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FROM AP: Blue Jays 12, Orioles 6
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Our story, our experiment, to create a world where hard work leads to a better life, the American Dream, is slowly dying. But we can fix this. The Student Loan Fairness Act will soon stand before the House of Representatives and embodies a golden opportunity to save the American Dream.
Taking out student loans is the only way I could attend DePaul. I thought if I took out the loans to get the right education, a good job would be waiting for me. Now I know different.
This rise in college students pursuing four year programs seems like it can only be good. Pursuing education is vital to individual success and the collective trend towards higher education across the population is a positive trend. But are there any costs associated with this upward trajectory?
Millions of high school students have now received college acceptance letters. Many middle class Americans will also learn how much financial aid they will receive from these institutions and what they will need to borrow to make up the difference.
The government gets to borrow for 10 years paying less than 2 percent interest on U.S. Treasury notes, while students must pay 6.8 percent interest on the loans they get from the government!
Despite the fact that tuition costs show no signs of decreasing, you can become less reliant on loans and more focused on a secure financial future by following a few easy rules.
If you are under 40, your generation is getting utterly screwed compared to mine, and you should be in the streets. There are plenty of injustices in this country, but they have little to do with old versus young and everything to do with the one percent versus everyone else. You don't have to cut my Social Security benefits to give your generation a decent break. The secret sauce of my generation was that when I was young, prosperity was widely shared, ladders were plentiful, and tax rates were progressive. If gazillionaires pay their fair share, and we invest adequately in the young, there's no reason why Generations Y and Z can't enjoy the same economic tailwind that my generation did. That, however, will not just happen. It requires a politics -- and not the politics of young versus old, much less the politics of austerity.
The hyper-inflation of tuition is well documented. By any measure, the cost of college attendance has increased dramatically. Higher education tends to be debt financed. The student loan bubble may well be like the subprime mortgage bubble -- only worse.
Becoming a doctor, lawyer or business person have long served as paths out of poverty, as well as symbols for many of the American Dream. But now, if a student isn't careful, these once-prestigious careers may be paths into poverty or heavy student debt. What has gone so wrong?
Young people are an increasing force at the ballot box, and tuition and debt are top issues for this generation. Any politician that wants to show their stuff to Millennials must address this issue. So, Senator Rubio, while you're thinking about ways to help students and debtors, consider a few more.
It is not enough to assume that students inherently know how to apply classroom skills to a real-world environment, particularly in the case of first-generation ones.
The smart high school grad no longer just picks a school, borrows money and wings it. Your future depends on your ability to assemble an educational plan that gets you on your path of knowledge and discovery without putting you at risk of attending a school that is doomed to fail.
Do high school seniors really consider other options? Do they even know alternatives exist -- alternatives that could put them far ahead of their peers both in the quality of their education and competitiveness in the job market?
By designating price as a key criterion at the earliest stages of the college search process, families can avoid taking on excessive debt to pay for college. It's simple. It's sensible. And it's not at all the way it's done now.
We believe that private colleges offer the ticket to a better life. But a closer look demonstrates a more expensive degree does not ensure a higher income after graduation.
You've got a multitude of consolidation and repayment methods to choose from. Needless to say, it's important to figure out how to pay down your loans quickly -- and with as little stress as possible. Here's what you need to do.
