Elizabeth Warren: Student Loans Should Have Same Rate Big Banks Get

[FORD]

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) unveiled her first bill Wednesday, designed to set student loan interest rates at the same level the Federal Reserve offers to big banks.

With some student loan rates set to double on July 1 -- from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent -- Warren's bill would reduce student loan interest rates to 0.75 percent, opening the Fed's discount window to students.

"Every single day, this country invests in big banks by lending them money at near-zero rates," Warren told The Huffington Post. "We should make the same kind of investment lending money to students, who are trying to get an education."

The freshman senator said she plans to mobilize students -- those most affected by student loans -- to help get the bill through the Senate. "This is about their lives and if they are active in this fight, we can make this change," Warren said.

The Fed justifies loaning money essentially for free to major banks so they can maintain liquidity during emergencies. But Warren noted that student loan debt also affects the economy. Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reported by Washington Post's Wonkblog, found that the amount of student loan debt of Americans under the age of 25 has doubled in less than a decade, from $10,649 in 2003 to $20,326 in 2012. Along with this increase in student debt comes a decrease in the likelihood someone will take out an auto loan or a home mortgage. That burden is a drag on the economy.

Warren pointed to the GI Bill and National Defense Education Act loans, which funded her education. "It wasn't just soldiers that got the education, it was the whole economy that benefitted from that investment," Warren said. "Why not give students a break? Why not let them in on the same great deal that the big banks get?"

According to the Project on Student Debt, college students who graduated in 2011 owed more than $26,000 in student loans, which Warren said is, "crushing our young."

Warren ran for Senate promising to fight against an economic system she described as "rigged" in favor of big business. She said her legislation is intended to raise questions about why banks get a dramatically subsidized loan rate and what can be done to reduce debt burdens for students and consumers. The simple answer -- that the Fed could subsidize students instead of banks -- is an uncomfortable one and goes to a core inequality at the heart of the financial system.

Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the Campaign for America’s Future, a progressive public policy think tank, in endorsing Warren's bill, said in a press release that "Instead of kicking students when they are down, we should end the student debt crisis."

[FORD]

I would throw out the obligatory "Warren 2016" chant here, but actually I think she needs to stay right where she is, and keep doing exactly what she's doing.

And we need to elect 50 more just like her. And then 50 just like Bernie Sanders.

[ELVIS]

What a joke...

[binnie]

Actually sounds like a good idea to me.

Is the $26,000 accurate (and is that the total for a degree or per year)? If so, the average student loan in the UK will be higher than in the US (although I imagine in the US it really depends which university you attend......)

[Angel]

Actually sounds like a good idea to me.

Is the $26,000 accurate (and is that the total for a degree or per year)? If so, the average student loan in the UK will be higher than in the US (although I imagine in the US it really depends which university you attend......)

Here we pay a .75 over prime lending rate, which isn't bad.

Binnie, we're a lot higher in Canada too. I'll be graduating in Dec 2014 with a $52,000 debt load.

[ashstralia]

here's how it works in oz, if anyone's interested...

http://studyassist.gov.au/sites/studyassist/helppayingmyfees/hecs-help

[binnie]

Here we pay a .75 over prime lending rate, which isn't bad.

Binnie, we're a lot higher in Canada too. I'll be graduating in Dec 2014 with a $52,000 debt load.

Still lower than the UK (the fees changed recently).

After a three year degree, many students will have somewhere in the region of £43-60K ($75-100,000). That loan is both tuition fees and living costs. It is paid back at a very low interest rate (in the spectrum of interest rates) but still, it is a ridiculous way to run a society.....

[sadaist]

Student Loans Should Have Same Rate Big Banks Get



100% fully agree with this concept. Should pass through congress votes unanimously. More curious to see the dissenters and what their excuse/argument would be to support their position.

[ELVIS]

Dissenters ??

You mean non-sheep ??

Guaranteed student loans from the federal government are what encourage colleges to raise tuition costs, causing young people to go into massive debt...

Colleges and universities are immune from normal free market pricing due to student loans that are strapping young graduates with a home mortgage without having a home...

Everyone always wants the easy way out...


:elvis:

[Angel]

My tuition is being hiked another 4.4%. I get the maximum from student finance every term. They pay tuition and fees, plus I get start up money every new term, and monthly deposits for living expenses. I am at the maximum loan amount. 3 years ago, my monthly deposit was almost $1,000. Now it's just over $700. With tuition going up again, it means my monthly deposit is going to go down....again. This means I have to work more hours, while in my 4th year, which of course requires more studying and homework. I can only hope that I have it paid off before it's time to retire...

[ELVIS]

Exactly...

[FORD]

Exactly...

Exactly WHAT??

You DO realize she just proved you wrong, right?

Read her post again.... it's a textbook (pardon the pun, since this is about education expenses) case for why student loan costs are too damn high, and reducing the interest would certainly be a great first step.

[VAiN]

Part of the solution is lowering tuition costs.. There's no reason for them to be so insanely high. Good luck getting out of college with 40k-100k of debt right off the bat. With that said, anything that can help - keeping rates low - should be done.

[Guitar Shark]

Part of the solution is lowering tuition costs.. There's no reason for them to be so insanely high.

Well, except for the fact that federal and state education funding has been sharply reduced over the years, right?

It's all a matter of priorities. Spend money on wars and defense, not much left for education.

[VAiN]

Well, except for the fact that federal and state education funding has been sharply reduced over the years, right?

It's all a matter of priorities. Spend money on wars and defense, not much left for education.

I'm sure that has something to do with it, no doubt. Tuition seems extremely high regardless. At about 20k a head the schools are making a shit-ton of money..

[ELVIS]

You'd think we'd have brilliant minds transforming America spending that kind of money...

But no...

Colleges have turned into Liberal propaganda brainwashing machines...

[Nickdfresh]

Well, except for the fact that federal and state education funding has been sharply reduced over the years, right?

It's all a matter of priorities. Spend money on wars and defense, not much left for education.


Funny, but while I could be wrong, the funding of federal and state prisons keeps rising or are at levels that are insane. You can educate kids in a classroom or at the university of the state pen...

[Nickdfresh]

You'd think we'd have brilliant minds transforming America spending that kind of money...

But no...

Colleges have turned into Liberal propaganda brainwashing machines...

No. Not really. They've actually turning into a massive fucking sports league and entertainment industry...

[binnie]

I'm sure that has something to do with it, no doubt. Tuition seems extremely high regardless. At about 20k a head the schools are making a shit-ton of money..

Indeed. Wouldn't it make more sense for universities to be not-for-profit organisations?

But the more state funding withdraws, the more profit incentives will creep in.

[Angel]

Exactly WHAT??

You DO realize she just proved you wrong, right?

Read her post again.... it's a textbook (pardon the pun, since this is about education expenses) case for why student loan costs are too damn high, and reducing the interest would certainly be a great first step.

Actually...it's about tuition fees going up because federal and provincial funding has been reduced. Our cuntservative governments are no more than corporate and oil industry junkies.

[ELVIS]

LMAO !!

Get your head out of Dr. Creepy's ass, FORD...


:biggrin:

[Satan]

Actually...it's about tuition fees going up because federal and provincial funding has been reduced. Our cuntservative governments are no more than corporate and oil industry junkies.

That's pretty much what happened in the states .... beginning with BCE/Reagan. http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d085.gif

[ELVIS]

Stop blaming the so called right...

There is no right or left in corrupt Washington DC...

The right/left game is used to keep cheerleaders like your buddy FORD occupied...;)

[Satan]

Then who is trying to privatize everything and put the entire planet under the rule of corporations?

[ELVIS]

Everyone in and around the current administration and especially those involved with previous administrations as well as the majority of Senators and congressmen...

Then you have the huge corporations and their board members and bankers (who are often the same people) and the big banks themselves...

Then together they control the military industrial complex and the countless government contractors that feed off the corruption...

Fuck 'em all I say...


:elvis:

[ELVIS]

And the contractors are the ones used as patsies when they want to send a message by staging a "terrorist attack."

[Jesus Christ]

Those in the financial industries had better read up on what My Dad had to say about usury in the Scriptures.

Technically it was not mentioned in the 10 Commandments (aside from falling under the general heading of "Thou Shalt Not Steal"), but it was mentioned far more often than anything that was on that list.

Verily I say unto you that there are no branches of Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, or Bank of America in the Kingdom of Heaven, nor shall there ever be.

Now, on the other hand, Trinity Credit Union.... I highly recommend that one. :jesuslol:

[Angel]

That's pretty much what happened in the states .... beginning with BCE/Reagan. http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/teufel/d085.gif

Yeah, well we have your other son...Little Stevie Harper...

[FORD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoQ0jRVMa5I#at=159