College Guide
Blog
September 14, 2012 10:00 AM
Burn Student Loans?
The A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, an alliance of American activists, is organizing an event where student loan debtors will burn their education bills. According to the organization:
Join HARD BLOCK for a back-to-school protest against the massive debt being put on the shoulders of students.
Young people aspiring to get a higher education are in crisis today, through no fault of their own. If the banks can get a bailout after they ruined the economy through their own fraud and greed, students, who did nothing to cause the economic crisis, deserve a bailout as well. Come burn your student loan bill to demand the government cancel all student debt!
A.N.S.W.E.R. plans to hold the burning event on the afternoon of September 22 in Los Angeles.
Wait, who still has paper copies of student loan statements? [Image via]
Facebook
Twitter
Anna Ford on September 17, 2012 2:56 AM:
If we include the amount of forgiven debt might exceed the amount written off otherwise, as by definition of the program this should be the case. I don't however think this idea will have only negative consequences. Just think how beneficial the resulting underwriting changes would be for the jobs sector. Imagine a world where the field of study you choose is a variable that goes into your loan underwriting. You really really want to go to private university A to study basket weaving and you think the 35k/year plus room and board will be worth it. The bank however knows that basket weavers from private university A later show low employment rates and only slightly above average starting salaries for the profession and offers up a list of majors at private university A that qualify for 35k a year, and other universities for basket weaving. If you think about it, this will put some pressure on lenders to make better loans, and should provide some pressure for students to pick a profession that will be in demand when they graduate.