|
|
Article: Funding Student Loans: As Congress ponders reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, debate centers on the pros and cons of consolidation loans. What can be done to prevent depletion of funding for future students?
- Article from:
- Collections & Credit Risk
- Article date:
- November 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 SourceMedia, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The student loan funding dilemma facing Americans resembles one of those exercises from Philosophy 101 about too many people competing for seats on the lifeboat, and how to decide which ones to save.
With the existing federal funds that guarantee student loans, whose interests should prevail? Is the answer: a) Recent graduates, who enjoy the unexpected benefits of locking in historically low rates under 4% to consolidate their outstanding student loans - at the expense of taxpayers, who pick up the tab if and when interest rates climb? b) Ever-larger classes of incoming college students, who want their fair share of a finite-sized student loan pie - one that is ...