What Everyone's Getting Wrong About Student Loans

We also need to realize that even if all student debt was forgiven tomorrow, it wouldn't solve the problem. The real problem is the fact that the cost of going to university in this country is way too incredibly high and basically forces most students to get student loans if they want a higher education

We need to stop pressuring young people into going straight into college after high school. Most kids don't know what they would actually like to study in college, and end up taking a gamble on a major that they end up resenting; they end up changing majors multiple times and/or end up with a degree that they can't or don't want to use. The student debt problem is not just about money, it's about our culture's influence that pressures teens into a path that they don't even really want to follow.

I almost couldn’t go to school because I didn’t have a co-signer. I went to a state school I graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Psych and I make 50k but have to pay 850 a month for my student loan payments. I am 80k in debt and at this point I wish I didn’t go. Some days I go hungry because I’m living paycheck to paycheck

I left school with about 50,0000 worth of debt, because I went to school, studied abroad, and worked an upaid internship while paying rent in D.C. for 5 months. Even with all of this and the many jobs I've worked I had often been told in interviews that I didn't have enough experience. College isn't optional for certain fields, its basically mandatory. And its crazy when entry level jobs tell you that between college, internships, and work experience that your still not experienced enough for their liking.

I am one of these students. I dropped out twice due to lack of direction and lack of mental health support. Now in my mid thirties, can't afford the time off work to try to finish, and have a glass ceiling in my field due to my lack of degree. And still $10k in student debt. Thank you Hank for making me feel seen.

I work at a community college research center and a big focus of our work is in getting adult learners who may have stopped-out of their education and may be carrying unpaid student loan debt to return to college. Having a certificate, degree, or any other type of post-secondary credential increases someone's earning power which in turn enables them to be able to pay back their loans without as large a risk of defaulting. So the good news is that there are a lot of people talking about this and trying to solve the problem, it just doesn't often make it into the headlines.

The student debt crisis IS the federal government offering student loans and trying to “help”. If the federal government pulled out of loans (or at least capped the amount each student could borrow) colleges and universities could no longer charge the inflated costs they are able to get away with and would need to cut cost inside higher education and focus on actual education. It’s really THAT simple.

I graduated in 2010 with a bachelors degree and $68,000 in student loans. I’ve never missed a payment but unfortunately I’ve never been able to make more than the minimum payment and I still owe $49,000. The problem isn’t the loans, it’s the repayment terms and the variable interest rates. Private student loans are predatory. I’ve paid $900 every month for the last 120+ months that’s a minimum of $118,000 to the banks, with plenty more to go. This is where the government needs to step in. There’s no maintenance required on my loans, they just keep raking in the cash, and when I signed for those loans at 18-22 I wasn’t made aware that some might be 20 year notes… I had no clue, just that I needed them to attend college and get my degree to have a good life.

I'm one of the weird numbers of near average loan amount drop-outs that fully paid their loans. I wouldn't be angry at anyone for forgiving what I worked to pay. My life would have been easier if my loans were forgiven and I wish that blessing on others if even if I couldn't receive it myself.

The topic of student debt infuriates me because of how predatory it is in nature. I was brainwashed through my entire childhood that it was not a matter of if but when I would go to college, and that it was absolutely essential to financial success — it’s not, there are plenty of other routes. Between 16-18 I made long-term devastating decisions that will literally impact me until I die. Those who believe “well you should have been smarter/known what you were doing/you did it so you owe that money now shut up” don’t understand how predatory it is. I wasn’t even allowed to drink or vote, but I could loan out thousands of dollars? Infuriating.

The advice I’d give myself in 2007 (when I graduated high school) is to go to a cheap college or not go at all. The decision to attend a private university was a terrible one and I wish someone had stopped me.

I paid off my student loans in 3 years. It was very simple. I joined the Army under the student loan repayment program.

"Students who did not fail but were failed." This line stuck out to me in particular. Thank you, Hank, for talking about this.

I'll say it again: 40% of people with student loans will get NOTHING in exchange for their debt, and at some colleges, MOST of the people who take out students loans receive no degree in exchange. Such people are disproportionately poor and marginalized, and they are inadequately supported by the U.S. education system every step of the way--from elementary school through post-secondary education. We need to focus not just on people who end up with a lot of debt in exchange for a degree, but the huge percentage of people who end up with a lot of debt in exchange for nothing, and reform systems so that they better meet those people's needs. -John

When I say I’ve had so much anxiety over this and dreading googling this only to see your face!! The comfort I felt 😂 thank you!!

You cover several valid topics. I think the key flaws of our system are these: 1) Out high school system is awful. I will never be able to understand why we would ever allow a student to graduate to the next year, and much less high school if they did not learn the subjects. 2) There is too much encouragement to get into college degrees that will not sustain you financially after college. I would even say that student loans should not be even available for those degrees. That should ensure that only the most dedicated to those fields embark into them, and are not buried by debt they can't pay. 3) There are critical fields - like education and nursing - that are always chronically understaffed. We need more scholarships for them. 4) We need a way to encourage brilliant people no matter what their background is. Rather than forgiving loan debt we need free tuition anen guaranteed admission for the top students of each high school, regardless of school quality. But not stop there... they should also be tested and if necessary given free remedial semester(s) if they need them before startingnregular classes, as it was not their fault that their high school sucked. That would give them an equal college start and higher chance of success.

The one question I can't seem to get around is: "How do you forgive student loans on one hand (essentially admitting the system has failed), yet continue issuing those same loans to new students?" Any solution here HAS to hold colleges accountable to student outcomes.

I am a software engineer on the verge of retirement. I still do it because I still enjoy it. I initially was against student loan forgiveness but then talked to a young man who was an intern at my company. When I went to school I took out loans that amounted to the price of a nice German car. I paid off my loans in the first two years of employment and then bought that German car my third year. On the other hand the intern was in debt to the value of a house for the same if not lesser amount of education. At this point I realized that our education system, much like our medical and insurance systems are designed to extract as much as possible from those paying instead of providing for the greater good.

I big problem causing debt without degrees is affirmative action. By lowering standards for certain groups, you increase the chance they could be somewhere above their successful level.

I'm a dropout of a scam school that later closed for fraud. I went for 1 semester, smelled a rat, and got out. Ended up with 15k of debt. 5 years later the location closed along with a ton of other locations due to several types of fraud. loan forgiveness was only offered to those currently attending, or who had attended within 120 days of closing. These schools are still open at different locations, and more and more keep closing due to fraud, it's incredibly sad how this school takes advantage of people wanting to improve their lives. Each time one of their locations closes, I check to see if maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get my loans forgiven, so far it doesn't seem like I ever will. Thank you for bringing this issue into public view.