Summary
Student loan borrowers fear worsened conditions under Donald Trump, who has criticized debt relief and oversaw a 99% rejection rate for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) during his first term.
Many borrowers remain in limbo awaiting forgiveness, while others struggle with ballooning debt despite decades of payments.
Borrowers expect Trump to scale back or eliminate relief programs initiated by Joe Biden, which have forgiven $166.5 billion in loans.
Critics highlight flaws in the existing system, calling it a “nightmare” for those seeking relief.
why should we pay, again?
So it seems if it comes before the supreme court and they think you are willfully not paying, they can imprison you: https://www.npr.org/2014/05/21/313118629/supreme-court-ruling-not-enough-to-prevent-debtors-prisons
That’s about court and government fees and fines, not student loans. Idk if the two would be in any way related but I see nothing in the article that supports this for student loans specifically.
Do you have anything that does reference student loans?
I’m on an IDR plan (no idea which one at this point, no idea what’s going on with any of it because they keep throwing it into forbearance…)
I don’t make enough to pay it, so after the first year when I got set up with IDR, I haven’t paid a penny.
I graduated with like $17k in debt, and less than a decade later it’s like 30k. I have no intention of ever making another payment. No point. I’d never get through the interest anyway.
Its… Income based… As much as I hate loans of all the loan options its the easiest for many people because you only have to pay such a small fraction of your income to repay it 5-10% most common… And if you’re compliant, they forgive it anyways after 20 years.
I didn’t take that option but many of my friends did. Also, anyone taking out loans whether it be house, car, etc I believe should know what terms are and select what works best for their life.
Most people dont know what the terms mean, let alone the terms on their actual loan. When i bought my new car, i paid less than $300 in total interest across the 4 year loan. Understanding those financial terms is so beneficial. We really need to teach it better to high schoolers
Yeah, I know it’s income based. That’s why I haven’t made enough to pay it.
What I mean is there were several income-based options, and idk which one I’m on or was on, and idk if that’s still the case because I’ve chosen to do absolutely nothing with my student loans beyond what I’m specifically required to do (was hoping for forgiveness to go through but that didn’t happen). So I’ve only had to file one proof of income form, for example, even though it should have been yearly.
I knew the terms at the time, but it’s been a while so meh.
Because POS like Biden helped write provisions in a bankruptcy bill that allows Social Security to cut benefits for unpaid student debt.
You were presumably willing to pay when you took on the debt, and nothing about the debt changed.
Ah yes, children being told by both their families and society in general that you need to go to college in order to not work a fast food job for the rest of your life agreed to take on the debt. I guess they deserve a lifetime of ballooning debt even though the degree didn’t stop wages from staying stagnant and inflation destroying their dream of being as successful as their parents.
Not to mention brain still develops for years after most make that “choice”.
The issue with arguments like these is that the brain doesn’t mature uniformly. I’d you can tell me exactly what parts of the brain are involved in a decision like this and when those parts mature, then you might have a valid argument.
I say “might” because you would still have to show that a brain which hasn’t finished maturing is inherently incapable (ie, will always fail) of making such decisions.
As I said already, there no easy answer. But what about some life experience as an adult first regardless?
How old would you say someone needs to be before being allowed to borrow money?
Our education system is shit, which is part of the problem. So many people don’t understand the concepts of compounding interest and what debt will actually do to them in the long run.
My wife took on so much debt because no one ever explained to her what she was doing. She applied for a loan and got it, went to school. Shes an attorney now, but has amassed so much debt we will never be able to pay it off. We’re on the income based plan, her loan payment is more than our mortgage, and we aren’t even covering interest. Loan forgiveness is our only hope
Wow this post really drew the pro-fascist trolls out of the woodwork
I’m not sure there’s an easy answer to that, but I think some real world experience and a bit more time for brain to develop would be a good idea.
An argument that would have made some sense before a shitload of rich people including many politicians got their PPP loans forgiven.
Yes i totally understood what I was signing at 18 when the loan officers kept telling me i’d easily get a job and pay this back in no time when I graduated.
We were lied too and now our student loans fund our parent’s retirement while we can’t even afford houses.