We Don’t Need Another Student Loan Repayment Program

[Geee]

PJMedia:

For the past several weeks the massive and ubiquitous student loan debt of American college graduates has been a major news story, along with the attempts by President Obama, Mitt Romney, and the GOP-controlled House of Representatives to make political hay of the issue while ostensibly advancing plans for resolving it. Of the ideas floated, President Obama’s appears the least serious and most political, particularly because his approach would expand the scope of federally subsidized loans — in effect pouring good money after bad.

According to the most recently compiled data, the average college student graduating in 2010 owed an average of $25,250. According to the marketing research division of American Student Assistance (which advises collegians on loans and debts), there are approximately 37 million Americans with some outstanding student loan debt. This spring another 1.7 million will graduate with bachelor’s degrees, as well as 833,000 with associate’s degrees, 696,000 with master’s degrees, 102,000 with professional degrees, and about 74,000 with doctorates (happily, Starbucks should have no problem filling its ranks with the latter). The cumulative student loan debt which right now stands at approximately $870 billion will no doubt increase even more.

The prospects of repaying such crushing student loan burdens look bleak for recent graduates, considering that over half are unemployed and the remainder are “underemployed” — a result, for far too many, of having bought into the Pelosi propaganda that a creative writing, womyns’ studies, or theatre major would work in the Obama economy. In fact, “only three of the 30 occupations with the largest projected number of job openings by 2020 will require a bachelor’s degree or higher to fill the position — teachers, college professors and accountants…[c]ollege graduates who majored in zoology, anthropology, philosophy, art history and humanities were among the least likely to find jobs appropriate to their education level….”

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A proper discussion of whether American society wrongly promotes college at the expense of less-costly, more marketable vocational training is beyond the purview here. Instead, I wish to focus on the veritable legion of programs for repaying student loans which already exists — and which are woefully under-reported by the media and our government spokespersons.

The largest and most potentially lucrative loan repayment source is the U.S. military. For certain enlisted jobs, up to $65,000 of student loans can be repaid (the maximum currently authorized by Congress). At this juncture only the active duty Army will allow that $65k maximum (for a three-year enlistment, 1/3 per year), but all the other branches except the Marines have some form of substantial loan repayment available (albeit usually for a four-year hitch): Army Reserves, $20,000; Air Force and Navy active duty and Reserves, $10,000; Air National Guard, $20,000.

[Ghost]

How do we get young people in LIBERAL colleges to rethink responsibility? Many of them (like my granddaughter) have never worked a day in their life. They are given almost everything & then in college learn all about entitlements and what is owed them. pretty sad

[righteousmomma]

I wish some one would start writing about the ridiculous tuition some of these schools charge -- even though heavily endowed. And about the whopping salaries they pay most of the liberal, lefty professors

[RandyM]

How do we get young people in LIBERAL colleges to rethink responsibility? Many of them (like my granddaughter) have never worked a day in their life. They are given almost everything & then in college learn all about entitlements and what is owed them. pretty sad

 

It has to start in the home.... by rule and by example. And that is what is sorely lacking in our society today.

[clearvision]

I wish some one would start writing about the ridiculous tuition some of these schools charge -- even though heavily endowed. And about the whopping salaries they pay most of the liberal, lefty professors

"Free" Government money does not help. As long as there are highly subsidized loans, there is no pressure to reduce rates as they have all the customers they can handle.