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That's where the 40,000 in the headline comes from. But the article also says this: > Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgivenes

That's where the 40,000 in the headline comes from. But the article also says this: > Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgiveness through income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness, plus another 3.6 million borrowers will receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness, the Education Department said in a statement.

colpabar 4y ago
I'll believe it when I see it. I vividly remember getting "credits" for $1 from fafsa, so if it's anything like that, it will be meaningless.
- stonogo 4y ago
  I think you might be misremembering, because the FAFSA is just the application you fill out to apply for student aid. Maybe the Department of Education issued the credits?
branon 4y ago
Does this mean full-time public service workers with pre-PSLF loans, or are the feds debating broadening the scope of loan forgiveness to include persons in other careers as well?
- tedivm 4y ago
  They aren't changing the scope at all- they're just fixing some problems that meant people who should have gotten their loans forgiven but didn't will finally get that problem corrected, and they're granting credits for people who are already in the system. This will now allow a single person outside of that program to benefit, and it won't add new people to the program. This may change with future actions, but quite frankly it's kind of embarrassing that they're claiming this is a win when all they did was follow through on a promise made years ago that was basically ignored.
marricks 4y ago
45 million folks in the US have student loans so even some action for 3.6 million folks isn’t a large percentage.
- hunterb123 4y ago
  So since it's only 8% it's fine? How many 8% increments can there be until we're allowed to be against this? I'm against any percentage of funneling taxpayer money to college administrators. Reduce tuition, don't rubber stamp federal loans while letting administrators increase costs.
  - BitwiseFool 4y ago
    Student debt is massive, yes, but why are so few people asking where that money actually went? A cursory search says student loan debt is roughly $1.6 trillion dollars and there are around 4,000 to 6,000 colleges/universities. This is a rough number and the actual amount depends on your criteria, but the gist is that you have a ton of money flowing into a relatively small pool. Yes, I know not every dollar of loans goes to the school, but I really have to beg the question on what these institutions have done with all this money. Seems like any discussion about forgiving debt should involve going after some of these universities themselves.
    - CSSer 4y ago
      In the case of my alum, I think I can tell you: they spent it on housing and amenities to attract more students (quantity, not quality). I watched it happen while I attended. A university operates under the same principles as any other business in this case. Administrators are not innocent here, but they do have to live within the system and work with the incentives they are provided. Loans are made available to students and parents to shop around. This is a big part of what has created the upward pressure on tuition. We’ve revitalized a lot of state school campuses while letting their academics rot. Parents and students see fancy common areas, gyms, cafeterias and living spaces when they visit campuses then use that to decide where to go unless they’re very focused on the education, which they’re likely not because most very focused students require less financial help. If that money had been given to the administrators we are often so quick to villify, this picture may be a very different one.

colpabar 4y ago

I'll believe it when I see it. I vividly remember getting "credits" for $1 from fafsa, so if it's anything like that, it will be meaningless.

stonogo 4y ago
I think you might be misremembering, because the FAFSA is just the application you fill out to apply for student aid. Maybe the Department of Education issued the credits?

branon 4y ago

Does this mean full-time public service workers with pre-PSLF loans, or are the feds debating broadening the scope of loan forgiveness to include persons in other careers as well?

tedivm 4y ago
They aren't changing the scope at all- they're just fixing some problems that meant people who should have gotten their loans forgiven but didn't will finally get that problem corrected, and they're granting credits for people who are already in the system. This will now allow a single person outside of that program to benefit, and it won't add new people to the program. This may change with future actions, but quite frankly it's kind of embarrassing that they're claiming this is a win when all they did was follow through on a promise made years ago that was basically ignored.

marricks 4y ago

45 million folks in the US have student loans so even some action for 3.6 million folks isn’t a large percentage.

hunterb123 4y ago
So since it's only 8% it's fine? How many 8% increments can there be until we're allowed to be against this? I'm against any percentage of funneling taxpayer money to college administrators. Reduce tuition, don't rubber stamp federal loans while letting administrators increase costs.
- BitwiseFool 4y ago
  Student debt is massive, yes, but why are so few people asking where that money actually went? A cursory search says student loan debt is roughly $1.6 trillion dollars and there are around 4,000 to 6,000 colleges/universities. This is a rough number and the actual amount depends on your criteria, but the gist is that you have a ton of money flowing into a relatively small pool. Yes, I know not every dollar of loans goes to the school, but I really have to beg the question on what these institutions have done with all this money. Seems like any discussion about forgiving debt should involve going after some of these universities themselves.
  - CSSer 4y ago
    In the case of my alum, I think I can tell you: they spent it on housing and amenities to attract more students (quantity, not quality). I watched it happen while I attended. A university operates under the same principles as any other business in this case. Administrators are not innocent here, but they do have to live within the system and work with the incentives they are provided. Loans are made available to students and parents to shop around. This is a big part of what has created the upward pressure on tuition. We’ve revitalized a lot of state school campuses while letting their academics rot. Parents and students see fancy common areas, gyms, cafeterias and living spaces when they visit campuses then use that to decide where to go unless they’re very focused on the education, which they’re likely not because most very focused students require less financial help. If that money had been given to the administrators we are often so quick to villify, this picture may be a very different one.