#studentsloans — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/

This British campaign for a reform of the student loan system is not asking for full loan forgiveness, on the sensible grounds that the UK's current fiscal constraints make this a non-starter.

These fiscal constraints are not, of course, the only obstacles to full loan forgiveness. Most obvious of these is the financing of UK universities, which depend in large part on undergraduate fees. In addition, the politics of loan forgiveness are challenging, to put it mildly; how easy would it be convince those without student loans, those paying large sums for child care, or adults faced with the financial challenge of caring for elderly parents that public money should be spent on a wiping out the debts that students assumed?

I recognize all these problems, but I still find myself thinking that excellent though the policy of widening access to higher education certainly has been, financing that policy in part through the introduction of students loans was a mistake. In addition to the debt burden the loan system imposes on so many, the commodification of undergraduate education wrought by the system has harmed students, universities, and UK society as a whole.

I wish we could think of a politically and financially feasible way of undoing this system altogether.

#UKHigherEducation #StudentsLoans #HigherEducation #Universities

https://www.rethinkrepayment.com/

This British campaign for a reform of the student loan system is not asking for full loan forgiveness, on the sensible grounds that the UK's current fiscal constraints make this a non-starter.

These fiscal constraints are not, of course, the only obstacles to full loan forgiveness. Most obvious of these is the financing of UK universities, which depend in large part on undergraduate fees. In addition, the politics of loan forgiveness are challenging, to put it mildly; how easy would it be convince those without student loans, those paying large sums for child care, or adults faced with the financial challenge of caring for elderly parents that public money should be spent on a wiping out the debts that students assumed?

I recognize all these problems, but I still find myself thinking that excellent though the policy of widening access to higher education certainly has been, financing that policy in part through the introduction of students loans was a mistake. In addition to the debt burden the loan system imposes on so many, the commodification of undergraduate education wrought by the system has harmed students, universities, and UK society as a whole.

I wish we could think of a politically and financially feasible way of undoing this system altogether.

#UKHigherEducation #StudentsLoans #HigherEducation #Universities