Biden declines to cancel all student debt, supports only minor loan relief

[Solauren]

All things considered, doesn't that makes the student debt problem a symptom of larger problems?

Wages not keeping up with base inflation, while true necessities like housing, utilities, medical and food, and "Because we say so" necessities, like education, telecommunications, and the like, skyrocketing above inflation?

[Broomstick]

Yes.

[Gandalf]

Solution is to force companies to stop requiring college degrees for jobs, allowing the job market to reach equilibrium again.

Then the number of applicants per job will shoot up, and HR (or whoever) will start filtering by education level at their end to just deal with the numbers.

[Ralin]

Solution is to force companies to stop requiring college degrees for jobs, allowing the job market to reach equilibrium again.

And how would you go about doing that? Because I'm not seeing a connection between this and your next sentence.

[bobalot]

Cancelling debt without addressing the underlying causes of tuition fees increasing faster than CPI is, at best, temporary solution.

[Ralin]

Cancelling debt without addressing the underlying causes of tuition fees increasing faster than CPI is, at best, temporary solution.

Not so temporary to the people who are a decade out of college and expect to be in debt forever.

[Solauren]

Cancelling debt without addressing the underlying causes of tuition fees increasing faster than CPI is, at best, temporary solution.

Not so temporary to the people who are a decade out of college and expect to be in debt forever.

I believe Bobalot meant 'temporary as we'll soon have more people with the same issue'.

[The_Saint]

...
We need an intermediate step between:

High School Diploma:
{NOTHING}
College Degree
...

Random question but as someone from over the seas and far away from the USA.... do you not actually have anything between 'high school' and university??

Here in Australia we have vocational education training (VET) that covers traineeships and apprenticeships for trade skills as well as lots of things that ... aren't trades. (eg butchers, plumbers, electricians, hairdressing, cafe operations, librarians, IT administration, tour guides, etc).

I know we have enough problems with too much emphasis on university degrees vs VET leading to overqualified people slowly changing job minimum requirements and cost of university (to reflect OP) but I'm surprised there doesn't appear to be a tier between school and university.

(More info if I wasn't clear: https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/Eng ... -education)

[Jub]

...
We need an intermediate step between:

High School Diploma:
{NOTHING}
College Degree
...

Random question but as someone from over the seas and far away from the USA.... do you not actually have anything between 'high school' and university??

Here in Australia we have vocational education training (VET) that covers traineeships and apprenticeships for trade skills as well as lots of things that ... aren't trades. (eg butchers, plumbers, electricians, hairdressing, cafe operations, librarians, IT administration, tour guides, etc).

I know we have enough problems with too much emphasis on university degrees vs VET leading to overqualified people slowly changing job minimum requirements and cost of university (to reflect OP) but I'm surprised there doesn't appear to be a tier between school and university.

(More info if I wasn't clear: https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/Eng ... -education)

You also have extra pay for working weekends and minimum wages based on profession, not to mention your method of paying off student debt. Australia is a worker's/student's paradise compared to the 'freedom' offered by the US.

[Soontir C'boath]

Trade schools, unfortunately from what I gather, highly depends on who you know. Even if you get into say, a plumber school, you need a plumber who is willing to take you on as an apprentice and that means having connections.

Without reading the whole thread, student debt should be cancelled.

1. We've had a generation or two of parents sold on the idea that their kids will only see a good future by going to college with said kids not knowing any better.
2. Many degrees are frankly paperweights compare to the salary they would draw anyway.
3. The student loans people are finding themselves paying is ridiculous to the point that someone can actually pay the original principal balance, but still owe as much if not more due to interest accumulation.

Now I know this applies to government loans and not private loans, but it would at least be a start in the right direction for a ton of people.

[Solauren]

Private (non-bank) loans are just as a bad, as they are less regulated.

[Soontir C'boath]

Private (non-bank) loans are just as a bad, as they are less regulated.

Yes, but as I understood it, Biden could only affect federal backed loans if and when he issues the executive order.

[Solauren]

Private (non-bank) loans are just as a bad, as they are less regulated.

Yes, but as I understood it, Biden could only affect federal backed loans if and when he issues the executive order.

Yes. I was pointing out another problem that would need to be addressed to deal with the 'Student Debt Crisis'

[RogueIce]

Random question but as someone from over the seas and far away from the USA.... do you not actually have anything between 'high school' and university??

Here in Australia we have vocational education training (VET) that covers traineeships and apprenticeships for trade skills as well as lots of things that ... aren't trades. (eg butchers, plumbers, electricians, hairdressing, cafe operations, librarians, IT administration, tour guides, etc).

I know we have enough problems with too much emphasis on university degrees vs VET leading to overqualified people slowly changing job minimum requirements and cost of university (to reflect OP) but I'm surprised there doesn't appear to be a tier between school and university.

(More info if I wasn't clear: https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/Eng ... -education)

They exist, yes. However, the problem is that the same thing you mention in your last sentence has been very much at play here: schools and parents push the college path to the detriment of trades/vocational schools. The former is how you "succeed" at life, the latter are for people who couldn't get into a "good college" due to grades/life/whatever. I don't know about how tough they are to get into as Soontir mentioned; that could be regional. I know people who didn't have major issues with it.

Education between HS and college definitely exists. It's just been extremely downplayed for so long that we simply have a glut of college grads. MKSheppard's idea to "ban companies from making it a requirement" won't work because the main reason it even became a defacto requirement is because of how many people were entering the workforce with a Bachelor's. As long as we keep trying to shove everybody through a four-year degree program regardless of whether they really "need it" we will continue to have the problem.

Degree inflation is a very real problem. And it won't be solved anytime soon, because even if high school guidance counselors and parents quite trying to shove their kids through the college pipeline tomorrow, we're already over-saturated with degree-holders as it is. It'd be a generation or more for that to work itself out of the job market - and sucks to be those at the leading edge of it in the meantime.

[Tribble]

If it’s essentially a job requirement now to have some level of post secondary education, then perhaps it’s time to scrap the tuition system entirely (or a nominal fee at most) and make post secondary a part of standard schooling.

[Solauren]

While making post secondary a requirement is a good idea, right now, it's pretty much a major industry in terms of profit generation. Hell, Colleges have SHAREHOLDERS now.

Quite frankly, if I was a parent right now, and my kid was considering college, I'd actually aim them for a tradeschool first. Then they can get a good skill, work and save up for a few years, (you'll always need construction workers, carpenters, plumbers, etc) and then go to college if they still want to , after being away from preassure from teachers/classmates, etc. Then, while they are looking for a job that suits there post-secondary education, they have another skill to use for employment, and potentially find 'inside' job leads.

[MsAkagi]

I will have to find a part time job or something,otherwise will be hard to finish the studies without any support.