<p>I cringe when I see students thinking about taking out huge loans because they have their hearts set on schools that are bigger than their budget.
Court to weigh offsets to pay student loans</p>
<p>THE ASSOCIATED PRESS</p>
<p>James Lockhart of Seattle was surviving on $874 a month in Social Security disability payments plus $10 in food stamps when his student loans from nearly 20 years earlier caught up with him.</p>
<p>Lockhart, now 67, was told his Social Security checks would be cut by 15 percent, an offset to pay more than $80,000 in delinquent student loans. The next day, he started legal action that has led to a hearing Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.</p>
<p>The case is compelling because many other people are potentially in the same position as Lockhart, at or near retirement age with 20-year-old student loans still unpaid, said Deepak Gupta, an attorney working on his appeal.</p>
<p>The government brief on the case said there is nearly $7 billion in delinquent student loan debt, with about half that amount more than 10 years old.
</p>