President Obama announced in his State of the Union Address he will propose measures to bring relief to almost eight million students who will soon see their student loan interest rates double on new loans.
I want to thank President Obama for taking the welfare of college students into consideration. As has been said, college is freakin’ expensive. In some cases, students give an arm and a leg to pay for school.
Beginning July 1 of this year, interest rates are set to double for students who take on new loans. If a new plan is not implemented, millions of students will pay $5,200 more on their student loans, according to a press release.
The press release also stated if Congress does nothing, borrowers who will take out $23,000 in subsidized student loans will see their interest balloon to an additional $5,200 over a 10-year repayment period and $11,300 over a 20-year payment period.
I don’t think this is fair or right by any means. Most college students are already struggling to pay for credit hours, rent, food, gas and other expenses. There’s no reason for Congress to increase interest rates on loans. It is bullshit.
President Obama also said in his address that he wants to keep tuition low, which is wonderful. With the rate it has been rising in recent years and now Congress wants to double interest rates on loans, college is soon going to be unaffordable for those who are not of upper class status.
We also have to take into consideration that the Pell Grant was slashed and summer financial aid here at Ferris and other universities is no longer available. That’s just one example of financial aid being cut.
I get that Congress has to make cuts in certain areas due to the deficit; what I don’t understand is why higher education has to be one of them. Sometimes I wonder if politicians want the general public to become ignorant just so citizens can become robots who will listen to and believe everything they are told.
Without a higher education, there are basically no job prospects and no prosperity. The days of being able to drop out of high school and go right to work like my grandfather did back in the 1950s are long over. He ran a successful business, but that was then. This is now. It’s 2012, and a college education is a necessity to have a successful career.
College should not be a privilege; it should be an option for every citizen. Everyone has the right to a higher education. Nobody has the right to say someone does not deserve to go to college, because they do. In that case, college should be affordable.
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum recently made the statement toward President Obama, “Who are you to say that every child in America should go to college? I mean, the hubris of this president to think that he knows what’s best.”
Every child having the chance to go to college isn’t “snobbery” or “hubris,” it’s the right thing to do. Santorum is just another ignorant wealthy politician who is by no way fit to lead this country. That’s another subject, however.
Thank goodness President Obama is thinking of us, unlike Congress.
The hubris of Rick Santorum is appalling. Irony is a beautiful thing.
How are interest rates normally set in an open market? What information does an
interest rate convey to the lender? Do Federally backed loans suppress tuition prices?
Does State aid to universities suppress tuition prices? Does the management of
Ferris make decisions about how money is used – and are they suppressing
tuition prices or making capital investments which cause prices to rise? Can artificially
low rates cause problems in the economy? Is an alumnus defaulting on his or her
loan better off than the person who never went to school? Is the success of
programs measured by alumni success – or current enrollment?
It seems you only assert the common believes rather than establish your
premises. Why do you do that?
Look up the 90/0 rule because the government controls loan and isues more credit schools charge higher prices. Get the government out of education and the free market will create lower tuition. At high tuition rates and no financial aid schools will be forced to slash rates to get students to attend. The demand is too high because of cheap and easy loans to people who clearly can’t afford it. Stop government backed loans and you will have fair tuition prices for students who can actually complete a class without an F or D.