The Student Loan Debacle

Is there a conspiracy to derail higher education in the United States? It seems like it. Why are student loan rates at 6.8 percent, doubling from 3.4 percent? I make it a policy not to comment on anything political, but this is insane. Society as a whole moves forward on the wheels of education. With student loan rates at 6.8 percent, for many these wheels are coming to a grinding halt and rusting.

The U.S. education system is ranked, from what I’ve read, 17th in a study of 50 countries. Finland and South Korea are number one and two. Will doubling the student loan rate elevate our ranking? Hardly. Forty percent of adults in the United States are either at or below basic reading proficiency and comprehension. In metro Detroit where I live the functional illiteracy rate is 47 percent. That’s almost half the population. With a 6.8 percent student loan rate, where will new teachers come from?

Students preparing to go to college will indeed be forced to re-evaluate their higher education dreams and goals, and we will be worse off for it.

Congress: fix this debacle. Now.