's wrong with an art history degree?

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m

The ROI

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Classic looking out for me me me only.

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Anyone I ever encounter with them is almost always working and doing their best, but due to outrageous interest rates, greedy corporations paying low wages, or just life getting in the way, they’re just spinning their wheels.

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Lol. You are responding to someone that said they paid them off. So you, or the people you referred to, were oppressed just like the person you responded to, except they paid them off and you didn’t.

Please don’t pretend like all of those people with balances have no discretionary income and haven’t ever taken vacations, bought a new iPhone, signed up for multiple streaming services, etc.

Government spending creates winners and losers. The argument is that people that made it a financial priority to pay off their loans are the clear losers. They are being penalized for honoring their obligations. These are your classmates that made the same decisions you did up until graduation. But they are only looking out for themselves?

I don’t see how forgiving balances helps control costs of college at all, they still get paid. Or does it help with the problem of funneling every 18 year old to a university. You know what would? Parents that are still saddled with student loan debt when their kids are in HS realizing the ROI might not be worth sending junior to a college town so he can take classes on his laptop while he uses your credit card for beer money.