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> Student loans would dry up overnight if they could be discharged at bankruptcy. There were student loans before 1976, when they became non-dischargeable.
by x0x0 7y ago
> Student loans would dry up overnight if they could be discharged at bankruptcy.
There were student loans before 1976, when they became non-dischargeable.
- jedberg 7y agoYeah but college could be paid for with a minimum wage summer job. That change in 1976 was actually the cause of the steep rise in tuition. Can't really put the genie back in the bottle now.
- CydeWeys 7y agoWell ... You can. A lot of things will change and there'd be much disruption and churn in academic institutions, but it is possible.
- dnautics 7y agoThink of all of the bureaucrats in the colleges that will lose their jobs. Also think of all of those low and middle class students who we'll turn down since we're not willing to do wealth redistribution with our endowment (<scoff>, that's the government's job).
- staticautomatic 7y agoI find this attitude disturbing. The only things stopping real change in America are people who don't want it to happen and people who have been tricked into believing it can't.
- jedberg 7y agoI want real change, I just don't believe this is the change that makes sense. Changing the way colleges are paid for would make sense. Capping tuition would make sense. Making you pay a portion of your income back to the college for the rest of your life (or maybe just 20 years) would make sense. But allowing student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy would do more harm than good without other systemic changes.
- lallysingh 7y ago> But allowing student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy would do more harm than good without other systemic changes. Why?
- bluGill 7y agoIf you are getting a degree that doesn't have good job prospects then you should pay for it out of pocket, only the rich should try for it (rich can mean middle class with a good job taking a second degree for fun). If you take a loan that means you expect the value of the degree is worth more than the loan amount over time. If you can't find such a job paying enough to make it worth it, then you should declare bankruptcy. If the only value of the degree is it makes you well rounded, then universities should ensure that only enough people start down the path using loans as their are tenured positions expected to be open in 10 years. If there is industry demand elsewhere then meet it. I don't know how to solve the problems of someone declaring bankruptcy as soon as they finish their degree though.
- staticautomatic 7y agoI got a liberal arts degree that by all accounts should have left me with terrible job prospects but I ended up going straight into a lucrative career path with just my BA. I know music majors who went into consulting and English majors who went to work for Goldman Sachs. Yes, they were exceptional people. None of us were rich.
- bluGill 7y agoWould you have gotten that great job without the education? If no, then it was valuable and you should pay for it. (we can perhaps question if it was worth the cost, but that is a different analysis and much more complex). I'm referring to those who get an education that doesn't help them get a better job.
- fzeroracer 7y agoWhat you're essentially asking for is to create two separate classes of people. Your idea would result in us regressing back to the idea of 'philosopher kings' and I would hope I shouldn't need to argue why that's a bad idea. People should be able to get an education no matter their social standing. It shouldn't be tied to this idea of job prospects because commodification of education is a sham.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]