US Sen. Warren: Let students refinance their loans
BOSTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said she is planning to file a bill to let students refinance their old loans at a new lower rate to ease the loan burden burying graduates in debt and stifling economic growth.Warren said it's important to let students with old, high-interest loans take advantage of lower rates now offered to students under a new federal law this year.
An undergraduate student who took out an unsubsidized federal loan before July 1 is paying almost 7 percent interest, Warren said. After July 1, that borrower would pay less than 4 percent interest.
She said most borrowers who took out loans in the last decade are paying much higher rates than they would if they took out those loans today, making it harder for them to buy homes and cars after graduation and save for retirement.
The sad truth is the college business is way too large. A recent story in the telegram spoke about a movement to change the rules for placement of students in state colleges. The story explained that 50% of students were placed in remedial mathematics course. Shame on public education for those sorry numbers, because even students NOT college bound should know high school math, including algebra.
ReplyDeleteThe educators drew some strange conclusion from the data. Since only 25% of students who take remedial courses ever graduate, they concluded that the problem was the remedial coursework. So the result will be a restructuring of coursework to that which current students can pass. Rather than learn the obvious lesson (some students don't belong in college), the powers that be change the coursework. The state has a pilot program which will abandon the present placement system and replace it with high school GPA as a placement measure. This shows recognition of the sad fact that high school GPAs place a student higher than does actual performance on a placement test.
Students that do not graduate don't pay back their college loans. The beneficiaries are the colleges and their employees. This is an attempt by Cherokee Lizzy to perpetuate the status quo for her friends in the education monopoly.
For the students with high interest loans, this will make a big difference. Once you graduate the phone starts ringing, sometimes even before you can get established in your profession. In some companies, a person can not get promoted with out having a college degree, even if it has no relation to the job you are doing. Mark is right, not all people belong in college but they should walk out of high school knowing how to spell and do math. Try not paying the bill for your education. From watching people in this predicament, the bill collectors can make life sheer hell. I give credit to Sen. Warren for trying to help people deal with the problem of high interest loans. For the people just out of school and trying to get established, the difference in a couple of percents will make a huge difference. Bev.
ReplyDelete