The Biden administration is again pushing for free student loan money. This time, they are trying to make it income dependent. Keep in mind that SCOTUS has ruled that the President doesn’t have the power to forgive student loans, so he is trying to dictate payment terms.
Biden’s new Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan is setting repayment plans based on a debtholder’s income and family size. Under the income-driven repayment plan, many debtholders would pay $0 per month. Single wage earners would not pay any money until they make $40k or more a year, while a family of three would not repay any money unless they make $60k or more per year.
I have a better idea. We need to stop overeducating people for jobs that don’t require it. If a student:
- attends college using a student loan and fails to earn at least a 2 year degree within 4 years, they are not eligible for ANY public assistance, no refundable tax credits (including EIC), no further student loans, and all of their lottery winnings and tax refunds are forfeited to the loan servicer until their loan is repaid.
- earns a 2 year degree and makes less than an amount equal to $35k a year or twice the annual cost of attending that college (whichever is more), the college must refund all tuition paid, directly to the loan servicer.
- earns a 4 year degree and makes less than $40k a year or three times the annual cost of attending that college (whichever is more), the college has to refund all tuition paid- directly back to the loan servicer.
- 4 year degree and makes less than $50k a year or four times the annual cost of attending that college (whichever is more), the college has to refund half of all tuition paid.
Any tuition not refunded by the college must be repaid by the graduate, and the payment will be equal to 10% of their pretax salary until the loan plus interest is repaid.
My plan will have multiple effects- it will end useless degrees, will keep tuition under control, and will make colleges more selective in who gets admitted to college, unless they make arrangements to pay with funds other than student loans.
8 Comments
It's just Boris · August 3, 2023 at 6:25 am
Let’s make it even simpler.
1. End all federal student loan guarantees.
2. Allow student debt to be discharged via bankruptcy.
That gives the lenders (school, bank, whatever) full “skin in the game” and removes the incentive to give diplomas to turnips after taking 7 years to get a bachelor’s degree.
The feds are still able to offer scholarships in areas deemed of national need or interest, if desired; but these are not loans.
Divemedic · August 3, 2023 at 6:39 am
I paid for my degrees. In cash. All 7 of them. It took 4 years to earn my first degree- at a 2 year college.
Not because I was stupid, but because I was busy working two jobs and attending school at the same time. I graduated Magna Cum Laude.
I didn’t finish my first 4 year degree until 10 years after I began college. Why not? Because I didn’t need a degree to do my job, and I was already making $84K a year without it. It wasn’t a priority.
It wasn’t until I retired and decided to go to college to get a Master’s degree that I met the kind if liberal professors that you always read about. I left school because one of them hated my attitude and told me that she would see to it that I never graduated.
She was right, she did. I hated myself for years for chasing me out of there.
oldvet50 · August 3, 2023 at 6:49 am
I agree with your sentiment to a point. I don’t think the government should guarantee student loans EXCEPT for those degrees that are deemed in the national interest and the quota for those are not being met otherwise. The government should never offer scholarships unless it is to the service academies (Annapolis, West Point, etc.) The taxpayer should not be looked upon as Santa Claus any longer – our taxes should be used for purchases not gifts.
Corrupt System · August 3, 2023 at 8:49 am
I don’t feel sorry for a snowflake who got an African Wymyn’s studies degrees and can’t find work.
Mommygov is always hiring and the printing presses can go 24-7.
Notice how everything is going up, utilities, gasoline, groceries, fees and permits like vehicle registration, these are to pay for the “free” government programs.
Unknownsailor · August 3, 2023 at 10:15 am
This white 20 year retired sailor certainly going to take advantage of this plan, if it makes it to implementation. I’d be crazy not to.
D · August 3, 2023 at 10:16 am
> We need to stop overeducating people for jobs that don’t require it.
Amen to that. I hated 8th grade math. It’s not that I didn’t understand how to add, subtract, multiply, divide, and do basic algebra….it’s that I had been doing that for the past ~10 years…on a computer…because I knew how to program.
Highschool was worse. They wanted to make sure I knew how to type. I typed well over 120 WPM….because I always brought in my “custom” keyboard. I had 6 months of lessons done in the first 3 weeks. Then they required me to take a more “advanced” algebra. I made sure I would pass with the lowest grade possible and tossed most assignments and tests in the trash.
Then they wanted me to take “auto shop” and “choir”. By that point I had basically told myself that anything they threw at me was going to be worthless. I wish I had taken auto shop. I know next to nothing about cars…but I convinced my parents to let me get my GED….so I did.
I’m not even a highschool graduate….and yet I make $50k/year “on paper” and combined with my “owners draw” I bring in about $220k/year from my business that brings in just under half a million per year. I’ve been running my own business in the IT space for over 15 years now. and my “worst” year was $180,000/year.
Meanwhile, my sister went to college for 8 years (not a doctor), went in to the peace corps, and now does work for the State Department. While she has a better retirement benefit and medical coverage than I do (I pay cash for any medical issues), she makes about $70k/year. She’s been working for about 10 years now (not counting every summer when she worked at a coffee stand for tips at the local tourist trap), I’ve been working in tech since I was 16.
When my dad passed, he left me a paid-off piece of property worth about $20k. He left her 7 houses all paid off. She sold all of them because she didn’t want to be a “land lord” and barely paid off her student loans…instead of keeping the ~$10k/mo in income…which at today’s rental rates would be more like $19k/mo (or about $230k/year) and would require very little work on her part.
But she’s the “smart one”.
But yeah…zero college education and I’m out-earning all my family and relatives who think college is absolutely necessary to succeed in the world. Oh…and unsurprisingly I’m the only person in my family who isn’t a brain-dead liberal.
Divemedic · August 3, 2023 at 10:24 am
When I was a teacher, I told my students that the possession of a college degree was not a guarantee of a good job, but the absence of a college degree was not a barrier to a good paying job. However, being a lazy person with no ambition brings with it a near certainty of a lifetime of poverty.
D · August 3, 2023 at 10:51 am
> being a lazy person with no ambition brings with it a near certainty of a lifetime of poverty
Absolutely nailed it.
Running my own company, I’ve had the pleasure of working with highly motivated people. They’re usually here for a few years and then we have the conversation “Your skills have outpaced the company. The advanced skills you have aren’t in-demand from our customer base. You should really consider applying at X, Y, or Z…because you could earn a lot more money and get to put those skills to use.” All my motivated and ambitious employees have moved on to work for Facebook, Google, and a few other “big tech” companies. While it sucks to lose them and find new people, I am thrilled as a boss that they thrived, learned, and brought in a ton of money…and that they’ll be moving on to another place where they can even better support their families.
On the flip-side, I’ve also worked with complete sloths. They have the bare-minimum skills and refuse to grow from there. One guy (who is on the way out at the moment) does the absolute bare minimum, then spends his “down time” during the day playing video games and shopping online. Zero ambition to learn new skills or improve himself. His end goal is to be able to play video games as much as possible and be able to buy “cool” things. When a tough problem comes around, he turfs it to someone else and doesn’t stick around to learn. It’s sad.
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