Forum Post: Student Loans
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 7, 2011, 4:08 p.m. EST by Patches
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Hello,
I am 99%! I have written a petition and sent it to the Whitehouse addressing a possible solution to out of control student loan debts. The petition site is listed below and links to the Whitehouse website.
Solution: Allow Students to be able to discharge Student loans in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Often people carry these debts even into retirement. I propose to tweak or amend current bankruptcy law to be able to pay Student Loans over or to the detriment of unsecured debts (Credit Cards, Payday loans etc..). Currently Chapter 13 law does not allow student loans to be paid through a plan of repayment without also paying 100% of unsecured debts. Chapter 13 debtors typically only have to pay a percentage of their unsecured debts over a period of time in order to "discharge" them. So if the student pays a percentage of unsecured debts and student loans at the end the student will still be left with student loans which are currently non-dischargeable. The result? Chapter 13 debtors usually owe more on student loans at the end of a bankruptcy than they did before they went in.
I want to change that! If you do too please sign my petition at the link below. It is a secured government website and links directly to the Whitehouse.
Petition site Link: http://wh.gov/gZl
The problem with your petition is that when someone takes out a loan you are asked to put up collateral. The education loans has none because government or private lenders can't repossess knowledge. If the government allowed bankruptcy then do you know how many doctors and lawyers who are in lucrative fields would just file bankruptcy and then move on without debt? Do you see the pitfalls?
Look why would the gov allow you to discharge loans when they secured them? Thew gov is backing the loans therefore they have a vested interest in insuring you repayment. If you dont repay they cannot consider your debt an asset and make loans accordingly.... we have fiat money or government secured, debt based money
Are we just better off with chp. 7 on this?
I will take a look at it. But I don't really understand chap.13 that well. I know all about chp. 7.
The private lenders, gave out millions of loans with a very high interest rate. These loans have now BALLOONED. Millions of people can't afford to pay them. We need to think of something.
I think your idea has merit but I think a better idea is seek relief directly from the college or university itself by demading they use money stored up in their foundations to either apply toward outstanding student loans so as to reduce those debts.
Right now most of that money is earmarked for ill promised and outlandish pensions for their retirees.
signed the petition but I thought it was poorly written and is not being "advertised" so that people know it is there to sign (I was the 13th signer and a total of 5,000 are needed by 10/22). I had heard about it vaguely in the news and kept thinking it was going to get promoted more so that people would know how to sign it, but ended up having to Google the subject today to find out how and where to sign the petition. I am glad, however, that someone has bothered to try and get the student loan protections removed. Thank you to all the brave souls involved with Occupy Wall Street! If this petition doesn't fly, maybe MoveOn.org can help you draft a better version and get the word out?
signed the petition but I thought it was poorly written and is not being "advertised" so that people know it is there to sign (I was the 13th signer and a total of 5,000 are needed by 10/22). I had heard about it vaguely in the news and kept thinking it was going to get promoted more so that people would know how to sign it, but ended up having to Google the subject today to find out how and where to sign the petition. I am glad, however, that someone has bothered to try and get the student loan protections removed. Thank you to all the brave souls involved with Occupy Wall Street! If this petition doesn't fly, maybe MoveOn.org can help you draft a better version and get the word out?
Please post your story on our website! http://www.occupile.com/
Do you understand why college is so high? Because the loans are government secured. If the gov secures the loans it is an intensive to just hand out money. Do you know what would happen if they, the loans, were not gov secured? Universities would lower cost so you can attend. If you cant attend they wont survive, therefore they lower cost.
They would probably just downsize and accept much fewer people. It isn't cheap to provide a college education, especially in the sciences.
The price of goods and services naturally moves toward the price of production, granted, there is no government intervention and a business friendly environment conducive to competition exists, which it doesn't. If they need to downsize to compensate then sure. However, if they are allowed to compete then as the prices go down more people will be able to attend.
What was going through your mind when you SIGNED on the dotted line and saw thousands and thousands of dollars? "Oh it will just disappear." I am truly curious.
I think it is the lending practices more than paying back the loan in a lot of cases. Interest rates on education loans are relatively high. I pay 6.9%, and quite frankly, had little choice but to take out loans if I wanted to go to school. I don't mind paying back the money I owe, but the interest is painful. Why can't people get a break? Cut the interest in half, create payment plans based on income and provide incentives to pay off student loans through community service. There are middle ground solutions that can be effective. If Americans could bail out the banks, why are they so against giving their kids a better start in life?
First let me just thank you for replying like a normal person! :) Ok so I totally agree that is way high of an interest rate. But you have been fooled by America. College is just a trap now a days. A trap that will shackle you for the rest of your life. I am 19 and I say no to college. I tried it for a year. Immediately I could see all the bull crap. You need to file this and that and this and that! But luckily I worked my ass off doing internships and free work all through high school and now I have a career. Youngest in the Biz! It is disgusting how many colleges try to get a hold of, not just me but everyone! They want your money. That is all. More than half the people I work with never finished college. And my friends who did and the ones who flaunt the degree, go to interviews like crazy and they all hear the same thing. "You have no experience". Businesses don't want a degree or an employee with thousands and thousands of dollars in debt. They just want someone who will do the job, and do it right.