Much Ado About Student Debt Forum

[Mattalones]

Student debt! - Something of great concern in our current economic state. Respond with some thoughts here about the issue in the context of the present economic recovery efforts, but please avoid digression into the efforts themselves. Below is a short springboard for discussion. As a point of courteously, please avoid direct quotes so that posters can delete later if they decide to do so. A simple retype or copy-paste without a name reference will suffice to comunicate your point.

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During the implementation lag from job creation policies, many students cannot foresee financial independence from student loan debt. This applies most strongly to professional school students (i.e. business, law, medicine, dental, etc.). Even before students get that "first job," saddling them with more than $100,000 in debt in a bad economy will greatly slow economic recovery. And the same applies even for elite institutions (in TLS-speak, most outside the T10-14).

There are two sides to this coin: (1) the consumer side, and (2) the institutional side. Consumers are unemployed students and graduates stuck with huge debts. The government issues a lot of that debt and is in a position to help. On the institutional side of the coin, universities are charging the unprecedented tuitions causing the debt. Since federal loans fund such a large part of university operations, the government should pressure the schools to restructure tuition fees. Failing to do these things can stifle economic growth for long enough to discount an entire generation of profesional graduates. Those who traditionally have been the "leaders of tomorrow" are becoming a drain on society. Something drastic needs to be done, and soon!

[hasmith]

What the hell is going on here?

[chem]

Cool

[sundance95]

story

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

fixted

[laxbrah420]

Student debt is one of the most ridiculous things ever. I think that it's totally fucked up that our government would allow students to take on debt that they can't pay back. The government should pay for whatever education qualified students should want. Knowledge is freedom and education breeds knowledge and America is all about freedom. If anything, Wall Street should be forced to pay for students. The Jews took all the money and hit it in caves and made our economy bad. We wouldnt have to go to more school if it werent for them. But now since a UG isn't enough we have to go to school but it's too expensive!

Everything you wrote makes no sense.

[TTTLS]

If you thought the housing crisis was bad, wait until the education bubble bursts.

Third year of corporate work.

Borrowed: $168,800

Have paid: $63,182

Still owe: $158,360.

That's the tyranny of 8.5% interest.

[t14fanboy]

story

Cool

bro

[chem]

story

Cool

bro

And with that, I have achieved a TLS life dream of mine

[20130312]

story

Cool

bro

And with that, I have achieved a TLS life dream of mine

They're in the wrong order.

[chem]

story

Cool

bro

And with that, I have achieved a TLS life dream of mine

They're in the wrong order.

Posted in the right order. But I'll lurk for another opportunity. Maybe coincide with a 500 post

[t14fanboy]

[apl6783]

What the hell is going on here?

This guy wants taxpayers to pay off his student loans for him. He's making the argument that if those of us who did not indiscriminately throw good money after bad to pay for grad school should pay off the loans of those who did because it will benefit the economy in the long run.

Arguably, the situation is the same as the housing situation that precipitated the recession. The government has made it too easy to get loans, so people who shouldn't qualify for them (because they didn't get into a good enough law school, for example) DO qualify for them. Those people don't do any research before throwing $150k in loans at a law degree from a low ranking school. They graduate into a bad market and can't pay off the loan, disaster ensues.

Or, same situation, but they get an even less useful post-graduate degree - like a masters in (basically anything) where they take classes like "Contemporary Feminist Perspectives on Jimi Hendrix's Solo in All Along the Watchtower: There Must be Some Kind of Way out of Here."

[sundance95]

like a masters in (basically anything)where they take classes like "Contemporary Feminist Perspectives on Jimi Hendrix's Solo in All Along the Watchtower: There Must be Some Kind of Way out of Here."

Unfortunate choice of song to make your point:
--ImageRemoved--

[apl6783]

I would have slain that exam. Was that at Yale?

[sunynp]

I would have slain that exam. Was that at Yale?

Evidence at Yale, there was a story on ATL about it.

[PMan99]

I would have slain that exam. Was that at Yale?

Evidence at YaleHarvard, there was a story on ATL about it.

[sunynp]

I would have slain that exam. Was that at Yale?

Evidence at YaleHarvard, there was a story on ATL about it.

Ooops. Couldn't find the story, I did think it was Yale though. Thanks for the correction.

[laxbrah420]

step 1: go to atl
step 2: search "hendrix"

[sundance95]

step 1: go to atl
step 2: search "hendrix"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Nesson
TBF, its the Dylan version's lyrics

[Mattalones]

This thread ins't about me, which is fortunate. I go to a T20, am doing well, and have been lucky enough to land competitive positions. The thread is meant to discuss a social problem that affects law students. Some posters have accurately referred to it as the education bubble. "The" solution probably doesn't exist in any singular form. But, even if there were a single answer, government loan forgiveness is not it. One crucial part of a solution is restructuring tuition costs. I don't purport to know how, but I recognize the problem as a serious one.

Too much debt causes economic problems. A recent global lesson is Greece. Domestically, the housing bubble is a prime example whose affect we still feel. Less recently, credit card debt played a large role in starting the great depression. In 2009 alone, American student loan debt disbursed was more than $75 billion. Today, student loan debt exceeds credit card debt. Especially in a bad economy, student loan debt slows recovery.

By comparison, federal, state, and local governments have come under scrutiny in the past few decades to increase accountability in spending and efficiency. Government has a reputation for waste, and accountability measures help reduce that. The same should apply to universities - all of them. A large amount of capital is poured into them, and a lot of it goes to waste. In the end, students at and alumni of both prestigious and non-prestigious universities (undergraduate, graduate, and professional) pay heavily because of unaccountability. That much is clear.

[laxbrah420]

poured

[NotMyRealName09]

I'm not cool enough for this thread, I'm sorry.

[goodolgil]

If you thought the housing crisis was bad, wait until the education bubble bursts.

Third year of corporate work.

Borrowed: $168,800

Have paid: $63,182

Still owe: $158,360.

That's the tyranny of 8.5% interest.

Oh man. That's the one part of the debt situation that never really set in for me (seriously).

[20130312]

If you thought the housing crisis was bad, wait until the education bubble bursts.

Third year of corporate work.

Borrowed: $168,800

Have paid: $63,182

Still owe: $158,360.

That's the tyranny of 8.5% interest.

Oh man. That's the one part of the debt situation that never really set in for me (seriously).

The good news is that as you keep making payments, more and more will go toward the principal. So your first few years look awful because so much is going to interest (see above), but it will only get better.