Should students get interest free loans? Would that be a great deal-for the government? (that's us.)

Lewis Black, the comedian, has a bit where he talks about the price of bottled water. He mentions that after people started saying that we need to drink more water, and it should be bottled water, the price skyrocketed.

The same thing could be said about college. All of sudden, college became almost a necessity and the price skyrocketed. There definitely is some jobs where you need a college education but not nearly as many that employers request that you have one. I like to look through the want ads to see what is out there and I am amazed at how many require a degree. The thing that really gets me is that I know people who have these types of jobs without every going to college. If you didn't need a degree to get the job ten years ago, why do you need one now?

What they really should do is INCREASE the interest rate. That way, people will think twice about getting a loan that they may or may not need. Now, you get a loan without thinking about it, Live off the loan rather than get a job, go to expensive schools that you can't afford, and get a degree in something that will in no way lead to a job. Do what people did before the gov't was handing out money like candy. Get a job, work while you go to college, take classes at the local community college first, take a year or two more to finish so you can work while you go to school. Go to a cheaper college that is just as good as Most high buck schools. That's what I did. That's what my daughter and son did. And none of us had one dime of loans when we graduated.

Illogical statement,"The question isn't whether taxpayers can afford to keep subsidizing and guaranteeing student loans for next year and beyond. Rather, how can we afford not to?" What if the job does not exist. Did the writer attend college or does the writer have little common sense.

That's the gummint for ya. *shakes head*

avejoecon, I am a student graduating next week from the U of M. I'm very happy for you and your family for making it through college without accruing any student loan debt - that really is an incredible accomplishment! I would like to let you know, however, that you are the exception rather than the rule, and just because these ideas worked for you, doesn't mean they work for everyone. I attended a technical school for two years prior to enrolling at the U, I've worked three jobs while going to school, and I had a very difficult time getting student loans - even being denied this past year. My father is a dairy farmer, and on paper it looks like he has a lot of money that could be used to support me through college. As a result, the government denied me large amounts of financial aid. In reality, however, that capital was tied up in farm machinery, equipment and land, and not expendable for paying for college. So he wasn't able to support me through college and financial aid didn't fully support me with what I needed, either. So again, while I'm happy for you and your success, your method is not a blanket concept, it varies with each student depending on their individual situation. In my case, I followed all your suggestions, which I whole-heartedly agree with, but due to other circumstances, they were not as successful for me. I do not believe that the interest should be raised, penalizing hard-working students like myself, as you suggest. Maybe a better solution to keep us both happy would be increasing the availability of work-study programs, ensuring that students work for their money? I do not have an answer for how to solve these problems, I just want to make it known that there are a lot of factors that go into student loans and the financial aid process, and it is something that needs to be looked at holistically, including the value that graduates bring to our country and our economy. We cannot simply assume the worst in students, thinking that they all are spending their loan money exorbitantly, and therefore penalizing them with higher interest rates. While some do abuse the system, the majority really are hard-working honest individuals just trying to better themselves and their country, and we simply cannot afford to penalize them with higher interest rates. Period.