U.S. will erase student debt for Corinthian students

Not sure how I feel about this...

US will erase student debt for Corinthian students

 

"Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., praised the move by the administration, even as it left glaring questions about whether the government could have done more to protect students in the first place.

"It is our responsibility to hold servicers and colleges accountable to prevent future students from having to endure anything like this debacle ever again," Cummings said."

Hmmm. Sounds like national accreditation to me.

 

The entitlement President /administration strikes again. More vote (power) buying using other people’s money (OPM). Consider that no consequences equal business as usual /no change in behaviors…

Student loan debt—the next likely TBTF excuse…

But hey … we (the taxpayers) can afford it right?

E.g., Today’s Federal Debt is about $18,507,786,721,000.

“The amount is the gross federal debt issued by the United States Department of the Treasury since 1790. It doesn’t include state and local debt, and it doesn’t include the so-called unfunded liabilities of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare.”
Re: Government Debt in the United States - Debt Clock

 

erasing

It's not "erased", it's just shifted to all taxpayers.

 

I'd have to know more details before making a decision but I have to admit that a headline flashed through my mind . . .

"Government Subsidizes Stupidity"

I know that I burned up some good karma with that thought and I believe that many of those students were mislead into enrolling but I also believe that people should be responsible for their own lives and I also know that there's a lawsuit in process for the students to recover at least some of their money. I'm not sure that I believe there's a role for the government in this matter, or at least it's not that role. Maybe I'm just resentful because no one ever bailed me out of debt. And maybe I'm resentful because it's not the government bailing out those students. It's me and you. And I don't know if it's true for you but I don't have any "extra" money to give away.

 

It is time to chip it in for others' mistakes, folks!:drillsergeant:

 

WSJ Video:

Opinion Journal: Department of Education Bailouts
6/10/2015 3:34PM

Editorial Page Writer Allysia Finley on the federal government’s latest plan to help college borrowers repudiate their debts.
Opinion Journal: Department of Education Bailouts

 

This brings up an issue that is bigger than Corinthian.

The government offers a number of payment options for student loans. The standard plan is equal payments over ten years, and the extended plan is equal payments over 25 years.

But they also offer income-based plans. From studentaid.ed.gov:

 

My wife opted for the 25 year payoff but went to work for a non-profit and had her debt forgiven after 10 years of service.

 

You must mean she will have her debt forgiven after 10 years of service while making payments. The PSLF Program went into effect 10/01/2007. No one has received this benefit yet.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/public-service#qualifying-repayment-plan

 

Yeah probably. I don't really listen when she's talking.

I feel like she actually had those paid off through some neat twist of fate. Maybe it was a program through her employer. We pay our student loans separately so I'd have to ask her what she did (or is doing).

 

You also have to be on one of the income-driven repayment plans. The 25 year extended repayment plan won't qualify.

 

Right, so I clarified what exactly her student loan situation was. As predicted, it was a clear cut case of me missing details and my brain trying to backfill those details with other bits of knowledge I had floating around in my head. She wasn't talking at all about the public service loan forgiveness. She was referring to her own attempts to pay down her student loans by year 10 (ideally without having to pay them herself).

So to understand the context here you'd have to know my wife. The way I feel about education, figuring out new and exciting ways to earn degrees and collecting credits is how she feels about saving money. She coupons (not to the extreme but she's pretty good at it and saves us bunches of money). She has a spreadsheet that she runs almost every non-standard purchase through to determine which credit card will yield the most positive reward. And when it comes time to trade in my car I insist that she go with me to do all of the haggling.

That said, she was rather obsessed with paying off her student loans as quickly as humanly possible from the time she entered school. To begin with, she made her college selections largely based upon price and went to a CC before jumping to a four year college (and specifically to a college that had an articulation agreement with her CC so she could ensure maximum transfer). After she finished her B.A. she did a year in AmeriCorps. That knocked out one of her four student loans. Then she went on to grad school but was very uncomfortable with the cost. So she signed up for a brief hitch in the ANG where they gave her some pretty decent tuition assistance.

When she went to work for a non-profit she was also running a counseling practice on the side (on temporary hiatus because our kids are rather young and she doesn't have time) and cranking most of her earnings from that into paying off her loans. When she was promoted to Executive Director they offered her, as part of her compensation package, an educational award to allow her to earn an MPA or MBA. Since she's not me she declined the award because she has no desire to go back to school for a second Masters. She did, however, negotiate a lesser amount to be used to help pay off the final balance of her student loans. It was a pretty bold move. It was also one of those things that I, as an HR professional, thought might be pushing it during contract negotiations. Clearly, I was mistaken.

So it wasn't the federal program I had simply assumed it was. It was a series of what you could call "life hacks" that she used to not have to pay a significant portion of her debt which included employer benefits, the GI Bill, state specific National Guard educational benefits and a whole lot of frugal educational spending.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my superfluous Patten courses that I am spending $800 because I'm curious/bored.

 

WSJ estimates that student loans to be written off total $3.5 BILLION.

The Watchdogs of College Education Rarely Bite - WSJ