

My Soapbox Advice to the OWS Movement and then some - jcslzr
http://blogmaverick.com/2011/10/14/my-soapbox-advice-to-the-ows-movement-and-then-some/
FTA: "Crazy ? Maybe, maybe not.  What happened to the price of homes when the mortgage loan bubble popped ? They plummeted. If the size of student loans are capped at a low level, you know what will happen to the price of going to a college or  university ? It will plummet.  Colleges and universities will have to completely rethink what they are, what purpose they serve and who their customers will be. Will some go out of business ? Absolutely. That is real world. Will the quality of education suffer ? Given that TAs will still work for cheap, I doubt it.<p>Now some might argue that limiting student loans will limit the ability of lower income students to go to better schools. I say nonsense on two fronts. The only thing that allowing students to graduate with 50k , 80k or even more debt  does is assure they will stay low income for a long, long time after they graduate ! The 2nd improvement will be that smart students will find the schools that adapt to the new rules and offer the best education they can afford. Just as they do now, but without loading up on debt.<p>The beauty of capitalism is that people like me will figure out new and better ways to create and operate for profit universities that educate as well or better as today’s state institutions, AND I have no doubt that the state colleges and universities will figure out how to adapt to the new world of limited student loans as well.<p>Finally, the impact on the overall economy will be ENORMOUS. There is more student loan debt than credit card debt outstanding today. By relieving this burden at graduation, students will be able to participate in the economy"<p>http://blogmaverick.com/2011/10/14/my-soapbox-advice-to-the-ows-movement-and-then-some/
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rick888
If this happened, we would have many people claiming that many universities
were discriminating against the poor, because their loans wouldn't cover
tuition.

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coreyo
I'm still amazed by how many students go to schools out of state to get the
same quality of education that they can get in state for often a quarter of
the cost or less.

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djloche
The solution is not to limit student debt, but to remove restrictions of
discharging the debt via bankruptcy.

If the lenders had skin in the game, they wouldn't be lending tens or hundreds
of thousands of dollars to those who cannot pay.

Bankruptcy is the proper solution. It punishes on both poor decision makers
(the lender loses the loan, and the borrower's access to credit at reasonable
rates is cut off).

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michaelpinto
He's on to a core truth: The schools will charge as much as they can as long
as someone is willing to lend the money -- and then a few years later the
student is left holding the bag. By the way many folks look at the crisis in
healthcare as a run away problem, but higher ed costs should also be a concern
since it very much impacts us in the long term.

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jcslzr
Education costs should be half of what it used to be before the internet.

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genieyclo
Politics does not belong on Hacker News. Please stop submitting these types of
links.

