Friday, October 14, 2011

The student loan racket exposed

  We keep wondering why the OWS protesters aren't protesting against colleges, whose costs have shot up astronomically over the years, in keeping with paying exorbitant salaries, perks, sabbaticals and constructing numerous exclusive buildings.
  The cost of a higher education is ridiculous. Students go into school debt free and emerge 4 or 5 years later with $40,000 or MORE in debt. This debt, if borrowed from Sallie Mae, the federal primary lender, is NON FORGIVABLE. IOW, the government gets first dibs on your salary once you get out.
  This means that the feds, who recently took over ALL student loans, will have more say on where you go when you graduate than you. This act was part of the Obama administration/Democrat Congress's greediness when they were in sole charge of the government for two years, a fact that most Obama defenders conveniently seem to be forgetting constantly.
  From The HIll:
Ending private sector competition in the student loan industry and making the Direct Loan program the sole provider will kill jobs, and greatly expand the control of the federal government. The Federal Family Education Loans (FFEL) program has been the overwhelming choice for student and parents for the past 40 years. In fact, 78% of all new federal student loans from 2007-2008 were administered through this program. Yet, the government wants to end it. It doesn't make any sense.
  Heading this snatch of the educational loan business was George Miller, whose son lobbied his father to get a $1.2 billion federal loan guarantee and is the latest target of solar officials' corruption:
Ending one of the fiercest lobbying fights in Washington, Congress voted Thursday to force commercial banks out of the federal student loan market, cutting off billions of dollars in profits in a sweeping restructuring of financial-aid programs and redirecting most of the money to new education initiativesThe revamping of student-loan programs was included in — if overshadowed by — the final health care package. The vote was 56 to 43 in the Senate and 220 to 207 in the House, with Republicans unanimously opposed in both chambers.
  Much of this bill was done under the radar, and incorporated with the health care bill no one wanted.
  But our foolishly educated students do not seem to understand that their government isn't really working for them, as much as against them, to control their lives in every aspect.
  Years ago, you could acquire a National Defense Student Loan to help defer your college costs. The idea was that the country was a better place if we educated our children at a higher level, particularly in mathematics. With an NDSL, you didn't pay interest on your loan until 10 months after graduation, and then only at a lower interest rate. This made sense, since students had no appreciable source of income.  
  Unfortunately many students chose to default on those loans. 
  And now students' interest accrues immediately throughout their four or more years of so-called instruction.
  And we have the spectre of numerous former students trying to default on their billion dollars worth of loans even though the government can confiscate their wages as the loans are unforgiveable.
  The flip side of this is that students aren't getting much for all that money, other than indoctrination into Marxist theory and theses written on such scintillating and essential topics as Barbie.
  Healthcareadministration.com exposes the flaws in the student loan bubble with this graph and at this website:


Exposing the Student Loan Racket in America
Via: HealthcareAdministration.com

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