Current Events > Sen. Bernie Sanders proposes forgiving ALL student loan debt

(+) Yeah! (+)

Questionmarktarius posted...

CommonStar posted...

Ah, so then what can the government do to control the cost of rising tuition?

You already answered your own question:

It seems like Federal Student Aid plays a role in the rising cost because college sees that it's okay to raise prices when students can just borrow as much from the government as they need, and the college would get paid either way.

Get rid of the easy money, and costs will have to come down, or the colleges will starve.

How much would you estimate that would lower the cost? How would that also affect the demand for a college education and the people that can't afford it without Federal assistance? How would that affect the labor force?

If you had a product and you could charge literally anything you wanted for it, and everyone would go out and get loans to buy it, you'd have little incentive to price it make a normally.
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CommonStar posted...

How much would you estimate that would lower the cost?

The cost will start slipping downward, or at least remain flat, until it's more or less in line with general inflation.

How would that also affect the demand for a college education and the people that can't afford it without Federal assistance?

Private loans may become a thing again. They used to be the only loans, until FAFSA started in 1993, and the entire industry was effectively nationalized in 2010.
Also, there's no reason to believe grants will dry up and die.

How would that affect the labor force?

Maybe, just maybe, employers will stop making a degree a requirement for everything.

"Honestly I don't think he could ever actually do it, but I love that he's at least proposing a massive handout to upper-middle-class white college graduates"

Questionmarktarius posted...

CommonStar posted...

How much would you estimate that would lower the cost?

The cost will start slipping downward, or at least remain flat, until it's more or less in line with general inflation.

How would that also affect the demand for a college education and the people that can't afford it without Federal assistance?

Private loans may become a thing again. They used to be the only loans, until FAFSA started in 1993, and the entire industry was effectively nationalized in 2010.
Also, there's no reason to believe grants will dry up and die.

How would that affect the labor force?

Maybe, just maybe, employers will stop making a degree a requirement for everything.

It's a lot of maybes. I do agree that college costs needs to reduce, and even if Federal Student Aid plays a part in the rising costs, I don't know if reducing it or even removing it would fix things and not create more problems.

Is there any other way for the government to regulate public colleges from increasing costs? Hasn't states in the past covered a good portion of tuition for students? How are some of the other European countries able to offer free or nearly free tuitions?

I mean that kind of goes back to someone else paying tuition. I don't know, it's interesting.

Anteaterking posted...

I know people on the left hate incrementalism (I do recognize the validity of the idea that sometimes "incrementalism" means that people don't have a plan beyond the first step and then compromise it into not even being that), but I think the most reasonable sequence of steps for college tuition is:

Programs to forgive student loans -> Programs to reduce future student loans -> Free/greatly reduced 2 year college tuition -> Free/greatly reduced public university tuition.

I'm not paying for free or reduced college, just give people full student loan debt forgiveness and after that have full and strict college reform, it needs a serious overhaul.
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Spooking posted...

Again, Sanders is like that kid in middle school who is running for class president and he really wants to win so he promises unrealistic and unobtainable goals

And Mexico will pay for it!
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Hop103 posted...

I'm not paying for free or reduced college, just give people full student loan debt forgiveness and after that have full and strict college reform, it needs a serious overhaul.

How do you think you'd be paying for it?

Hop103 posted...

and after that have full and strict college reform, it needs a serious overhaul.

Here's an obvious place to start:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/higher-ed-administrators-growth_n_4738584

Guess I should stop paying my current student loans ahead of time...wish I didnt already pay off 50k...

https://www.sanders.senate.gov/download/college-for-all-2019-bill-text?id=EA9FB5FB-F84D-4505-8737-BE0C0B5830B8&download=1&inline=file
That's the text of the bill, as written by Senator Sanders and Reps. Jayapal and Omar. Apparently. Rep. Ilhan Omar was the driving force behind it.

I like Bernie and agree with most things he proposes. I think he is a better candidate than Biden. But Biden's ok.
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https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1143153536752115714

If we can bail out one group of privileged people we can do it again!

It's like Elizabeth Warren set this untouchable record in the first trial of the Stupid Olympics, only to have Bernie come through and shatter it.
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Well damn if this happens I'm buying a nice car thx to Bernie.
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DarkRoast posted...

It's funny - school cost has increased 800% during the amount of time healthcare increased 200% but politicians sure are oddly silent about it.

No shit. Nobody want to tackle the root of the problem... tuition increases. All I see is a short term solution to a much bigger long term problem.

But it is what it is. Controlling college tuition won't win him many votes, so he has to pander to the lowest common denominator while fucking hard working Americans over.
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GreatEvilEmpire posted...

Nobody want to tackle the root of the problem... tuition increases

Liberal politicians in this country would never attack the university system that's an indoctrination factory for their future voters.
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