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Edtorial: Student loan amnesty makes sense
Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s ideas will help college graduates
Edtorial: Student loan amnesty makes sense
Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s ideas will help college graduates
Opinion: The Register-Herald, Beckley, W.Va.
Student loan amnesty for college graduates who will put in a full decade of work in the public service sector was included by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller in a higher education access act just passed by the full Senate.
Any borrower who spends at least 10 years in such a job — defined as those in government, public emergency management, public safety and law enforcement, public health, education, child care, social work, public interest legal services, including prosecution or public defense, along with school and library-based employment — would have to repay only a portion of his or her loan.
The notion seems like a big win for all involved.
The grads can get out from under their debt more quickly and some of the jobs that often suffer from high turnover — if they aren’t going completely a-begging — will remain filled on a consistent basis, lending stability to those jobs.
Public service jobs usually don’t pay the highest salaries, and that causes an extra burden on those graduates who take the jobs, Rockefeller said.
As an example, Rockefeller used the case of a social worker with one child earning $26,800 in West Virginia and faced with a student loan debt of $16,041. Under the Senate program, the monthly payment would be trimmed from $185 to $78, or a 58 percent reduction.
If Rockefeller’s proposal makes it through a House-Senate conference committee and is signed by President Bush, new graduates can afford to take those jobs.
A second aspect of the bill would help other student loan borrowers by allowing the option of a cap on federal loan payments at no more than 15 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income.
Both of Rockefeller’s ideas will be a godsend to college students.
With tuition and other costs continuing to spiral, many students are priced right out of being able to afford a college education. That means lower overall lifetime earnings.
Oftentimes we think all that comes out of Washington is hot air.
Rockefeller’s ideas on this subject are a welcome breath of fresh air.Student loans
Sen. Jay Rockefeller’s amnesty ideas will help college graduates
