Funny last week I went to a graduation party thrown by my Italian-American relatives (who know how to throw a party) and encountered a huge number of blue collar people who’ve accumulated huge wealth with construction businesses without going to college — enough wealth to fund crazy-expensive divorces.<p>My Italian-American relatives seem to get funneled into occupations that seem comically stereotypical (the men do road construction, either unionized or self-employed, run frickin’ pizza restaurants, the women are either schoolteachers or beauticians)<p>I suspect they’d run into all sorts of mysterious barriers if they tried to get work as college professors or newspaper reporters or something that attracts other ethnic groups, whereas members of other ethnic groups would be scratching their heads about how the Italians make it where they do.
They were always going to be repaid, since their principle feature is that they are guaranteed by the federal government. Just not by the borrower. That's why they are so easy to get without demonstrating that you can repay, and that's why the cost of a college education has skyrocketed since the guarantees were put in place. And why a college education has become much less accessible for those who aren't willing to take the loans.
For those who haven't read the article:<p>* Starting in 2013 loans carried a repayment amount that exceeded the amount borrowed (interest was catching up to the borrower)<p>* 2015 saw partial payment plans (presumably exacerbating the problem)<p>* Around 2019 it became that borrowers were struggling just to pay on the interest<p>* 2020 saw a temporary halt on paybacks, so interest was not being accumulated<p>* The article argues wage stagnation and expansion of recipients as the primary reasons<p>* Blacks and latinos seem to have benefitted the most from the repayment pause<p>There are no clear recommendations except for one:<p>> One way of ensuring and backstopping those policy goals could be the creation of a new federal university system<p>How would this change things at all?
I never thought, for a moment, that my student loan would accrue interest. I always thought that the loan was free, and that solely by virtue of drawing breathe, I deserve free money to get a higher education and marketable skills that would earn me between $150k and $250k annually.
If the paywall is giving you any trouble, here's a gift link y’all can use to read the piece: <a href="https://nyti.ms/43qtZF8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://nyti.ms/43qtZF8</a>