RealisticGradStudent - Really? Have you considered that many other countries pay for students to go to college; yes, a full ride. Some, even get paid an allowance to subsidize their expenses while attending college. These countries are visionaries and see the true value of an educated population and the positive affects that it has on every single segment of life; economics, relationships, etc.
Perhaps if the U.S. government invested more in the education of its citizens more people wouldn't have their hand out for other public subsidizes that burden tax payers. A simple shift in mindset and the balance sheet could have give rise to more educators leaders in this country.
Instead, we have a broken education system all around, while other countries educate their people who then come to America and take our jobs.
I agree with FRUSTRATEDLAWSTUDENT, no one is expecting a free ride, just a little support for the few that go the extra mile. Only 10-12% of the population even seek out a graduate degree.
We MUST encourage more people to further their education, not deter them!
DISAPPOINTEDGRADSTUDENTof FL5:25PM June 09, 2012
RealisticGradStudent - I don't know what comments or article you read - but no one here is asking the government to give them a degree. I don't see one post here where anyone has mentioned that... as a matter of fact, according to the article this whole change was made specifally so the government COULD hand certain people free degrees via the Pell Grant... a grant I have never once qualified for BTW. I always get a paper that says I "applied late" - applied late my @ss! You're barking up the wrong tree when you look at the grad students who are upset over this like they're a bunch of babies. Try looking at the students who "can't afford" to go to school but get a free ride anyway. I don't know one person who can "afford" to go to school. The expense is a burden you endure in the hopes it will lead you to financial stability. Tossing money only to some students while taking away even the slightest help for others is unbelievable! I know people who waltzed away with degrees owing less than a grand and here I am facing mounting debt because the government decided I make "too much money" - that's a joke! The ONLY benefit the government even offered me was the fact that I could at least stave off the interest while I pursued my degree and now that's gone. All any grad student who isn't handed free money for a degree is merely asking is that we not be raked over the coals while we are trying to earn that degree... before this change we still owed our loans after we left college. That hasn't changed. In law school you're not even allowed to hold a FT job if you want to attend as a FT student... and if you hold any job at all they aren't supposed to let you attend summer courses (which you pay directly out of pocket for by the way - no education loans cover summer courses - so who the hell are they to say you can't work then if you're literally paying out of your own pocket to attend???)... so you tell me, RealisticGradStudent, how does a student pay interest on a loan while they are in school when this same system is telling them they can't work while attending classes? SMH
FrustratedLawStudentof MA10:40AM June 05, 2012
Over 10 years 18 billion may sound like a lot of money, of course it is relative when the single cost average fighter jet plane costs the government over 100 billion. Realistically how mush of that 18 billion saved won't be returned through the taxes paid from graduate students their higher salaries and the tax brackets associated with that income?
You do the math, this is discouraging for graduate students like myself that will double their salaries after graduation with an excessive and cumulative loan debt to boot.
Perspective Graduate Studentof MI6:52AM May 25, 2012
Its definately a step in the right direction. Stafford loans subsidize COLLEGES not COLLEGE STUDENTS. Without the Stafford loan system, substantially fewer people could afford to go to college at the current rates. Thus colleges would not be able to charge the exorbitant rates that they currently do. They would have to lower the prices to rates that were affordable to the most people. In my state of Maryland the average cost of education (after accounting for inflation) has almost quadrupled since the inception of the stafford loan system. It needs to go entirely in order to make higher education affordable once again.
Truthseekerof MD6:58PM May 21, 2012
It's not the government's job to help you get a graduate degree. I'm getting my master's degree with the knowledge that I'll have $35,000+ in loans to pay back when I'm done. I don't expect the government to forgive my loans when I'm done. The money I owe can't just disappear. It's real debt that is owed to real people/institutions. The tax payers would end up with the burden, like they always do. Yes, interest rates are unfortunate, but pay your debt down as quickly as you can, and you can minimize some of the pain.
RealisticGradStudentof MN5:11PM May 21, 2012
This is absurd! What is the incentive for anyone to go after their degree anymore. What is this country coming to? They are Stifling the Future Generation of this country. Then they will wonder why no one wants to go any further, why BOTHER we'll only end up IN FINANCIAL DISASTER once completed. SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE, what can we do where can we turn, who do we contact?
Disappointed of FL4:53PM May 16, 2012
Interesting. Are they trying to stop us from going to school? This impacts my last two classes in my masters program. Talk about working against my furture.
MISM Graduateof TX5:40PM April 25, 2012
I am a graduate student with loans. This is yet another nail in the coffin for higher education in this country.
"...the change will cause an uptick in long-term costs" is an absurd dismissal of how much this may cost students. Think about it: if you're pursuing a PhD, it may be 5 years or more before you complete your education and have enough income to start paying on your loans. All that time your loans are accruing interest at 6.8%.
If this country wants to be a world leader in research, development, and business, it had better start getting its priorities straight. Right now it looks like the sciences and the poor are under attack, and this does not bode well for the future of the USA.
A Colorado Grad Studentof CO11:55AM April 11, 2012
This is unfair.
Columbia Mishraof TX11:31AM April 11, 2012
Yet another absurd decision. With the current student loan debt having reached crisis proportions, preventing graduates from repaying their loans, taking care of their families, and contributing in meaningful ways to their communities, it should have been obvious that this decision would only worsen the situation. Congress may save $18 billion, but I wonder how much it will have to spend to bail out mortgages, provide health care and heat subsidies, food programs, and many other costs associated with careers that serve the public (teachers, doctors) but do not pay enough to allow graduates to pay back student loans and live.
Reader Comments
Back to article
DISAPPOINTEDGRADSTUDENT of FL 5:25PM June 09, 2012
FrustratedLawStudent of MA 10:40AM June 05, 2012
Perspective Graduate Student of MI 6:52AM May 25, 2012
Truthseeker of MD 6:58PM May 21, 2012
RealisticGradStudent of MN 5:11PM May 21, 2012
Disappointed of FL 4:53PM May 16, 2012
MISM Graduate of TX 5:40PM April 25, 2012
A Colorado Grad Student of CO 11:55AM April 11, 2012
Columbia Mishra of TX 11:31AM April 11, 2012
Jill Rooney, Ph.D. of NH 6:52PM April 10, 2012