If your instinct is that there has to be a good story behind how Americans have collectively racked up $1.6 trillion of college debt — much of it never to be repaid and with the taxpayers holding the bag – Wall Street Journal reporter Josh Mitchell's"sheer volume of the obligations
Although"The Debt Trap" has a tendency to overstate for dramatic effect – asserting for instance that, with a 27% market share, Sallie Mae"controlled the student loan industry like few companies dominated any industry" – Mitchell generally delivers the goods by getting some of the sector's most egregious villains to speak to him on-the-record.While the journalism is stellar, where"The Debt Trap" ultimately falls apart is in its policy analysis.
More significantly, one of the few real success stories highlighted in the reporting where the loan program clearly made a positive difference was the case of the for-profit Florida Coastal School of Law.
Jonathanaknee A student can pay for years and still owe as much or more than they originally borrowed due to interest. If they would roll back loan interest to the original principle, payments made would work to pay off the loan instead of it being a perpetual obligation. CancelStudentDebt
Jonathanaknee Let's discuss the entire concept of higher education. After WW2, the government pushed college to stagger workforce reentry, but does 4-year college make sense for most? We need lifetime short bursts of training. Students attend schools with majors that will not lead to careers.
Jonathanaknee America has many shoes waiting to drop and students debts is one of them. 😭
Jonathanaknee Unpopular Opinion: We should normalize going to small local community colleges for those of us who couldn’t afford fancy universities. I have no student debt and out earn 99% of my peers who did. We have a money management problem in this country. That’s the real catastrophe.
Jonathanaknee good luck