[jdsully]

> My point is just that there are payoffs other than monetary ones. Nothing wrong with monetary, but nothing wrong with the others if that drives you.

The issue is that college imposes a very real and life changing monetary cost on people attending. If you fail to achieve a high paying job after college you will be far behind your peers who never went, and dramatically more limited in your life choices. College debt is the closest we have to indentured servitude in the modern world.

For those who just want to learn, continuing education or course auditing is the better solution. I do wish colleges would expand upon these programs.

[learc83]

90+% of all loan disbursements are Federal and Federal loans offer income based repayment plans.

You pay 10% of your disposable income (income above 1.5 times the poverty level) for up to 20 years.

Not sure that's really far behind. For a family of 4 making the median household income that's roughly equivalent to a cable bill.

[jdsully]

That's a myopic view of the situation. Under income based repayment most students' loans will actually increase despite the payments. The massive debt will prevent common middle class milestones like getting a mortgage. Further loan forgiveness comes with a balloon payment in the form of taxes - forgiven debt is income according to the IRS. After allowing it to grow unchecked for 20 years the amount forgiven will be substantial.

IBR operates very similar to welfare - including the embarrassing intrusion and analysis of your private life by your lenders. It is a last resort option and not something we should be encouraging.

[learc83]

Lenders look at monthly payments when calculating debt to income. $150 a month in student loans won't prevent you from getting a mortgage unless $150 is all that's preventing you from affording the mortgage.

Cancelled debt is only taxable up to the point of solvency meaning that most people who have a substantial amount of debt cancelled won't owe anything.

>IBR operates very similar to welfare - including the embarrassing intrusion and analysis of your private life by your lenders. It is a last resort option and not something we should be encouraging.

I've done it. You provide your tax return. They don't care about anything but income. It's by no means intrusive and shouldn't bhe thought of as a last resort.