PLEASE SIGN!

ATTENTION COLLEGE, UNI, GRAD STUDENTS AND GRADUATES:

Please Support The Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012! Our loans are getting out of control and making it impossible to even make a normal living once we gotta start paying them back....

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This is a tough one. Since loans are optional, and the institution you choose is up to you, its hard to set standards for the money you borrow. Remember that banks are loaning money that they entrusted in you and have no idea if you will ever pay back, thats why the penalties for repayment are so damn cruel. But thats the double edged sword of loans, it helps you or it hurts you depending on how you use it. You addressed the high cost of tuition. However, that is another problem if its own. I wouldve liked your video to go into the bill itself in a more simplified form.

I see where you're coming from. Usually, depending on someones situation, a person can get through community colllege with almost no debt. But for further education, you kinda have to go into a university or trade school, or whatever it is to at least get a bachelors. I just hope something can be done about this tuition thats just blowing through the ceilings....

I vehemently disagree. What happened to personal responsibility? When you go to school, you make the choice to take out loans, knowing you have to pay them back. You had to sign a promissory note, a legal contract of repayment. No one forced you to take out more than you could possibly repay. You knew before attending how much each year would cost, the interest rate of loans, expected payments after graduating, and expected salary.

To me this just sounds like a bunch of students who thought everything would be peachy once they finish school. They never bothered to do any calculations of whether the degree they are getting is worthwhile. Now they're lobbying about how unfair the whole thing is and want a free lunch.

Why should my tax dollars go to bail out irresponsible banks, homeowners, and students? Why should someone who worked hard for scholarships, work-study, and internships now have to pay the price for that? I mean, this person could have partied all the way through school, barely eking out a degree, and now have everything written off.

MagicMarker wrote: I vehemently disagree. What happened to personal responsibility? When you go to school, you make the choice to take out loans, knowing you have to pay them back. You had to sign a promissory note, a legal contract of repayment. No one forced you to take out more than you could possibly repay. You knew before attending how much each year would cost, the interest rate of loans, expected payments after graduating, and expected salary.

To me this just sounds like a bunch of students who thought everything would be peachy once they finish school. They never bothered to do any calculations of whether the degree they are getting is worthwhile. Now they're lobbying about how unfair the whole thing is and want a free lunch.

Why should my tax dollars go to bail out irresponsible banks, homeowners, and students? Why should someone who worked hard for scholarships, work-study, and internships now have to pay the price for that? I mean, this person could have partied all the way through school, barely eking out a degree, and now have everything written off.

I see where you're coming from and I agree with you in some areas. Either way, your tax dollars are gonna go somewhere whether u want them to or not unfortunately. I see this type of situation as no different than when banks were handing out loans left and right for people to buy homes and now, we're dealing with a national crisis. Whats been done is done. If something doesnt get done about it, the economy is gonna be even worse off than it is now. There goes our chance of a hopeful recovery. It's easy to assume that college students do nothing but party, but I can safely say, most of the people that I know that pay that much money to go to school, work their ass off for scholarships, grants, work study, and other types of aid instead of spending their time effing around, and it's still not enough. Yes, i know it seems unfair with this act that's being proposed, but you can't deny that it's something that concerns a majority of students. Yes, they knew what they were getting themselves into, but if you were in their shoes, and an opportunity like this comes up, you would probably be the first to go sign that petition.

That's just the thing. I am not in their shoes because I planned ahead of time. I evaluated expenses and compared that to expected income upon graduating. My friends and I didn't choose to get a frilly liberal arts major with no career prospects. The failure of some students to do the same thing means I have no sympathy. Their plight is entirely of their own making.

Why are you casting such a blanket statement that the economy will crash if student loans aren't forgiven? If you're talking about depressed consumer spending then I can say that people who have not earned it should not be buying luxuries like the rest of the welfare/food stamp queens. I am understanding of too much total debt possibly being impossible to extricate from, so I am in favour of two things:

1. Amend bankruptcy law to allow student loans. You pay the price of the black mark on your credit rating for choosing this route.
2. Get the government out of the education loan business. If you don't have enough money to go to school, work and save beforehand.

Rampant borrowing has now driven up the price of two things: houses and schooling. By denying loans to most borrowers, we can reduce how quickly prices of those things escalate. If students cannot borrow however much schools charge, the schools must re-evaluate their unsustainable budgets and start to compete with each other on price.

Do you have aggregate evidence that a majority of students are being affected (as opposed to total debt and average debt per student)?

I agree with Marker completely.

There are plenty of people who make sacrifices to save money for their college education. They either work while going to school to pay for it or they go into a field they know will provide a large income so they can pay back their loans. OR they go to a college that doesn't cost as much and try to earn scholarships. My father saved a lot of money so that I could go to school and not have to worry about student loans. Now all these kids who didn't think ahead want their loans to just be "forgotton?" No, I don't think so.

And I don't support the idea that people who were fiscally responsible should have to pay for other people's bad or irresponsible choices.

MagicMarker wrote: To me this just sounds like a bunch of students who thought everything would be peachy once they finish school. They never bothered to do any calculations of whether the degree they are getting is worthwhile. Now they're lobbying about how unfair the whole thing is and want a free lunch.

You know many of those "irresponsible" students were people who majored in worthwhile majors like biology, environmental engineering, chemistry.. etc...

You say things like "pointless" liberal arts major but quite the opposite is true. Many people's lives and careers are determined by the salary they make, which can ultimately lead to people doing things they don't like very much. And if you think the salaries in America fit the quality and value of a job than you are sadly mistaking. Sometimes people do pursue a career that is actually worthwhile and it's quite judge mental of you to assume that hardworking people who are in a rut are irresponsible. Some things just have an effect on the market that ordinary people can not control, and usually those ordinary people are hit the hardest.

Now I don't agree with completely erasing student loan debts; however, I think there is a huge problem in the American education system, especially public schools, that really degrades our education, and money is part of the problem.

Basically to sum up my points

1) People can't pursue what they want because paying back loans largely determines career choice; therefore, degrading the quality/passion of professions in America

2) The pay doesn't always fit the value of the job. For an example, public teachers, even though our public education sucks, you would think be payed decently considering they educate our children.

3) You can prepare all you want for the future and save all the money you like but it doesn't mean squat when you get laid off because the economy is terrible or you don't happen to find a job because there has been a boom in that area.


Also side note, in some of the best educated countries AND most productive/efficient, college education is significantly cheaper or even free. I'm sure that this has much to do with their success in education and productivity in a rapidly growing world but sadly Americans would shrug off such a repulsively disgusting ideas because they would have to pay higher taxes (T.T) and risk our freedom being compensated for such evil social ideas

Over $100k of student loans to go to NYU as an English major might not be the wisest investment. The higher education system in the US is pretty ****ed up, though. Loan forgiveness might be a stretch, but it's pretty bad when the tuition from your public universities have increased 3x in the past decade. Where the chancellors keep their perks and pay, yet they cut 1/3rd of non-tenured professors. It reminds me of the US Congress where they vote for pay raises and benefits... for themselves.

Not to say that cutting back on their pay alone would right the ship, but there's a certain level of irony there...