Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 | 2 a.m.
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In response to the editorial from the Post-Bulletin of Rochester, Minn. (published Sept. 8 in the Sun), “Proactive plan to prevent college debt would benefit students, nation”:
For those on the Income Based Recovery (IBR) plans, which is the vast majority of students, payments are not designed to pay off their loans, as they would for a car loan, because payments are “income-based.” In other words, the normal calculation of payments doesn’t occur because they’re based on income. And the large balances referenced are irrelevant because, unlike normal loans, these loans are written off in 10, 20or 25 years provided one makes minimal payments based on income throughout. Ten if one does public interest work, 20 or 25 depending on when the loan was initiated.
Student loans should never prevent someone from buying a house. By explaining the payment plan to a bank, people whose initial request was denied will have their mortgage approved. And students should never drown in a “sea of student debt” making minimal payments based on income, because the debt amount is eventually written off.
America must change the way higher education is paid for. The government should standardize the terms and retroactively lower the interest rate to 1-2% to cover the cost of servicing the loans.
