Student Loans By Linda Stowe
Most mornings I listen to “The Daily,” a NYT podcast about a topic getting national attention. Participants vary but the participant list primarily draws from a spate of news reporters. The discussions focus on an explanation of the topic, the events that led up to or contributed to the current situation, and an overview of what might come next based on the information they have.
The topic today was student loan debt. This surprised me because I thought this was a stale headline left over from the Biden years. But apparently not. After years of being able to skate by without paying off their student loans, millions of Americans with unpaid student loans are discovering that years of patience and forgiveness from the U.S. government have officially come to an end. The discussion covered what was behind the change as well as how this is affecting borrowers and ultimately higher education.
As I listened to borrowers bemoan their situation and ask, “What am I supposed to do now?” I must admit I did not feel a lot of sympathy. Granted, it could be that they were set up to be in this situation because colleges push students to apply for federal student loans and the government has been lenient in collecting them, particularly since the pandemic. Also, as someone who did not have to go into debt for her education, I do not know how this feels. But there have been times in my life when I have had debt that sometimes felt overwhelming, but I don’t recall feeling like a victim asking what I was supposed to do.
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Polly here. Okay. Here it is, my unpopular opinion. I am standing up, clapping. I yelled out, “Bravo,” when I read this. You see, this is a huge pet peeve of mine. I went to college on an athletic scholarship for my tuition. However, I had to take out loans to pay for room and board, books, and every other living expense I had during those years.
After leaving the university, I worked crappy jobs. Minimum wage jobs. And every week, I set aside money to pay my bills. One of those bills was for my student loans. It took me years, but I paid all of those loans off in full.
I would not have borrowed the money if I did not think that I could repay it. That’s how “borrowing” works.
I have little patience for people who borrow money for ANYTHING, and then think they should be exempt from paying it back. Here is the rule. If you can’t pay it back? Don’t borrow it. Period.
