4mo ago

Americans struggling with student debt expect ‘much worse’ under Trump

www.theguardian.com

Summary

Student loan borrowers fear worsened conditions under Donald Trump, who has criticized debt relief and oversaw a 99% rejection rate for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) during his first term.

Many borrowers remain in limbo awaiting forgiveness, while others struggle with ballooning debt despite decades of payments.

Borrowers expect Trump to scale back or eliminate relief programs initiated by Joe Biden, which have forgiven $166.5 billion in loans.

Critics highlight flaws in the existing system, calling it a “nightmare” for those seeking relief.

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News Reporter @lemmy.wtf

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4mo ago

Americans struggling with student debt expect ‘much worse’ under Trump

www.theguardian.com /money/2024/dec/29/student-debt-relief-trump

52 comments

Americans ~~struggling with student debt~~ expect ‘much worse’ under Trump
There won't be a single thing that improves for people who aren't either fascists or rich.

The Trump voters beginning to realize the consequences of what they have done to themselves might be funny if they hadn't also done the same to me.
- College educated voters were predominantly Harris voters though. Loan forgiveness was extremely unpopular with the non college crowd.
  
  That's to be expected.
  IMHO direct interest issues and pure ideology issues should be equally present.
  When stats show such a close alignment of position with direct interest issues, but not so much with ideology, it means things suck and can ultimately devolve into something like Lebanese politics (without bombs). Or devolve from imperfect two-party democracy into something like early 00s Russia.
- Yep. If only they and the protest voters (because "genocide Joe" 🙄 ) were the only ones that had to sit in the mess they've made.
  The problem is, they shit the bed and we all have to put up with it.
  
  they shit the bed and we all have to put up with it.
  Leftists have been saying that about Democrats for decades.

why should we pay, again?
- So it seems if it comes before the supreme court and they think you are willfully not paying, they can imprison you: https://www.npr.org/2014/05/21/313118629/supreme-court-ruling-not-enough-to-prevent-debtors-prisons
  
  That’s about court and government fees and fines, not student loans. Idk if the two would be in any way related but I see nothing in the article that supports this for student loans specifically.
  Do you have anything that does reference student loans?
- I’m on an IDR plan (no idea which one at this point, no idea what’s going on with any of it because they keep throwing it into forbearance..)
  I don’t make enough to pay it, so after the first year when I got set up with IDR, I haven’t paid a penny.
  I graduated with like $17k in debt, and less than a decade later it’s like 30k. I have no intention of ever making another payment. No point. I’d never get through the interest anyway.
  
  Its... Income based... As much as I hate loans of all the loan options its the easiest for many people because you only have to pay such a small fraction of your income to repay it 5-10% most common... And if you're compliant, they forgive it anyways after 20 years.
  I didn't take that option but many of my friends did. Also, anyone taking out loans whether it be house, car, etc I believe should know what terms are and select what works best for their life.
- Because POS like Biden helped write provisions in a bankruptcy bill that allows Social Security to cut benefits for unpaid student debt.
- You were presumably willing to pay when you took on the debt, and nothing about the debt changed.
  
  Ah yes, children being told by both their families and society in general that you need to go to college in order to not work a fast food job for the rest of your life agreed to take on the debt. I guess they deserve a lifetime of ballooning debt even though the degree didn't stop wages from staying stagnant and inflation destroying their dream of being as successful as their parents.
  
  An argument that would have made some sense before a shitload of rich people including many politicians got their PPP loans forgiven.
  
  Yes i totally understood what I was signing at 18 when the loan officers kept telling me i’d easily get a job and pay this back in no time when I graduated.
  We were lied too and now our student loans fund our parent’s retirement while we can’t even afford houses.

What's the percentage of debt forgiven, something like .01%?
Absolutely nothing has changed for a majority of debt holders.
- $175 billion in debt relief among 4.8 million borrowers. That is out of 42.2 million borrowers representing $1.6 trillion in debt. That's a good start in my book.
  
  But Democrat bad!

Biden screwed the pooch on this one. Don't promise something like this that you can't - or know you won't - deliver.
"But he thought he could and met with unanticipated partisan resistance", you say.
Really? You surround yourself with the smartest, Ivy League educated staff and cabinet picks and none of them anticipated that and/ or alerted you to the eventual legal and political roadblocks.
Not buying it. Almost impossible that this outcome was not predicted.
Add the reversal of bodily autonomy, the expiration of the child tax credit and a host of quality of life downgrades and you're losing voters.
- I believe abortion should be legal. Guess I have to vote Republican from now on.
  Yep sounds reasonable
- Borrowers expect Trump to scale back or eliminate relief programs
  "Why would Biden do this?"

I wonder how many stayed home, voted third party, or outright voted for donvict.

Instead of breadlines we'll have people forced yo line up to be searched for personal processions to contribute to the economy with.

You wanted to go to college and took out loans to do so. Why should they be forgiven? You made the deal and promised to repay them.
- Tbf, the cost of college education increased at a rate faster than increase in wages, or increase in availability of salaried positions. Not only that, but housing became unaffordable for many because of corporations buying out cheap housing as investments. There are societal failures here, which is why loan forgiveness is reasonable and not just an individual responsibility issue.
  
  Those without college educations are helping pay for it too. I'd support it if it was only college graduates footing the collective bill.
  
  No one agrees to a loan without knowing how much it costs. You agreed to that cost and promised to repay that loan. Nothing else beyond that is relevant. If i bought a home and then lost my job should i be able to stop paying for my home and still be allowed to permanently live there?
- They did it because they were beaten over the head with it by parents, teachers, and role models since day one. They were always told to do it or otherwise they'll end up a faillure of society. Higher education used to be free or really cheap back in the day but thanks to our ultracapitalist system we're ending up with a bunch of college graduates with a cruel amount of student debt in a saturated worker pool.
  Regardless of what you think, a highly educated populace is good for society and they deserve to not be burdened with debt for most of their adult lives. I'd gladly let my taxes go to student debt relief over giving petroleum corporations and defense contractors free cash.
  
  You made a choice and no one made you choose to go to college. You made a choice so stand by that choice. Student loans are not going to be forgiven nor should they be.
- What a topic to be mad about

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