Can bankruptcy solve student debt woes?

A student today may acquire well over $100,000 in student debt to get a degree.  Consider it a mortgage.  The problem is, this mortgage has a higher interest rate than most current home mortgages, and a much shorter time period to repay.  If I buy a $100,000 home, and pay 4% interest over 30 years, it is much more affordable than that same loan, but at 6.8% (and that is only the federal rate - artificially 1/2 that currently), payable in 10 years.

Most of us hold off on buying the home until we can afford the payment, but the student loan repayment starts 6 months after graduating, unless deferred, during which time it till accrues interest, as it did all the way through school, and it does not matter if the student has a job sufficient to make the payments.

Those of you older folks complaining about the younger folks and their debt simply do not know what is going on.  Most students would prefer to pay their debt, it is financially impossible to do so.  When I went to college, I had no student debt, but I had the Vietnam GI Bill to pay my living expenses, and the PELL Grant covered the cost of school ($4500 for the year).  When I went to law school later, three years of law school cost me over $100,000 in loan debt.  You know why?  financial institutions know we can't discharge the debt, so they raised borrowing limits, and colleges know that money is out there, so tuition costs are skyrocketing.  Kids want the education, but it is no longer economically viable.  We are going to have to hire Chinese engineers, chemists, etc; to do the work because American students have been priced out of the market.

This is the next bubble!!! The World, let alone the US, will go into a total tail spin if students and their parents start to default on their loans. We need to be smarter on how much we hand out and make sure that it gets paid back! The population is still growing at a rapid pace and we need to make sure that everyone who can AFFORD it, gets an education. There are many capable community colleges that can get you started for much less than a University! Have you watched these shows on the TV like Campus PD? These kids now a days think they are invincible! Is this how you want our dollars to be spent?? Someone needs to made accountable?? The answer is WHO? The US Government can't always be the one bailing everyone out!! What happen to the good old days?? Morales?? Ethics?? I'm afraid for our future has a race not just a country! The good old days are gone and its only going to get worse! WAKE UP!

This shows the entitlement mentality of you younger people. Your educational assistance is there to provide you a chance to EARN a better paying job, and brighter future. And with that assistance comes the responsiblity for you to pay for your education. Quite your whinning, and pay your debt you bunch of free loaders!

Those of us who provided you with a home, and food, or other assistance don't owe your debt for giving you access with a better future. Your education is your burden for that potential brighter future, not another burden for your parents to carry.

    If my memory serves me correctly, it was President Clinton in the early 90's who signed the bill that barred federal student loan debt from bankruptcy, except where the debtor can show extreme hardship, which usually involves medical issues or old age.  Later President George W. Bush added private loans.  My recollection is that the reason  for making these changes in the law was to increase the amount of loans students could receive by lenders. It was believed that lenders would be more likely to lend if they knew the loans could not later be discharged in bankruptcy and that the economy was robust enough to provide the student borrowers with job opportunities which would be adequate to repay the loans.  

    However, the economy has changed much since the 90's.  Education costs have soared.  Jobs for college graduates are scarce. Education grants, which do not need to be repaid, are now available to many students.  I do not know whether the reasons for banning student loan debts  from bankruptcy protection still applies.  

     The federal government has no problem dumping millions of taxpayer dollars into AIG, banks, insurance companies, and giving money to families who overpaid for housing they could not afford.   Now the government is taxing poor and middle class people who earn their own living but cannot afford to pay for their own health care insurance because they are saddled with paying down student loan debt.  At some point, it seems to me that American citizens have a right to shout that enough is enough.  I think that time has come.      

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the reason you could no longer discharge student loan debt through bankruptcy was because one too many people with student loands did that throughout the eighties.

What are the facts on this?

One thing I would agree to, and that would be allowing people some latitude to be able to write off on your income taxes the student loan interest. Anything else is just plain wrong.

I for one have paid my loans off years ago. It wasn't fun, or easy. But I did it.

One thing I can mention is there are other alternatives, many others like me have served in the military to earn extra income for schooling. Those funds are still out there. So if you want to make life easier, or a chance at making your future a little brighter, once again try working for it. Otherwise claiming bankruptcy is just another form of asking society "AKA the government" which is nothing more than you and me, to pay your way!

Pull yourself up by your boot straps, and BE RESPONSIBLE to carry your own weight.

Don't forget that you took the money, now it's time to pay back the debt you incurred. Remember that no one forced you to go to school. And no one ever forced you to take the money.