Thursday, November 29, 2012

Federal Student lending SWELLS.

The federal lending program designed to make college education available to everyone is creating a pile of debt so large it is fanning worries that it has become too easy to borrow too much. 
U.S. student-loan debt rose by $42 billion, or 4.6%, to $956 billion in the third quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Tuesday. Overall household borrowing fell during that period. 
Payments on 11% of student-loan balances were 90 or more days behind at the end of September, up from 8.9% at the end of June, a rate that now exceeds that for credit cards. Delinquency rates for all other consumer-debt categories fell or were flat. 
Nearly all student loans—93% of them last year—are made directly by the government, which asks little or nothing about borrowers' ability to repay, or about what sort of education they intend to pursue. 
President Barack Obama championed easy-to-get loans during the campaign, calling higher education "an economic imperative in the 21st century." A spokesman for Education Secretary Arne Duncan said the goal is "to make student loans available to as many people as possible," and requiring minimum credit scores would block many Americans 
[...] 
Unlike most other types of consumer credit, student debt is extremely difficult to discharge in bankruptcy. After falling behind on payments, a borrower typically finds it harder to obtain other types of consumer loans, or can only do so at higher interest rates.
Read the rest of the article HERE.

Here's a few thoughts:

When did going to college become a right rather than a privilege?

WHY is so easy for ANYONE to get a student loan regardless of Intelligence/aptitude and/or choice of study?

Wouldn't it be better to be selective in loaning money? Then give priority to those seeking careers in needed fields AND have a PROVABLE aptitude for that field?

Do we really need more English majors that can't speak English? Teachers who aren't as smart as their students? Is it really necessary to have a useless degree to get a job managing a Burger King?

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