ALJAZEERA: President Obama signed an executive order Monday that could extend student debt relief to an additional 5 million people — a move aimed in part at better educating young borrowers of their rights while jumpstarting a moribund debate on the issue in Congress.
The order directs the Secretary of Education to increase eligibility for the Pay As You Earn repayment plan (PAYE), which caps certain federal-student-loan payments at 10 percent of a borrower’s income and writes off any unpaid debt after 20 years, or 10 years for those working in the public interest. To date, PAYE has only been available to people experiencing financial hardship who applied for federal loans after October 2007 and continued borrowing after October 2011, and only 200,000 people are currently enrolled. But by the end of 2015, following a lengthy rulemaking process, millions more borrowers could be eligible to apply.
President Obama put forth a raft of other, softer recommendations focused on educating borrowers about their rights before, during and after school, and encouraged voters to demand further action from Congress — namely to pass a student-loan-refinancing bill introduced in early May by Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in the Senate and John Tierney, D-Mass., in the House… (more)
In the period between 1985 and 2011 inflation data shows the CPI-U rising 115% while college tuition rose 498%, i.e., a college tuition bill in 1985 of $10,000 is now over $59,000.
At the same time employers began to demand college graduates when most of the time the skills learned in college had little or nothing to do with the job. For example, the majority of law grads do not practice law.
It is also true that college grads often earn much more than non-grads so it may be argued that college grads can pay the high price with the high pay. After all, $30,000 in debt is merely the price of an average new car.
It is also true that despite a degree, many grads do not land high paying jobs, thus the Presidents 10% ceiling.
Frankly it makes little sense to me. Why is it that to get a decent job in America you need 16 total years of education?
On top of that, there is no guarantee that 16 total years of education will land you a high paying job.
Perhaps some smart Attorney General will look into this.
EDITOR: Concerning law school graduates, many choose the law graduate education rather than business administration.