Congressmen Caught Helping Student Loan Borrowers
What are they feeding these congressmen lately? Private Student Lenders Should Play by the Same Rules as Other Private Lenders Restricting bankruptcy protection for borrowers of private student loans doesn’t protect taxpayer investment; instead it gives special treatment to private student loan companies that other private lenders don’t enjoy. The argument goes like this--in order to safeguard taxpayer investments in higher education, federal student loans ought to be difficult to discharge in bankruptcy. But private student loans…
Need a Senator to Love? Try Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio
United States Senator Sherrod Brown cares about making higher education available to all, and that makes me love him. Brown just announced new legislation aimed at helping student loan borrowers and saving money for the government--at the same time. Senator Brown said, “It’s a win-win for borrowers and taxpayers—by ensuring that students can access higher education and by helping already-strained borrowers reduce their personal debt load.” The Congressional Budget Office estimates the legislation would lead to…
One Problem We Can’t Blame on Student Loans
Increased student loan borrowing limits did not raise the price of higher education A new report by the General Accounting Office (GAO) demonstrates that increased student loan borrowing limits did not raise the price of higher education in academic year 2007-08. A number of factors cause colleges to raise already high prices. School officials cite the increasing costs of providing instruction (including professor’s salaries and benefits), maintaining facilities, and operating costs. Officials at public institutions report state…
One million community college students stuck with risky private student loans
If you have to borrow to pay for college, federal student loans are your best bet. But lots of undergraduate students have no access to federal student loans, because their schools choose not to participate in the federal loan programs. According to a new issue brief from the Project on Student Debt, almost half of all U.S. undergraduates attend community colleges, and many of those students are denied access to the safest and most affordable way to borrow for college – federal student loans. That stinks, because the unavailability…
ABA concerned about student debt and the value proposition of law school
Yesterday, ABA President Zack responded to a letter from U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer urging law schools to disclose more information about the costs and benefits of a legal education. Mark Hansen of ABA Journal reports that President Zack said nobody is more concerned about the future of the legal profession and the value of a legal education than the ABA. "No one could be more focused on the future of our next generation of lawyers than the ABA and the legal profession for whom we speak," Zack wrote in a response to Senator Boxer.…