COLLEGE IS IMPORTANT
I agree with Scott Reeder that the cost of college is too high and something needs to be done ("The real cost of a college education," Sept. 1). I also agree that there is a differential distribution of costs and benefits in our economy that is unfair.
Students nowadays are consigned to a new form of indentured servitude; President Joe Biden provided a small measure of relief from it by taking $10,000 of that debt burden and calling it a grant. I'm fine with that, inasmuch as education is an investment in our nation's future. I also think the government should turn around and collect that sum from the colleges. But I don't agree that there is anything "highfalutin" about a college education. It's not to snub blue-collar labor; it is to go where the job market is now – in technology. In fact, a lot of blue-collar professions are very technology-based today.
This is why college is more needed than ever, and why we have to make it affordable to everyone.
Jeffrey Hobbs
Springfield
INFURIATING
The whole idea of this is absolutely infuriating. I second-mortgaged my house because it had a cheaper interest rate than what financial aid was offering. My house would be paid off now had I not had that second mortgage that then got rolled into a refinance for a better interest rate. Had I known that I wouldn't have to pay back the loan that was offered, I would have certainly gone that route. Stupid me for trying to be financially responsible.
Julie Havens
Springfield
STOP INTEREST
To the government, every college is equal, just like every doctor is equal, every hospital, every pharmacy, every teacher, every college professor, etc.
Adjusting loan payments to income is a cruel trick. Every penny the loan is reduced is a penny that doesn't go toward the principal, thus loans never get paid off. We wouldn't put up with this from a bank, so why do we tolerate it from the government?
A solution might be to stop the interest and let all payments go toward principal.
William Nebel
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
BAD COMPARISON
The article makes a ridiculous comparison between the mortgage lending crisis in 2008 to today's student loans. The 2008 crisis was the result of the actions of bankers, mortgage lenders, rating agencies and a host of others that led to worthless, mortgage-backed securities. It's simply not comparable to student loans.
The article also fails to consider the effect of online and nonprofit institutions on student loan repayments. Loans are being made payable to institutions that simply should not be allowed to participate in the program. The quality of the educational institution is a significant factor in successful student loan repayment.
Martin Bruce King
