Did you know, most people that get student loans are unable to repay back the student loans when they get them? That’s because it is assumed, after they graduate, they will have a better career and be able to pay back the student loans. If a person doesn’t graduate, they’re usually stuck with student loans for the rest of their life or until the government forces them to pay it back from income tax refunds or garnishments.
Did you know, the entire time you owe student loans, it will be extremely hard for you to get any type of credit, including renting or buying a house. That’s right, student loans has caused some people to become homeless. Many people will put the blame on the borrower. “You should pay it back”. Did you know, it will take the average person 20 to 45 years to pay back student loans? Depending on their amounts, income, and other bills. And whether or not they graduated factors in too. Although, keep in mind, graduating college does not guarantee you’ll find a good career utilizing that degree.
Someone that went to college for almost 2 years and almost got their degree, should not owe $68,000 to student loans. This was my situation. Due to a clerical error, I owed my college TEN TIMES what I was supposed to owe them and because I was unable to pay out of pocket, I was forced to withdraw. I had TWO CLASSES left to graduate. I was on the Dean’s List with a 3.8 GPA. Due to my financial situation, I couldn’t graduate. Because I owed $68,000 to student loans, which I’ve been paying on and is in perfect standing (excellent payment history) with the credit bureaus, my kids and I became homeless. My situation has led me to understand what some people have to go through, and I am here to help you avoid the same circumstances.
Solutions
More Affordable College
College should be more affordable. Even Community College, which is already cheaper. Personally, if I could afford to pay for college out of pocket, I would decide not to get student loans. Community colleges should be so cheap that people with average income should be able to afford it out of pocket. And those with less than average income can get student loans. Universities are a little more expensive, especially with having to pay for room and board as most Universities require you to live on campus for 3 out of 4 years per their residency requirement. Technical and Trade colleges are WAY more expensive, often costing 5 to 10 times the price of a University.
Colleges (of all types) should be required to utilize volunteers, interns, and work study more in order to lower costs of tuition. With a lower wages expense (paid to employees due to utilizing volunteers, interns, and work study), colleges should be able to use that extra money being saved towards lowering tuition. Used books should cost less. Someone already paid full price for the book. Therefore, the book should not cost 75% of the full price, rather, they should cost 10 to 40% (depending on the book’s condition). Too much profit is made reselling a book over and over again. Digital books should be more readily available at a fraction of the price. A digital book has little to no overhead expense and should not cost 40 to 80% of the price of a printed copy, but rather 10 to 40%.
Online classes should cost way less. I was paying $2,400 PER online class per semester. Most of the professors work from the comfort of their own home. With a class having 20 to 50 students (we’ll say 35 students on average), that comes to $84,000 for 3 months or $28,000 per month. With each class averaging 3 hours per week, that comes to over $2,150 per hour the college is making on each online class for a technical college. With a college professor’s average hourly wage at about $60, the college is making over $1,370 per HOUR after paying the professor.
Nearly 81% of technical college students graduate. That means, 19% of students now owe a very large bill without the likelihood of being able to pay it back (because they didn’t graduate). Of this 19%, many don’t graduate simply because they couldn’t afford to (not because they failed). Under my administration, it will be proposed that if a student has 75% of credits needed to graduate, a college cannot withdraw a student due to financial reasons or inability to pay for college. The college will be responsible for making collection attempts for balances owed. Colleges also won’t be able to withdraw students who owe less than $10,000 to the college for their inability to pay. Students with the ability to pay will be eligible for withdrawal for nonpayment under terms of the agreement between student and institution. Students may have to prove their inability to pay based on their income and expenses based on the institution’s discretion for burden of proof.
The same rules will apply for non-technical or inexpensive institutions, such as community colleges and universities.