<p>The amount of student loans taken out last year crossed the $100 billion mark for the first time and total loans outstanding will exceed $1 trillion for the first time this year. Americans now owe more on student loans than on credit cards, reports the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.</p>
<p>Who is going to pay off these loans when there are no jobs??? looks like taxpayers will be paying for these loans.</p>
<p>The comments were interesting to me as well. More interesting than the article really. Since tuition always rises, student loan debt must, by definition, be rising so it therefore will hit record levels. Duh!</p>
<p>But the comments surprised me in how strongly people felt about bailing out the students. I’m personally in agreement that it would be wrong to bail out students with loans. for starters, it would be hugely unfair to those who have smaller loans or no loans at all. There are many other reasons why it’s a bad idea, but I think that the unfairness of it is a strong enough reason all by itself.</p>
<p>If by “taxpayers” you mean *the students *who borrowed the money - yes, they will be paying it back no matter what. Are you aware that college loans cannot be forgiven even if the borrower files for bankruptcy? From the source article:</p>
<p>^^^Yes, but if the comments following the article linked in the OP are any indication how the public feels - such legislation will face heavy opposition from taxpayers.</p>
<p>I graduated 10 years ago debt free. In order to do so, I did several things that were good financial decisions:</p>
<p>1) Applied for and received scholarships
2) Attended in state public school (lower tuition)
3) Lived with my parents in the summer while working full time (free rent)
4) Worked while at school. One year as an RA (free room & board), 2 years in food service.
5) No car</p>
<p>My parents helped with the cost of education, but it turns out I would have graduated debt free even if they hadn’t.</p>
<p>Student loans should NEVER be forgiven. I believe that when you borrow money you scrub floors if you need to and live in your parents house just to pay back those loans. If loan forgiveness ever happened it would ruin it for all students in the future who need money to attend college or grad school.</p>
<p>What the heck would happen to education? This would forever change education in this country…only the rich would be educated…we better watch out or America will really sink.</p>
<p>I waitressed and cleaned hotel rooms. Got married mid-way through. DH was in grad school. We lived in married student housing and rode our bikes (no car). He was an RA and got his tuition waived, which helped. Then I started a grad program and became an RA and also got tuition waived. Graduated without debt. Enjoyed the years very much. </p>
<p>It staggers me to read the stories of the kids racking up huge debt for college. I cannot understand the thinking behind it.</p>
<p>Why should we forgive student loans? I just graduated in 2010, and I kept my loan balance down by attending a state school, graduating in 4 years, signing 9 month leases and living at home for free during the summers, not having a car, and studying something I knew would get me a job when I graduated. Should all the people who took out $80k in loans to go study anthropology at private school and bought a cool car and stayed in a nice apartment just have everything paid for them by the taxpayers?</p>