U.S. forgives 40k student loans • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#61

Post by sharker8 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #13

theandrewbailey wrote: post #2

If we're going to be forgiving loans, we shouldn't be giving them out in the first place. Otherwise, we're going to be in the same spot in one generation's time.

Just stop guaranteeing them, let students default on them. All these guaranteed loans that can't be discharged allows academic institutions to ratchet up the price. Let them calculate risk and price them accordingly.

This create market driven dynamics in which degrees basically are tailor made for industry. This approach disincentivizes pure research for scientific purposes.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#62

Post by nr2x » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

_moof wrote: post #27

Please, please, please take note before commenting: These are being forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, created in 2007 (fifteen years ago), which eliminates your remaining debt after you've made ten years of payments while working in the public sector (government or non-profit). This has nothing to do with current debates around loan forgiveness.

Exactly, this is pure PR the headline should be “Government Fulfills Terms of Loans it Failed to Meet”

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#63

Post by outside1234 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

honksillet wrote: post #46

abnry wrote: post #17

Now universities can continue to raise tuition and pay the administrative class even more. Uncle Sam has shown they'll pay it on his dime.

End federal involvement in student loan and allow student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy. Problem solved.

Amen - tuitions are skyrocketing because of the "free money".

It is also awful public policy to train people to get into debt right out of the gate - this just has all sorts of bad long term consequences.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#64

Post by musicale » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:16 PM UTC

qntty wrote: post #3

> At least 40,000 borrowers will receive immediate debt cancellation under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. How is this news?

It used to be that for PSLF you had to make 120 sequential "on-time" payments and if your loan provider claimed (correctly or incorrectly) that one of them was late then the clock would reset, making it next to impossible for anyone to claim the benefit. A 10-year clock that can be reset at any time by the bank isn't good.

I believe they fixed it (possibly temporarily) so that the clock no longer resets.

This is a partial fix. The full fix would be to have PLSF pay out incrementally, say 10% after each 12 payments.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#65

Post by edmcnulty101 » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #26

I know every European seems to ask this of every American but what is the resistance to a welfare state? if you look at a government as investing in its citizens like a VC fund, then providing education and medical care is sensible, and some will turn out fine and others will be Bezos and then you can get your investment back via tax. I am honestly trying to avoid the flame war here - but I do it know how else to fra…

I am fully on board with this idea. The government provides education for people who want it. They better themselves, they better the economy and taxes. A side benefit is that educated people also better the human race as a whole.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#66

Post by cr__ » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

henriquez wrote: post #9

Can Biden forgive my mortgage while he's at it? Why should I be in debt for 30 years, it's very inconvenient. Not everyone has the money to get a fancy university education, even with loans and other financial assistance, so we should be cancelling debt across the board. We should nationalize the banks and print money until all the debt is gone. Or it's racist.

He probably won’t forgive your mortgage but he (and virtually every politician of either party) will give you plenty of free money through the continuation of all the regressive policies that favor property owners to prop up the economy via the “property values always go up!” con game.

So, I am not sure that you need to feel too aggrieved. Cheers!

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#67

Post by merpnderp » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

moralestapia wrote: post #51

Just to have some perspective, that's 40k out of ~40 million, or about 0.1%. The cynic in me is already speculating on why/how that 0.1% was chosen ...

By working for the government. People must be rewarded for taking jobs that pay more on average, have better benefits on average, and are much harder to be separated from on average.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#68

Post by nr2x » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

loourr wrote: post #12

It's crazy to cancel student loans and still keep issuing the exact same loans. If we believe the loans are unjust then the government should stop handing them out as the very first step.

Free community college was in build back better, 49 republicans and Joe Manchin killed it.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#69

Post by colpabar » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:17 PM UTC

endtime wrote: post #54

_moof wrote: post #27

Please, please, please take note before commenting: These are being forgiven under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, created in 2007 (fifteen years ago), which eliminates your remaining debt after you've made ten years of payments while working in the public sector (government or non-profit). This has nothing to do with current debates around loan forgiveness.

That's where the 40,000 in the headline comes from. But the article also says this: > Several thousand borrowers with older loans will also receive forgiveness through income-driven repayment (IDR) forgiveness, plus another 3.6 million borrowers will receive at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness, the Education Department said in a statement.

I'll believe it when I see it. I vividly remember getting "credits" for $1 from fafsa, so if it's anything like that, it will be meaningless.

Re: U.S. forgives 40k student loans

#70

Post by mr_spothawk » Wed, Apr 20, 2022, 4:18 PM UTC

outside1234 wrote: post #56

mr_spothawk wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the government should stop handing them out Minor nit: The gov't doesn't give the loans, they underwrite & insure the loans.

But there is a important point here too - these loans are issued with too low of an interest rate BECAUSE they are guaranteed by the government. Drop that guarantee and the interest rate is going to float to more of a credit card level, which will make them prohibitive for funding tuition, which will put an extreme downward pressure on tuition rates.

I believe you are absolutely correct.