I think it depends on your state, you are not getting off that cheap here.
The government doesnt subsidize loans for private K12 schools, and I am not sure why it needs to do so for private colleges. Make community college free, and offer lower tuition and loans for the local instate public college at taxpayer expense and IMO taxpayers have done their duty. Anything else is a luxury.
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The loan is not made to the school. It is made to the student.
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I’m curious how we would be able to filter for that? If a student was gapped at their public option and wouldn’t be able to attend, so chose a private school that offered a way to fill the out of pocket need with a loan is that extravagant?
Btw - Our Ohio privates do often come in with a net price under the state flagship offer.
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Absolutely college costs vary by state. Maryland is certainly not the cheapest either. My main point is that there are many different cost options when pursuing a bachelor’s degree. If students are choosing higher end options then they shouldn’t necessarily be looking for a bailout.
I could drive the newest luxury car for $80,000 or a practical $20,000 car, both get me where I’m going. Sometimes we have to make affordable choices.
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We do, I’d never even buy a new car or buy a car if mine was still running. Our flagship is over $15,000, MD college is much cheaper. Our community college is almost $9000 a year, so the math works out differently.
Yes, I realize the loan is made to the student, and that some private colleges have come to depend upon such subsidized students for their existence. The question is why is the government subsidizing loans for private education to begin with?
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There is a limit on the amount of subsidized loans students can take. As a freshman, for example, this amount can not exceed $3500. Clearly, that subsidized loan isn’t covering the costs of a private college.
Some students take these subsidized loans to pay for things like books, and transportation home.
Why not make them available only to public college students? As you point out, they will not help much with the cost of private school, but to the extent they enable or encourage overspending for college decisions, that can be fixed ny limiting them to public school students. The massive Student loan debt in the US is not all attributed to public colleges-many were loans for private study.
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Because the low income students who get nearly all their costs covered by need based aid at private colleges often depend on the government loans for things like transportation and books. If they’re lucky they may be able to squeeze out enough for important tools like a laptop. The $3500 federal student loan can make the difference between getting a college education at the private college and not getting an education at all. No US public college that I know of estimates tuition, fees, books, and transportation at $3500/year.
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Private school K12 students would have many of the same expenses. The alternative we provide is called public education, which we provide in lieu of subsidizing any of their expenses at their private school.
The private universities can either come up with an additional $3500 for those students. or a way to make $3500 through employment or whatever, or the students can attend a different school, or can obtain a non-subsidized loan if they wish.
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To help the student loan crisis, the government needs to get out of the student loan business. The cost of college (tuition/room/board) would drop and become affordable again. No one needs to go to a private university.
The other option is for the government to only loan out money for the community college the first two years, then only a public university the last two years.
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Our flagship is $30k! Both my kids are attending privates for the same cost.
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The alternative public education we provide for K-12 is free(at least the basics) and schools are located within a reasonable distance or transportation is provided. It is not a fair comparison to public colleges which are not free (at least in lots of places) and in many places there is not a local option close enough for students to commute, or the needed classes are not offered.
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Which state provides free public college educations to all of its residents?
I am aware that I can’t change minds that are made up. I do wish people could see what I have seen, though, because it might open eyes, hearts and minds. I used to have assumptions that were challenged by my professional experience working in financial aid at a variety of colleges. Access and affordability are so important - and removing affordability limits access. It’s fine to be against loan forgiveness and to want to rein in costs, but any changes to make things better must consider the impact on real lives.
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I’m feeling a kind of a “let the peasants eat crumbs” vibe on this thread. I don’t quite understand all of the self-congratulations about how some have saved enough to send their kids to college costing $70K per year. I mean, good for you! But it’s a little tone deaf for some who didn’t have the same opportunities to save or the same circumstances in general. And the fact is that college costs have increased at a pace so far exceeding inflation over the past two-three decades that it doesn’t surprise me that some are caught off guard.
I think what’s being missed is that wealth inequality has increased a great deal over the years, with the rich getting richer, and the poor and middle class either getting poorer or just treading water. The student loan crisis and the astronomical increase in college costs are part of what has caused that. Yet, when the wealthy get tax cuts, it seems that very few of the people who complain about potential student loan forgiveness make similar passionate arguments about how unfair it is to others who earn less not getting proportionally similar tax cuts. I’m not sure why.
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You do understand that the main reason that college costs have increased at a pace so far exceeding inflation is due to the fact that the government got more involved in the student loan process. Wanting additional government involvement will only cause colleges to FURTHER increase costs - which will disproportionately hurt the middle class. This in turn leads to MORE wealth inequality - not less. Anytime government gets more involved (over the free market system) costs sky rocket. The more people get “free” or significantly discounted services, the higher costs are raised for everyone else. I feel people should be congratulated for saving - not punished as they are by the current financial aid system. If the costs were lowered - then everyone can benefit. Currently, the system only benefits those who are poor and those who are very well off. The many, many others who fall in between are the ones who get the short end of the stick. Likewise, they will be the main ones whose taxes will be raised in order to pay off everyone else’s debt.
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I am very worried about wealth inequality, @amsunshine . I am also very worried about young, unsophisticated consumers signing up for loans that will burden them for the rest of their lives. Hence my suggestion for free community college, so the first 2 years are paid for, and loans available for and in the amount of local public college costs for the last 2 years. Students can get college educated through a solid public avenue. Anything else is on them, and they should think long and hard about that.
Woarble is correct that the main driver in increasing costs is indeed the easy availability of loans, which has led colleges and some students to imprudent financial decisions.
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Until concrete solutions are offered as to how we lower college costs debt will remain an issue. Practically speaking this may also further exacerbate inequalities because private colleges may not be as pressured as public ones (since their funding is tied to state tax revenue) to do this as many have large endowments and/or will continue to have a steady supply of families willing to pay high COA for actual and perceived benefits.
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