4 ms·

I think the most reasonable thing to do would be to cancel student debts and to then make college affordable again. When I went to a NY State SUNY school in th

I think the most reasonable thing to do would be to cancel student debts and to then make college affordable again. When I went to a NY State SUNY school in the late 80s / early 90s, it was heavily supported by the taxpayers of NY. My tuition was $675 a semester, or $1350/year and the fees were minimal. The NY minimum wage at the time was $3.35/hr. That meant that by working a minimum wage job for the summer, I could pay my tuition and fees for the next academic year, and by working part time during the semester, I could pay for rent and food. Thanks to this, I graduated debt free. We need to get back to this level of affordability.

535188B17C93743 6y ago
>I think the most reasonable thing to do would be to cancel student debts and to then make college affordable again. We need to do this the other way around. But yeah, college (and trade schools) are an investment in the people of our country. I sure as hell would rather pay higher taxes and live with well-educated citizens who can create things and start their own businesses than be absurdly rich.
- thomastjeffery 6y ago
  > We need to do this the other way around. Why does it matter what order these are done?
  - 535188B17C93743 6y ago
    Paying it off now doesn't fix the problem––it's a bandaid.
    - thomastjeffery 6y ago
      Doing one doesn't accomplish the other. So again I ask, why does the order matter?
      - fr11 6y ago
        Not the original poster, but for me, because our political system is broken and we can never seem to do the hard part, so we shouldn't do the part that makes the system worse unless we can do the hard part that makes it better first.
treeman79 6y ago
Change bankruptcy law so student debt is discharge. Don’t let government back loans. Lenders will only lend to people have a decent chance of paying it back. So no more nonsense degrees unless your rich. Colleges have grown fat on easy money. This will slim them up again
- underseacables 6y ago
  I think everyone who has taken a loan out should pay SOMETHING - a settlement sum perhaps, based on their last year tax return. IE. The government will forgive 80% of your loan, but you must pay the remaining 20% on an affordable, no interest payment plan. Failure to pay that your only option is to declare bankruptcy and have it discharged. I have a real problem with anyone getting off totally free.
  - treeman79 6y ago
    Variations of bankruptcies require paying. If have some income it tends to be a sliding scale. Chapter 13. You have to be very broke to get everything wiped off. Chapter 7
  - indymike 6y ago
    This is how bankruptcy works.
- bwb 6y ago
  They could also just move all college loans to Fed interest rates of near 0%.

535188B17C93743 6y ago

>I think the most reasonable thing to do would be to cancel student debts and to then make college affordable again. We need to do this the other way around. But yeah, college (and trade schools) are an investment in the people of our country. I sure as hell would rather pay higher taxes and live with well-educated citizens who can create things and start their own businesses than be absurdly rich.

thomastjeffery 6y ago
> We need to do this the other way around. Why does it matter what order these are done?
- 535188B17C93743 6y ago
  Paying it off now doesn't fix the problem––it's a bandaid.
  - thomastjeffery 6y ago
    Doing one doesn't accomplish the other. So again I ask, why does the order matter?
    - fr11 6y ago
      Not the original poster, but for me, because our political system is broken and we can never seem to do the hard part, so we shouldn't do the part that makes the system worse unless we can do the hard part that makes it better first.

treeman79 6y ago

Change bankruptcy law so student debt is discharge. Don’t let government back loans. Lenders will only lend to people have a decent chance of paying it back. So no more nonsense degrees unless your rich. Colleges have grown fat on easy money. This will slim them up again

underseacables 6y ago
I think everyone who has taken a loan out should pay SOMETHING - a settlement sum perhaps, based on their last year tax return. IE. The government will forgive 80% of your loan, but you must pay the remaining 20% on an affordable, no interest payment plan. Failure to pay that your only option is to declare bankruptcy and have it discharged. I have a real problem with anyone getting off totally free.
- treeman79 6y ago
  Variations of bankruptcies require paying. If have some income it tends to be a sliding scale. Chapter 13. You have to be very broke to get everything wiped off. Chapter 7
- indymike 6y ago
  This is how bankruptcy works.
bwb 6y ago
They could also just move all college loans to Fed interest rates of near 0%.