So how does free community college help students now with tons of debt?

[davidn3600]

Say you just graduated and took out loans to pay for that school? Or what if you are in school now?

Shit outta luck, right?

I don't see this being as popular an idea as you think. Every current college student will miss out before this would ever become a reality. And recent grads struggling to pay those loans won't be happy either.

[Vattel]

1. Did anyone claim that making community college free would solve all student debt problems,

past, present and future?

[TeamPooka]

2. Since when does every plan have to address every problem or every part of it?

helping future generation avoid the trap many are in today is a valid action on its own.

[glowing]

3. No, but I would certainly tak advantage of it and retrain my

Science skills into teaching skills and at least try to help pass on a passion that never panned out for myself. Certainly would help to get rid of the scam colleges too...

[merrily]

4. Maybe, but future improvements are better than nothing.

[Sherman A1]

6. Precisely

it may not fix the past, but it may help to make changes that are so very much needed.

[merrily]

8. Anything people get out of this punchbowl turds (R) Congress would be a miracle.

[WinkyDink]

5. IKWYM, but changes have to start somewhere. S.Security didn't help the Okies.

[jwirr]

67. And until Eisenhower it did not help the farmers and many service people. I am happy that this is a

start but it will not help a lot of students.

If this goes through I am going to push my grandson to take advantage of it. He is doing pretty good because he has natural organizational skills and heads the department he is running at a Ford dealership. But if he could get that degree in something it would give him choices.

[AngryOldDem]

7. It won't, and as a parent with two kids in college with debt, I hear you.

But I think community colleges, rather than traditional four-year schools, will be key to future employment for a lot of people and will be a good investment in the long run.

Along with community college funding, perhaps we should also be looking at ways to reduce student loan debt as well.

[merrily]

9. E. Warren did try to make student loans more affordable. Shot down.

[AngryOldDem]

10. Not surprised. n/t

[davidn3600]

12. There is also the issue of "degree inflation"

Will the associates degree become the new High School diploma? Some employers say it already has with everyone getting bachelors now. You need a masters to be competitive anymore in the job market.

Pretty soon you will need an associates degree to be a gardener.

(BTW, I am not suggesting education is bad. The value of any education is priceless. Unfortunately though....kids today won't be rewarded in the job market the way their parents were for those degrees.)

[Bluenorthwest]

37. Currently about 32% of Americans over 25 have a bachelor's degree, far from 'everyone'

Actually fairly far from half of everyone.

[AgingAmerican]

70. Nonsense

This isn't happening in countries with free college. Also, you do not need a Masters to be competitive. Having any degree opens a lot of doors that would otherwise be shut.

[libdem4life]

84. In my day we called them "highschools with ashtrays" because they were free in California.

I agree that the AA will become the status quo. Why? Because these days a high school education, in many cases, produces nigh illiterate students...the dumbing down effect. Many cannot get into a 4-year college because of the inferior education, so the AA basically fills in the gaps. Junior Colleges/Community colleges have pre-entrance classes in English and Math that have to be passed before they can get into a 101 class. At least it used to be.

That's why I think the 2 year free college will be a go...industries need employees who are literate and able to think critically.

[davidn3600]

89. And I am in no way suggesting that education for more people is bad

What I am saying is that people need to be prepared that as more people have degrees, it will become more expected in the workplace.

30 years ago, a bachelors degree would immediately get you a good job. That is not true anymore. Now all it does is qualify you. You better bring a lot more to the table than that degree if you want the job. Employers now expect at least that amount of education just to talk to you.

[libdem4life]

106. Yes, it is... in my experience lately. To get the "good" jobs, it takes a MA, thus I'm enrolling

in a Master's Program in March. And I'm no spring chicken.

[JustAnotherGen]

11. Right out of school or in in school - they will support it

I was at University in the early 1990's and supported the tax breaks and assistance that came about right after I graduated.

It didn't help me - but maybe it helped someone without the financial resources I had right after. I also had friends that graduated undergrad and got married - and started out with close to $80K in debt. They are doing awesome financially now - but they now live in NC and have great FB posts about their participation in moral Mondays.

Not every on is Scroogey Grinch who "got ahead" and they don't resent giving another person a desperately needed hand up.

Count me among them.

However - and I missed it in the speech - we will have to wait for the written policy . . . I would hope "trades" are covered under this policy.

We need people to fix cars, install water heaters, solder parts together, etc etc.

[davidn3600]

13. Not from what I have seen

Current college students on twitter don't seem all that thrilled.

I also know 1 person that just graduated. She told me she just made all sorts of sacrifices and took out thousands of dollars in loans to go back to school and now she hears Obama wants to give it away for free to everyone. She's pissed.

I think this will be a political dead end until something is done about the student loan debt. And for some reason Obama will not even touch that issue. Democrats have completely abandoned the college youth. And then you wonder why these kids didn't turnout last November? Just wait till 2016.

[trumad]

15. davidn3600 official poll

I saw something on twitter so it won't work.

Seriously weird Op.

[davidn3600]

17. Official poll was last November when the youth didnt vote at all

And I don't understand why you think it's weird. We got tons of college students today with debt totaling over $1.1 trillion in student loans. And you think this is a weird topic?????

Sorry, but I think that's a big issue. College grads are struggling out there enslaved to these massive loans and can't find any employment. They are tied down now for the entire LIFE! Because these loans cannot be discharged even in bankrupcy.

And now we are going to flood the job market with associates degres?

A kid is in school now spending thousands of dollars in debt and he's being told by Obama, "tough shit, the next class gets a free ride!" Good luck riding that campaign slogan in 2016.

[trumad]

18. Dude I have two kids in college..

Don't lecture me about college debt. Part of that debt came from their Junior college stints.

Now you are telling me that my next kid who will soon be graduating high school won't benifit from the first two years being free..... ??

Not a weird op... A stupid Op.

[davidn3600]

21. I'm not talking about kids going into college...im talking about kids coming out of college

That's my issue....which I feel is more important.

I would ask why not solve both problems? Why not fix the student loan debt and fix the tuition problem?

But that's not my only issue I have with this. If you going to flood the market with associates degrees, they will simply become the new high school diploma. Employers who were demanding 2-year degrees for their jobs will suddenly start demanding 4-year degrees. How do you prevent that from happening? Community colleges need to gear their programs towards positions, skills, and trades that are needed for that particular community. Only those degrees should qualify for such tuition relief.

That is NOT what Obama is proposing. Which is why I oppose it.

[trumad]

22. LOL

Flood the market with more educated kids... That's hilarious. You do know that most of those kids will use the first two years to go on to a 4 year degree. You do know that they won't have to pay for those first two years hence decreasing their debt.

So you oppose a p!an to give my kid 2 years of free education... You oppose a plan on free continued education for kids coming out of high school... because Obama didn't wave a magic wand and eliminate college debt.

Whatever.

[davidn3600]

23. I'm done talking to you

You are obviously more interested in insulting me than discussing this in a civiled manner, so bye.

[trumad]

24. Because your logic is flat out ridiculous.

[JustAnotherGen]

41. Maybe it's the general sense of entitlement amongst the

Millenials?

I'm a Gen X er - there was a great essay a few years ago about Gen X was fed up with everyone else's nonsense. I think there's some truth to that.

Those kids don't realize our parents didn't get the tax breaks while saving/sending us to University - and they probably aren't aware that the Unsubsidized student loan didn't exist until the 1990's. Thank god people a few years older than me voted for Clinton so he could get it done and make it a reality for a lot of people who just needed that 'little bit extra' to attend college.

[Recursion]

14. It also doesn't help sciatica. Or lumbago. Or the heartbreak of psoriasis.

[JI7]

16. I don't think that was the purpose of it

[Orrex]

19. How would raising the minimum wage help people who earned the minimum wage last year?

That's pretty much the same as the question you're asking, which boils down to: "how will helping people now help people who weren't helped yesterday?"

The answer is, frankly, that it won't help yesterday's victims, but that's not the point. It's also no justification not to do it.


And I say this as a person who's been brutalized by student loans for many years. I would be glad to see other people helped even if it doesn't immediately help me.

[trumad]

20. weird Op

Help is bad apparently.

[davidn3600]

27. Raising the minimum wage usually leads to raising everyone elses wage too

It also gives people more money and immediately benefits the economy.

So that's a bad comparison.

[Orrex]

44. Seriously? Have you ever had a conversation about raising minimum wage?

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 11:44 AM - Edit history (1)

Because in every single conversation I've ever had about it, 99% of the discussion is spent trying to convince a few asshats that they will benefit from someone else getting a higher wage.

You know it and I know it, but try telling it to them.


If, in the current context, the example doesn't appeal to you, then use this one instead:

"How would enacting child labor laws now help people who were injured on the job during childhood?"

The answer, of course, is that it wouldn't help people with past grievances but will help people currently in the system or trying to enter it. In its own right it's a worthy effort to stop further hemorrhaging, even if it doesn't help those who've already been screwed.

Why is it important to you that the proposed solution must benefit people that it's not designed or intended to benefit?

[closeupready]

47. Because apparently, everything that happens anywhere is all about him.

Get it?

[Orrex]

59. Suddenly it all makes sense

[Nuclear Unicorn]

30. The OP has a point, I'm not sure he realizes it and I doubt it disqualifies the idea of helping but

If Person B has no school or -- say -- $20,000 less school debt than Person A that leaves Person A at an economic disadvantage. Person B will regain disposable income/savings ability YEARS ahead of the more debt-laden Person A. In a decade or two the point will be moot but for that time period the contrast between the 2 parties could be significant.

[Recursion]

39. Plus the OP completely ignores the 2010 student loan reform

[tammywammy]

25. I'm in graduate school now

I also have student loans. I think free community college is a great idea. It isn't a zero sum game.

[JustAnotherGen]

42. Thanks you!

If I could go back in time 24 years - I would have done a 2 +2 program in Western NY.

[tammywammy]

46. If I had been smart at the time, that's what I would have done when I was 18.

Instead I piddle paddled around at a university, then dropped out, then at 27 started back at a private school. I had most of my basics, but I did take a few classes at the community college and transferred them over (English II and Speech). The private school was really helpful on "take this class there for credit on this class here.

The private school, while more expensive, was a much better choice for me. Much smaller classes, a lot with only 10-12 students. If I had started there when I was 18 I probably wouldn't have dropped out. I don't regret the loans I took out for it.

[Vinca]

26. It doesn't, but you have to start to change the system at some point.

[FSogol]

28. Unrec. File under: "Nothing is ever good enough."

[Starry Messenger]

29. "This free ice cream is too free."

[davidn3600]

31. I just want someone to explain to me why Obama and Democrats won't touch the student loan issue

They refuse to even talk about. It bothers me. And I assure you that it bothers a lot of other people.

Meanwhile the big banks and the 1% get bailouts for fucking up the economy. It's a stupid government.

This debate is pointless anyway since we all know the GOP ain't passing this proposal.

[Starry Messenger]

33. You must have missed all the articles about Elizabeth Warren

and student loans all last year? She's been hammering on the subject for a full year. She didn't have the votes.

You don't have to "assure" me of anything. I'm an adjunct who teaches high school students in a pre-college community college program. My colleagues have loans and my students worry about future college costs.

Just because one proposal doesn't cover everything doesn't mean it is nothing.

It's not stupid, it's a rallying point for coalition work. Sitting around sighing in defeat and handwringing because the voters sat out the last election would be stupid.

[Recursion]

38. Because they massively reformed student loans in 2010

Last edited Wed Jan 21, 2015, 11:38 AM - Edit history (1)

It was part of ACA. It's saved students billions.

Maybe nobody's working on it because they made a huge improvement 5 years ago and you didn't even bother to notice or remember. So why should they bother? You'll ignore the next thing they do too.

[Myrina]

51. Massively reformed? Please do tell ...

Mine haven't changed a bit. Oh wait, yes they have ... they've gone from $325 a month to $600 a month.

I have paid for my 4 year state university education 3 times over, now, and still "owe" $30k in interest that's been capitalized and compounded time & time again.

[Recursion]

56. Yes, massively improved

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/26/us/politics/26loans.html?_r=0

Since the bank-based loan program began in 1965, commercial banks like Sallie Mae and Nelnet have received guaranteed federal subsidies to lend money to students, with the government assuming nearly all the risk. Democrats have long denounced the program, saying it fattened the bottom line for banks at the expense of students and taxpayers.

“Why are we paying people to lend the government’s money and then the government guarantees the loan and the government takes back the loan?” said Representative George Miller, Democrat of California and chairman of the Education and Labor Committee.

Democrats celebrated the legislation, a centerpiece of President Obama’s education agenda, as a far-reaching overhaul of federal financial aid, providing a huge infusion of money to the Pell grant program and offering new help to lower-income graduates in getting out from under crushing student debt. Still, the final bill is less ambitious than the original proposal.

Congressional allies of the student-loan industry attacked the overhaul as an overreaching government takeover. The legislation substitutes an expanded direct-lending program by the government for the bank-based program, directing $36 billion over 10 years to Pell grants, for students from low-income families.

[jwirr]

71. I think there were also ways to consolidate the loans and to apply for lower monthly payments.

[tabbycat31]

45. Andrew Cuomo just did

Not at a federal level (beyond his powers) but he's touching the issue (and addressing the fact that young people are leaving NY).

I'm liking this guy more and more. He may not be 100% progressive but he gets shit done. (He's my pick for 2016 if HRC does not run).

http://consumerist.com/2015/01/20/proposed-program-would-pay-first-two-years-of-recent-new-york-graduates-student-loans/

[Sheepshank]

72. Willfull ignorance of the topic

plenty...PLENTY has been posted here on DU regarding Obama's and Warren's statements on making higher education affordable...as well in the media.

[DawgHouse]

32. LOL nt

[Renew Deal]

34. Me me me

Your post is about as selfish as it gets

[tenderfoot]

35. Unrec

[Dawgs]

36. Uh, it's not just upcoming students that will like it, it's also parents. n/t

[trumad]

40. Bingo

Fact of the matter is--- I'm paying a good chunk of my kids education.

I had them enroll in community college their first two years because it was cheaper and simply logical to get the basic requirements for their 4 year degree at the community college level....they can also easily enroll into any State University easily after their 2 year stint.

My 3rd child is a Junior in High School and will follow the same path. Sure it may be to late for the first two---but I hope it isn't for my third. It will save me a bundle.

[abelenkpe]

43. Those loans should be forgiven

College should be free.

[closeupready]

49. Failing that, they should be fully dischargeable in bankruptcy.

And the existing statute of limitations which applies to other forms of debt should apply to student loans.

But of course, we'll have RW pundits brainwashing people that if such a remedy passes, then people with thousands of dollars in student loan debt will be "lucky duckies".

[Igel]

53. And with that comes the drawbacks.

We've seen a push for limiting private 2-year/certificate programs. And for trying to have official standards that are enforced for colleges.

With greater public funding will inevitably follow greater public control. "Colleges" like the one Mike Brown got into--a private vocational-training/certificate school--would probably not be funded, even though they meet an real demand that many community colleges and few high schools can afford to meet. Community colleges would inevitably be brought under greater scrutiny, and with that given current thinking would come some sort of standardized curricula and tests--we've seen proposals for this in the last 5 years, and not just for community colleges but also for 4-year schools. With the first big budget crunch--perhaps with the second--we'd see "public interest" asserted in funding priorities. Do we really need all those courses that provide no addition to the GDP, no adequate return on investment, when we are facing funding shortfalls? Well, if you want to pay for them, what's the big deal? But if politicians think they're paying for them and it's a choice between funding some program or classes that are neither politically popular with the base nor financially justifiable or funding something that the political base wants or can be claimed to add to employment, yeah--it'll be a big deal. (Notice the shift from "public control" to "politicians paying". Listen to the discourse, and that's how the rhetoric shifts, sometimes within the same speech.)

That's how it works in a number of countries that many DUers would like to see emulated. They focus on the part they'd like to see repeated here, and ignore the rest of the system that follows like night follows day.

Of course, once funded it's nearly impossible to defund. Britain saw that problem when the parliament wanted to institute a partial fee structure. Then they had the same kind of choice that we've had in this country at times: Given that social programs make up most of the states' budgets, when there's a recession you have to cut something that feeds and shelters people, cut education, or raise taxes during a recession (which even Obama himself said was a stupid idea when he was a candidate).

It's something that's worth more of a serious policy debate than, "Gee, it's a great idea because it'll save me money" or "It's a horrible idea because it won't help me." Or the evergreen, "It fits with my beliefs and ideology, so of course it's a good idea." As though self-interest or ideology were infallible guides to how to structure society.

[Myrina]

48. The "Community College" thing has been pushed at us for years ...

.... instead of championing a full 4-year, well rounded education.

Community Colleges don't teach things like Art History or Linguistics or The History of the Crusades classes ... they teach you "what you need to get a job". We need more than that. We need to know how to think critically, how to appreciate art and culture and how to question history/authority.

[FSogol]

50. Community colleges do teach art history, lingustics, and history.

They are almost always exactly like the 1st 2 years of any University. Some of them do offer other more vocational, trade, or medical job training. Don't confuse what a community college does.

[tammywammy]

52. The CC in my area teaches art history and anthropology courses.

Also many students that do two years at a CC transfer to a 4-year school.

[HappyMe]

55. I took art history, a couple of literature classes,

philosophy and a business law class at a community college.

I know a bunch of people that did 2 years at a cc and then transferred to a a 4 year.

[Recursion]

57. Community colleges do teach Art History and Linguistics

Not sure where you got your info.

[cbdo2007]

63. Have you seen the internet yet?

You have the greatest tool for human knowledge ever created, at your fingertips. Trust me, you will get a MUCH MUCH more rewarding "Art History" course just by going to different museums web sites, cross referencing stuff on wikipedia, and reading through free art books and magazines than you will ever get in a college setting. Same thing with "The History of the Crusades".

More schools in the future are going to move AWAY from this type of stuff because all of the information is readily available for you on the interwebs for free.

[Starry Messenger]

64. You're not describing the CA system at all.

And we're the biggest system if I recall. We have wonderful offerings.

I was a non traditional transfer student who did 3 years of CC and took lots of art classes before going to private art school. I felt very prepared.

[PasadenaTrudy]

68. You're kidding, right?

I did my freshman and sophomore years at a CC. Art History major, too!

[libdem4life]

85. You're confusing it with a trade school. An AA degree is a mini BA degree, with all of the

requirements to get the degree. Certificates are trade programs and are good for those who do not wish to go on to a BA or MA.

[Coventina]

88. Wha?!?!? I'm a full time Art History teacher at a Community College.

Hint: I don't teach pipe-fitting.

[cbdo2007]

54. How does any kind of "student loan relief" program help those of us who paid off our debt??

I worked through college, graduated with huge loans and sacrificed greatly and worked hard to pay them off.

Guess I'm "shit outta luck" for sacrificing and working shitty jobs to actually pay off my loans.

[HappyMe]

58. Good grief!

Nothing is ever good enough.

[Capt. Obvious]

60. I pulled myself up by bootstraps and paid off my loans years ago.

Fuck everyone else.

amirite?

[FSogol]

61. So, how does the founding of Yellowstone Park help those who wanted to vacation before 1872?

[treestar]

99. The Emancipation Proclamation

Failed to free the slaves who lived and died before 1863! Shouldn't have bothered with it. That Lincoln had no backbone!

What about women who wanted to vote before the 19th Amendment? All of those elections should be invalided now!

[FSogol]

100. Don't invent fire. It isn't fair to all the humans that had to eat meat raw.

[mythology]

62. Here's how it will help

It will help other people get a higher education level, which will in turn allow them to get a higher paying job. Which will in turn allow those people to buy more things, whether it's a new car, or a house, or a new computer etc, that in turn will cause higher incomes.

Yes it's not an immediate help, but it will help in the medium and longer term.

And I'm one of those people who relatively recently graduated from college. I admittedly only took out loans for my senior year (state school) and then 1.5 years of grad school (private school). But even with that, I still had about 60,000 in debt and I was unemployed for about 9 months. But with 2 of my loans, I expect to have paid off in the next 3 years and I've consolidated the remaining into a lower payment that will take 10 years to pay off.

Yes student loans are expensive. But having a bachelor's degree on average is good over 50% more income than a high school diploma. It's higher for those with higher degrees like a masters or a law degree.

[a la izquierda]

65. I'm a 37 university professor with a boatload of debt.

I look out into a classroom of students who will have more debt after 4 years than I have for my three degrees (and I teach at a giant four year state university, not some tiny, no-name school). This will lighten the debt load of students who will then transfer to finish their degrees.

The government also MUST do something about the loan crisis, but this is a good program.

[jwirr]

66. And what about the student that has already completed the first two years of college?

[KingCharlemagne]

69. An entire generation has been sacrificed at the altar of enriching

the coffers of the top 1%.

Free pre-K through post-secondary education should be combined with a guaranteed annual income, in order to help rescue the victims of that sacrificed generation.

Free community college does not help victims of that sacrificed generation, nor any who came before it.

I don't think you deserve any of the scorn and ridicule you came in for in this thread, btw. Your question is perfectly valid and appropriate.

[LanternWaste]

73. Who put forth the half-witted and irrelevant premise that it would?

Who put forth the half-witted and irrelevant premise that it would?

[isobar]

78. Nobody did.

[WestCoastLib]

74. Perfection is the enemy of progress

You make things better when you have the chance and continue to work on other issues. You don't hold up progress to address every need.

[davidn3600]

75. Sorry but I just find this whole idea to be useless

No one will do jack shit about those student loans. You and I both know that.This generation is so fucked most in this country don't even realize it.

I just think this whole idea is useless. Many kids with financial problems get Pell Grants and tax credits already. Which means all we are doing is giving the rich free college now.

And the only real winners here are textbook publishers.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

76. You are right, it isnt perfect so throw it out...Let the teaparty come up with an idea

While you wait, listen to the music

[isobar]

77. Oh, the I didn't get a pony, so you can't have one either!!!

Whaaaaaaaaaaaa. Here comes the bambulance!!!

[dilby]

79. It helps me because I know my kids wont have the debt I had.

And my grandkids wont have the debt, it helps me because a population with higher educations has a higher standard of living for all those living in it.

[cheapdate]

80. It doesn't. The two things aren't related.

[davidn3600]

81. Well, that's the problem

I think they are related.

The government seems to think they can help solve a lot of this problem by making college free for the next generation, but this generation will just have to suffer and pay back those loans and deal with that economic disadvantage for their entire life since these loans can in no way be discharged.

[cheapdate]

86. Yes. The scale of the student debt problem is enormous, the consequences are deep.

Unfortunately, I think it is very unlikely that the present Republican congress will do anything at all about it.

[B Calm]

82. It cost me 130 thousand dollars for my son to get a bachelor degree. I think it's a great idea.

[doc03]

83. How did the ACA help someone that had to file bankrupcy

because of medical bills? How does it help me I am 66 years old?

[davidn3600]

87. It helps you because chances are you will have to go to a doctor at some point in the future

Most people when they graduate college don't go back to community college. And I am willing to bet this plan doesn't qualify for 2nd degrees....only your first degree.

[doc03]

95. I didn't think it was necessary to add the sarcasm thing, I guess I should have n/t

[hunter]

90. If I was a space alien I'd rip off all the uberwealthy in "technology sharing" investment schemes...

... then buy all this student debt, and declare a jubilee.

A government that wasn't brain-dead would probably choose a course of action less disruptive than this.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

91. It will.That degree you just finished is not your ticket to never needing classes or training again.

Those days are over. Figure on multiple careers in a lifetime and going back to school for more degrees or certifications.

[davidn3600]

92. Unlikely...

I'm certain there will be a provision in this where it is only free for your first degree.

Already the government limits grants for only people who don't have a degree already. If you ever have to go back to school, you are paying for it.

[hughee99]

93. Well, they'll get to compete for jobs with kids who aren't saddled by massive debt

so they can work for less... wait, that's not going to help either.

[Kaleva]

94. Those who went to community college are probably not saddled with tons of debt

Total costs for a student attending a community college is about half that of a student attending a public four-year college. Also, the typical student at a community college is there to attain a certificate or associates degree which can be completed in 1 year for most certificates and 2 years for the associates while those students working towards a bachelor's degree will attend school for 4 years.

[bigwillq]

96. It doesn't.

And good luck, Obama, getting this passed.

I just don't see it happening.

[upaloopa]

97. I will miss out. I graduated in 1979.

Poor me I had to work and pay for my education. I guess just about everyone over 19 or 20 is shit out of luck. How many millions do you think that is?
I'd rather help younger people get ahead because the world we handed them is tougher than the one I grew up in.

[davidn3600]

98. But you probably didn't take on the debt that kids are being forced to take on these days

How much was your tuition in 1979?

And how much was that tuition relevant to the family income?

No matter how you look at it, education today is far more expensive than it ever has been.

You got out of school just before tuition costs went into astronomical levels...

[upaloopa]

101. No I had to spend a year in Vietnam getting

shot at. I used the GI bill and loans and worked full time as a waiter it contributed to my diverse also. I went back to school in my 30's,
Also the salary I got to pay back the loan was nothing compared to salaries today.

[NaturalHigh]

102. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

I still think it's a good idea.

[YOHABLO]

103. There should be a complete bail out of Federal Student loans. They did it with the Banks. Why not?

[Trillo]

104. Won't answer your questions, but before Reagan, in California, community college was free.

Then the fees started up. Then the fees inflated.

[h2]CALIFORNIA WEIGHS END OF FREE COLLEGE EDUCATION[/h2]
By ROBERT LINDSEY, Special to the New York Times
Published: December 28, 1982

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27— California's public system of higher education, long the envy of many other states, is edging toward acceptance of something even Ronald Reagan, as Governor, could not force upon it: tuition.

The California Postsecondary Education Commission recommended earlier this month that the state abandon one of the cornerstones of its college and university system, a pledge that the state will pay instructional expenses for all residents.

more ...

[SickOfTheOnePct]

105. Don't know if this has been posted yet or not

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/17/fact-sheet-simpler-fairer-tax-code-responsibly-invests-middle-class-fami

There is info in there about helping those with student debt by eliminating taxes on the amount forgiven after 20 years.