11 Apr Risting Tuition and Student Loans In America
I have recently seen articles by the Associated Press and the Washington Post writing about student loan debt. In my practice I have also seen many student loan borrowers who are unable to pay back their student loan debt, and then file bankruptcy with our office to escape their other unsecured debt. The problem is that the bankruptcy does not provide any relief in regards to their student loan obligation. In many cases my clients have more student loan debt than car loans and credit card debt combined.
At this point I can only help with the unsecured debt and provide advice on how to reduce the cost of their secured debts including cars and homes, but I would like to be able to help with the student loan debt as well. In many cases my clients would benefit from some reduction in their student loan debt after a bankruptcy. In order for this type of reduction to occur it will take an act of Congress and the President. One of the main problems with student loan debt is that it allows schools to simply increase their tuition and force students to take out ever increasing student loans. The cost of an education is increasing at a faster rate than inflation, which is a scary prospect if you have young children that you want to attend college. The schools in this country need to figure out a way to control the rising cost of education, otherwise education will only be available to the rich, and that will not help America in the long run. If we can control the cost of tuition, it would reduce the need for student loans.
On a side note it is interesting that Minnesota students can attend the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, and other Canadian universities and pay very reasonable tuition rates. At present Minnesota has a tuition reciprocity agreement with Manitoba, and Manitoba provides more reasonable tuition than most Minnesota public universities. It seems like a viable option for students looking to save some money on tuition.
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