That is the thing that the HS counselor should have been suggesting instead of going bankrupt and trying to have the taxpayers pick up the tab.

My oldest niece and nephew entered their 1st year of college with enough credit hours to be sophomores by doing this.

I think it's unfair to generally bash HS counselors. In my experience, the counselor offers a variety of options. People hear what they want to hear and act accordingly. But we're heading into Lori Loughlin territory now....

For everything that my state does wrong, it did something right recently. If you attend a community college for your first two years of college, you tuition (not books) is covered. My son took advantage of this opportunity. A lot of his classmates who went to "expensive" colleges for their freshman year, are now enrolled at the same community college he is. We are now looking at where to finish his degree (expensive schools).

With Halloween beckoning, here are 5 real life stories for you to consider....

https://www.savingforcollege.com/ar...ve-real-life-student-loan-horror-stories

We have all conceded that something needs to be done regarding student loan debt.
But the answer is not as simple as forgiving all the debt.
Just like the penal and immigration systems, student loans need a total revamping.
And that's where I'll stop because political discussions are not allowed in the Cooler anymore.

With Halloween beckoning, here are 5 real life stories for you to consider....

https://www.savingforcollege.com/ar...ve-real-life-student-loan-horror-stories


While some of these stories are tragic some are self-inflicted.

Why should i have to pay for them with additional tax dollars that i could be using to save for my daughters education and not some random strangers education?

Here's my problem. There is no scenario I can even imagine where graduating with $300,000 of student loan debt makes any kind of sense whatsoever. That is just plain stupid. There is no school and no degree that will net you enough of an income differential over what you'd get with a degree from a less expensive school to make that make sense. Before we even discuss student loan forgiveness, we need to abolish federal student loan guarantees, otherwise we just keep perpetuating the cycle. There should also be NO...let me repeat, NO student loan forgiveness without some level of service offset. If you are going to get any student loan forgiveness, then you have to register for a program where you either serve in the military, serve in some type of federal service program, tax preparation assistance to elderly and low income, etc. to provide needed services to offset the debt. In other words, it should be earned, not given.

I completely agree with all of this, well said.

Also agree Flyboy. FYI, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program has been an absolute disaster. Only less than 1% of people who applied to the program and worked the first 10 years of the program's existence were approved due to simple form filing issues among other things. That needs to be added to the overhaul because people who actually worked in the public are getting fleeced at the moment.

EdAudit, people without kids pay local school taxes for kids they don't have, same concept. If we do a better job at balancing a budget, anything is possible.

Public school is mandatory and in the same district, the same costs to the taxpayer at least in theory. College is optional and could be considered an investment in your future. Some investments loose money and it is not up to the taxpayers to fund a loosing investment.

I still want to know what school and what degree cost $300k. Even the doctors with student loans that I am likely to see on my job don't have that kind of debt. To have a logical discussion, you need to start with real numbers not use the worst case scenario (if it truly exists) as the baseline.

The same applies to individuals.

The CBA's letter to the House Education and Labor Committee regarding the educational loan situation:

https://www.consumerbankers.com/sit...ege%20Affordability%20Act%2010.29.19.pdf

Excellent Letter! Thanks for posting, MB Guy.

Very nice. Thanks for including this MB

Simple. Private undergraduate tuition and board were $50k a year, and law school was $17k per year. Add interest for 11 years, although making all payments, and here we are.

There is no "we" in this situation. Like everything else, people get in over their heads and want a bailout. It is this lack of general personal responsibility that is the cause for most financial problems.

The solution does not lie with "me" or "we" - there is only one person that has responsibility for the situation. I can pay cash for a 1990 pick-up or get approved for a loan for a brand spanking new Corvette that I can't afford. Only one person is responsible for the decisions I choose to make. Nobody forces anyone to drive up that much debt to get an education. As other people have pointed out, you choose to go to a school and attend such a school in a manner you can afford, whether or not that means two years of a community college or it takes an extra five years. Only one person has made the bed one sleeps in every night.

It is very hard for anyone like me that worked three jobs totaling 100 hours week to support a wife and two kids when I was younger because those were the decisions that I made. Smart decision, maybe not, but I figured out how to get through it and after never actually getting a degree myself, I made sure my two kids got one and they and I were both debt free afterwards.

Interesting and relevant article:

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/t...how-they-did-it-2019-11-04?mod=home-page

That was an interesting article.

My thoughts on this issue, again...i have no idea how economically feasible any of this is......but i could get behind some interest forgiveness, or some sort of hard interest cap on these loans......but forgiving principal? I can't get behind that. I think we need affordable student loan programs that don't cripple people financially who are trying to pay them back.......but people do, or at least should, know that if they borrow $100,000, then you owe at least $100,000 that you are going to have to pay back in the future.

Interesting and completely non relevant article:

Onion

Honoring a WWII veteran and one of the best things I've heard in a long, long time:



https://www.facebook.com/100000209158411/posts/3034273563256252?d=n&sfns=mo

Kind of wondering since now they are not paying back the money, Who is?

Am I paying additional taxes to cover their (and others) windfall?

If the banks write it off will I be paying more in interest and fees to cover their freebie?

Nothing is free! Except maybe grace.....