General Discussion

I was in college when it wasn't an immense burden to my parents, relative to their income ($6,000 a semester or so). By the time my daughters went to college in the USA, it has gone up to $50,000 a year for the younger one and about half that for the older one. The younger one went on to Law School, but got a break, as she was given a "diversity grant" as a "foreigner." She enrolled as a German. Her tuition was still about $32,000 a year. On top of that came air fare to the USA, room and board, books, etc.

Now, I was lucky enough to inherit (after taxes) some money from my parents, and after taxes and dividing it up evenly with my siblings, I had almost exactly enough to cover the education costs for my two daughters, both of whom wanted to study in the USA. I saved every cent in anticipation, and was able to swing it, and four years of GW in Washington, DC is a chunk of change, let me tell you, let alone two years of boarding school in Hawaii prior, and three years of law school after undergrad.

But how many families are able to do THAT? Maybe one in a hundred? Less? So there have to be a LOT of people out there who are paying off huge loans. To forgive what is now owed--OK, that part is easy enough. But what does that mean for those who have already sacrificed and dampened down their lives' expectations in order to pay off their loans? Do they ask for a refund? Are they out of luck? "Sorry sucker, you paid it off ten years too soon?"

The mechanics are easy enough, but the moral implications involving those who have already compromised their lives to pay off their loans seem a lot more complicated to tackle. i wouldn't want to enter that debate.