Student Loans: Response to an article in the Daily Targum

Here is the link to the article and here is my response:

Why is it the government and financial institutions that need to take into account the student's post-educational career prospects?

I think that responsibility falls solely on the students applying for the loan. If they want to go to a liberal arts school that costs $40,000 a year to major in underwater basket weaving then they should be allowed to do it, after all I think we are in a free country.

We all know this would be an irresponsible choice for that student and they would probably be told several times to reconsider BUT in the end the decision is up to the student (and/or their parents).

Also, before receiving the loan they have to read several documents issued by the lender about how this loan is a big undertaking and needs to be paid back. After all of these warnings if they still want to proceed, fine. But then problems come to fruition once they realize how much debt they are in and start thinking in real world money terms (as opposed to mystical college money terms where all you need to get food is a swipe of the student ID).

Only then do they finally realize that they will never be able to pay off the loan. This is when they start crying and protesting that they have been cheated by "the system" when in fact there was no cheating going on whatsoever. They had their fair warning and they have to deal with it. It is not the government's responsibility to bail them out.

Unfortunately this government has set up the precedent that if you whine and cry enough then they will bail you out, but this country couldn't afford to bailout the banks and it surely can't afford a student loan bailout. The only solution I know for getting out of debt is hard work and long hours. This method is what I am implementing while I'm still in school (It won't kill you to get a job at Burger King).

And hopefully new students entering college now will wake up and see what these recent grads are going through, so that they don't make the same mistakes.

We don't need more government in our lives telling us what to do. We just need to have common sense... which unfortunately is not so common anymore.