Student loan debt is a symptom, not a disease

This enlightening post from Common Sense Student Loans argues that the student loan debate going on in Congress right now is preventing us from dealing with the root “disease” of skyrocketing college costs. Student loan debt, author Craig Anderson argues, is a symptom of this much larger issue, and current government proposals are merely Band-Aids that do not solve the real problem.

According to Anderson, government officials aren’t doing enough to prevent college costs from increasing year after year. Instead, especially lately, the government is focusing on preventing the Federal Stafford interest loan rate from doubling from 3.4% to 6.8%, even though this would only apply to loans taken out after July 1 and would only save the borrower $1,000 over the life of the loan.

Meanwhile, college tuitions are rising by hundreds or thousands of dollars each year. This is a great point that hasn’t been made enough as our government has been fighting over this issue. Writes Anderson:

As the President and Congress spend all their time focused on interest rates and repayment plans, the cause of all this debt continues to grow with impunity. This continued focus is dealing with the symptoms of student indebtedness and not the disease.

While it’s important to keep student loan interest rates low, we completely agree that college costs need to be controlled to help solve the student debt crisis in the long run. The chart below illustrates exactly why it’s so imperative that we stop this trend from continuing.

Unfortunately, reducing interest rates for new federal student loans will do nothing to help borrowers currently in debt–and neither will lowering college costs. Reform is also necessary to help out those who are already struggling to repay their loans. Until then, borrowers must do their best with the repayment options available to them.

As always, if you need some extra guidance, feel free to reach out to us directly. We respect every borrower’s unique situation, and we may be able to help guide you along the right path to repayment.