Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#1

Post by mhb » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 4:25 PM UTC

Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal
rollingstone.com

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#2

Post by koppo » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 4:37 PM UTC

sure there must be some wall street guys betting on a college-loan bubble like they did for the housing-loans.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#3

Post by ihsw » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 4:56 PM UTC

It will be interesting to see how Oregon's Pay-It-Forward will pan out, but it will take half a century to get any real data:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/03/pay-it-forward-oreg...

Ohio has also shown interest:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/ohio-tuition-plan-o...

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#4

Post by rayiner » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 4:57 PM UTC

koppo wrote: post #2

sure there must be some wall street guys betting on a college-loan bubble like they did for the housing-loans.

Betting on what instrument? Loans are mostly federal.

For what it's worth, the student loan program is solidly in the black for the federal government.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#5

Post by cliveowen » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:01 PM UTC

You can tell Matt Taibbi's articles just by looking at the title.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#6

Post by toomuchtodo » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:03 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #4

koppo wrote: post #2

sure there must be some wall street guys betting on a college-loan bubble like they did for the housing-loans.

Betting on what instrument? Loans are mostly federal. For what it's worth, the student loan program is solidly in the black for the federal government.

"The U.S. government is forecast to generate $185 billion in profit over the next decade from students and their families under an overhaul of the federal student loan program endorsed by the White House and approved by the Senate on Wednesday.

The profit figure, if annually averaged through 2023, would place the U.S. student loan program among the 20 most profitable public companies in the world, according to Fortune magazine’s annual list of the world’s 500 biggest companies. The bipartisan Senate bill would increase the government’s profit off student borrowers by more than $700 million compared with existing law, the Congressional Budget Office said."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/24/obama-student-loan-...

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#7

Post by gxs » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:04 PM UTC

Amazing, perspective is everything.

I don't deny that college kids are being taken advantage of. Graduating from a small liberal arts college in South Dakota that no one's ever heard of with a degree is Culture Studies and 80k in debt really is a rip off.

The flipside of this coin however is someone like me. My parents are immigrants and I was the first to go to school. To my parents, the fact that someone would be even willing to give you money to go to school is ridiculous. I graduated with 20k in debt with a math degree from Cal. The ease of getting loans and financial aid are the main reasons I was able to attend college as my family was otherwise poor, at least at the time.

In some countries, you don't even have the OPTION to take out a loan to go to school. You either have the money and you go, or you don't and it is that much harder to climb the social ladder.

I'm not sure which evil is worse, but I'm damn glad I was offered those loans.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#8

Post by error54 » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:05 PM UTC

Remember a while back when the price of gold skyrocketed and suddenly there were all "Cash 4 Gold" places that were willing to pay you "good money" for your gold. I've noticed the same thing has happened with the education system with a of a bunch of college popping up seemingly out of nowhere with promises of making more money by having a better career. The whole college system seems like a racket to saddle people with debt that takes them often decades to pay off. The ironic part is that despite more and more people going to college, our overall educational rank in the world hasn't improved.

Oh and don't get me started on the college textbook scam.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#9

Post by jessaustin » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:07 PM UTC

rayiner wrote: post #4

koppo wrote: post #2

sure there must be some wall street guys betting on a college-loan bubble like they did for the housing-loans.

Betting on what instrument? Loans are mostly federal. For what it's worth, the student loan program is solidly in the black for the federal government.

I'm not an investment adviser, but I have to think there are many ways to bet on a rise in bankruptcies among young working people.

Re: Ripping Off Young America: The College-Loan Scandal

#10

Post by mbesto » Fri, Aug 16, 2013, 5:07 PM UTC

I am seriously interested in understanding how an individual would go about shorting college loan securities. I have no doubt in my mind that this the next big crisis just waiting to burst.