Secretary DeVos: Student Loan Forgiveness Is Unfair

[Nepperhan]

Oh, please! With mandatory education, everyone pays for public schools, even if they don’t have kids! Its better for society. America is not a toll road, Betsy.

" Speaking at the annual Federal Student Aid Training Conference (FSATC) for financial aid professionals, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos stated her opposition to student loan forgiveness and free college.

Secretary DeVos characterized student loan forgiveness and free college as part an “insidious notion of government gift-giving.” She said, “We’ve heard shrill calls to cancel, to forgive, to make it all free. Any innocuous label out there can’t obfuscate what it really is: Wrong.”

Secretary DeVos said, “It’s also a matter of fairness.” She said it is unfair to Americans who don’t go to college and to Americans who repaid their student loans:

• “More than two-thirds of Americans don’t pursue a four-year college education. … It’s fundamentally unfair to ask two-thirds of Americans who don’t go to college to pay the bills for the mere one-third who do.”
• “And it’s even more unfair to those who have held up their end of the bargain and paid back their student loans themselves to subsidize those who don’t save, plan, and pay.”

She continued, “Ultimately nothing is free. Somebody, somewhere pays the bill.”

Secretary DeVos: Student Loan Forgiveness Is Unfair

She opposes forgiveness even for debts to ripoff institutions, like Trump University. The question of no-fee actually was as to tuition for community colleges, not everywhere.

 

[ChuckB]

Let me say upfront that I have no use whatsoever for Betsy DeVos. That said, she’s not totally wrong when she says, “Ultimately nothing is free. Somebody, somewhere pays the bill.” While I would be in favor of “forgiving” interest on some student loans, people have to take a bit of responsibility for themselves. Someone who graduates with $100,000 of student loan debt for their history of art degree did themselves a great disservice and they need to pay that themselves. Same for anyone dumb enough to pay tuition to Trump University.

 

[PaulinVA]

I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for my kids’ education. I would be against loan forgiveness. Universal service to erase the debt? Yes, I’d be willing to agree with that.

Something people my age forget is that there used to be heavy state government funding of state colleges. So, we benefitted from that but never called it free or subsidized. You could work full time during the summer and pay for classes the next year.

I’m all for increased funding for higher Ed, but with cost escalation ceilings and performance targets for the universities.

 

[signit]

I paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for my kids’ education. I would be against loan forgiveness. Universal service to erase the debt? Yes, I’d be willing to agree with that.

Perfect.

Makes me think of my uncle. He and his wife paid through the nose for five kids’ education.

Where’s his benefit?

I can see some help paying for education going forward, for students starting their education now; after all, other countries do it.

But changing the rules, in the middle of the game, when other people didn’t take advantage of student loans, not knowing that if they did they’d end up getting them paid back; that doesn’t seem right.

 

[Nepperhan]

But changing the rules, in the middle of the game, when other people didn’t take advantage of student loans, not knowing that if they did they’d end up getting them paid back; that doesn’t seem right.

What is proposed is SOME loan forgiveness for students taken advantage by some shabby ‘investor owned’ institutions. The free costs are as to community colleges.

I also paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for my children’s college education. In fact, I’m still paying college loans. In addition to my kids private grammar school tuition I paid for public school through taxes and for Catholic school through the archdiocese.

Forgiveness for loans which were taken out when students were misled and payment of community college tuition when many feel that some education past high school is mandatory is not what I would consider unfairness to me. Others may disagree.

I have seen students with loan debt for instruction they will never be able to use or exploit for any employment. And I understand that a community college A.A. is a long way from an Ivy league degree.

 

[F_Marturana]

The difference between credit card debt and student loan debt is that credit card debt can be discharged through bankruptcy and negotiated down through other means.

Years ago when my mom first started having symptoms of dementia she had a made some poor f decisions and had credit card debt. She couldn’t afford the monthly payments anymore.

We helped her negotiate them down by more than half. She couldn’t use the cards anymore, but half the debt was just “forgiven”.

I’m sure that with the current economy, many people are in the same boat regarding credit cards.

 

[ThinkingSapien]

But changing the rules, in the middle of the game, when other people didn’t take advantage of student loans, not knowing that if they did they’d end up getting them paid back; that doesn’t seem right.

When I went to college, I was afraid if student loan debt. My loans maxed out at 5 to 7 thousand dollars total.

I have a couple of friends with loans that cost more than my house. Their payoff plan is to pay minimum on the loan and take advantage of the 25 year forgiveness rule and then pay the taxes on that (loan forgiveness is considered income).

 

[signit]

What is proposed is SOME loan forgiveness for students taken advantage by some shabby ‘investor owned’ institutions. The free costs are as to community colleges.

However, some have proposed general forgiveness for student loans, regardless of the type of institution.

There was a Senate resolution earlier this year calling for forgiveness of up to $50,000 in student loans per person:

article

The Secretary seemed to be arguing against the general free college movement, not just about forgiveness for people who attended the controversial “for-profit” institutions.

 

[puer.dei]

Makes me think of my uncle. He and his wife paid through the nose for five kids’ education.

Where’s his benefit?

I paid my student loans. My daughter paid hers. Where’s our benefit? Our benefit would be that this would boost the economy in a time where it badly needs it, and add spendable income to families who badly need it.
It’s not always just about me.

 

[Nepperhan]

The Secretary seemed to be arguing against the general free college movement, not just about forgiveness for people who attended the controversial “for-profit” institutions.

But the Secretary has previosly protected ‘predator schools’; like Trump University.

"WASHINGTON — In a bipartisan rebuke, the Senate voted on Wednesday to overturn a major Trump administration rule that would sharply limit debt relief for students misled by schools that lured them in with false claims about their graduates’ career and earning prospects.

In a 53-to-42 vote that included 10 Republicans, the Senate struck down a revised Education Department rule completed in September by the department’s secretary, Betsy DeVos. The House passed a companion resolution in January. The legislation will now go to President Trump, who will decide whether to uphold the rule with a veto or side with Congress over his own education secretary."

Senate Rejects DeVos Rule Restricting Debt Relief for Bilked Students - The New York Times

" For-profit colleges linked to almost all loan fraud claims

November 9, 2017 / 8:03 AM / AP

For-profit colleges are linked with the vast majority of student fraud complaints, according to a new analysis of Education Department data.

Students who attended for-profit colleges filed more than 98 percent of the requests for student loan forgiveness alleging fraud, The Century Foundation said in its study, published Thursday. The analysis represents the most thorough analysis to date of the nearly 100,000 loan forgiveness claims known as borrower defense received by the agency over the past two decades and paints an alarming picture of the state of for-profit higher education in America. The study was provided to The Associated Press ahead of publication.

The report comes as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faces criticism for erasing two Obama-era regulations that would have added protections for students. Review of tens of thousands of claims has stalled and the AP reported last month that the department now is considering abandoning the practice of full loan cancellation in favor of partial forgiveness. Student advocates point to the Trump administration’s ties to the for-profit industry and accuse DeVos of putting industry over students."

For-profit colleges linked to almost all loan fraud claims - CBS News

 

[Dobby]

I believe DeVos will be unemployed very soon.

 

[pnewton]

I have to agree with DeVos on this one, not that it will ever happen. Blanket forgiveness would be an economic injustice. I see the better solution is to revamp the whole college and university system. It has become bloated and over-priced, with diminishing value.

Not everyone needs college, and those that do just need the education part, not the expensive add-ons.

One solution, and one that is happening somewhat, is expanding of the junior colleges to where they can offer four year degrees. They are locally taxed and are very low on tuition for those that live locally. Room and board is less expensive, and there are no funds drained for fluff.

 

[Zzyzx_Road]

Loan forgiveness should come out of the college endowments before they come out of the government’s (read taxpayer’s) pockets. After all they were the ones who got rich and went overboard with brand new facilities. They were the ones who raised the prices to meet the amount of credit made available to them. They were the ones who along with the banks got Congress and President Bush to make the loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

The colleges need to eat it as do the banks. Governments need to get out of the loan guarantee business. This is the only way most colleges are going to be forced to price themselves correctly. As it stands, this has the effect of retarding family formation and first time real estate buyers. These are effects I’ve seen in my own generation as well as the one following me.

I haven’t been gone that long and already I hardly recognize half the campus where I went to college. What a racket.

 

[jeannetherese]

The Secretary seemed to be arguing against the general free college movement, not just about forgiveness for people who attended the controversial “for-profit” institutions.

Even with the “controversial” schools, those who signed up were, I’d imagine, adults who were old enough to vote and engage in other adult activities.
Making good financial decisions or dealing with the consequences of poor choices is all part of being a grown up.
Paying off their debts for them becomes a subsidy for those institutions being decried as shabby. If we really think the institutions are that bad, their accreditation should be challenged.

 

[ChuckB]

Loan forgiveness should come out of the college endowments before they come out of the government’s (read taxpayer’s) pockets. After all they were the ones who got rich and went overboard with brand new facilities. They were the ones who raised the prices to meet the amount of credit made available to them. They were the ones who along with the banks got Congress and President Bush to make the loans non-dischargeable in bankruptcy.

The colleges need to eat it as do the banks. Governments need to get out of the loan guarantee business. This is the only way most colleges are going to be forced to price themselves correctly. As it stands, this has the effect of retarding family formation and first time real estate buyers. These are effects I’ve seen in my own generation as well as the one following me.

I haven’t been gone that long and already I hardly recognize half the campus where I went to college. What a racket.

This is absolutely, 100 percent spot on.