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Face-Off: Student-Loan Smackdown

 

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Each year the government gives billions to banks that provide student loans. A newly passed House bill gives that money directly to students. Is this good business?

Kevin Carey Yes. The federal government will spend $87 billion over the next 10 years subsidizing banks to give student loans. All this does is give that money back to students in the form of larger Pell grants. The private market for unsubsidized loans will still exist. Right now the government subsidizes the lenders and guarantees the losses. That's hardly an unrestrained free market.

John Dean No. This bill eliminates competition [for subsidized loans] and adds $1 trillion to Treasury borrowing over 10 years. It underestimates costs. It doesn't consider the risk that loans won't be repaid and eliminates guarantee agencies, which work to avoid defaults. So default rates will likely go up, raising costs and wildly throwing off the cost estimates.

Our Verdict
When the subsidy program began in 1965, most students couldn't get a loan. Now that every 18-year-old has a credit card, it's a needless giveaway. The Senate should take a closer look at cost estimates before sending the bill to the president.

Carey is policy director at Education Sector. Dean is special counsel at the Consumer Bankers Association.

© 2009

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Member Comments

  • Posted By: kimrayclark @ 09/30/2009 10:03:50 AM

    Newsweek's verdict said that "every 18-year-old has a credit card, it's(subsidy) a needless give away. The Credit Card Act that legislation passed requires those under the age of 21 to prove that they are financially independent prior to giving them a credit card. This will make it harder for students going to college right after high school to obtain a credit card. The subisdy program being utilized is at a significant lower interest rate than the current high interest credit card program.

  • Posted By: Alex Hamilton @ 09/28/2009 12:03:45 PM

    Kevin Carey is misinformed when he says that the "government will spend $87 billion over the next 10 years subsidizing banks to give student loans." From that one would get the distinct impression that the government will be writing $87 billion's worth of checks to lenders.

    That's not how it works and Carey would know that it he really understood how student loans work or how the Administration's proposal works.

    The $87 billion in savings is really profit the government would make from lending US Treasury funds that cost it about 2-3 percent and lending it to families at 5.6, 6.8 and 7.8 percent.

  • Posted By: Political Pluralism @ 09/27/2009 11:38:04 PM

    It has only been roughly a year since the sky seemed to be finally falling, due to the economic collapse. If your memory serves you correctly, one of the culprits were the subprime loans that many banks were handing out like Halloween candy. This problem didn't arise in 2008, it dates back as early as the turn of the twenty first century. A coalition of Chicago community groups presented allegations of mortgage loan abuse, to the Federal Reserve and other regulators of the banking industry. The coalition presented research showing companies like Wells Fargo and Citigroup were creating loans at extremely high interests rates in poverty stricken communities. The Federal Reserve, which is responsible in keeping interest rates low and the economy steady, were blatantly neglecting their job. This is just a portion of the problems that continue to plaque this country. Job positions steadily being passed down from one another in a group or family, and we are not seeing any significant change. Maybe some requirements should be in place to prevent this hierarchy of narrow minded individuals. Government positions should have to circulate through a larger pool of people. This would prevent branches of government to become stagnate and corrupt. Fed. Chairman Bernanke has stated previously that they were responding more rapidly to complaints in recent years, Well Mr. Bernanke it does not seem that you responded at all. He stressed to Congress that they should increase the Federal Reserve powers. If that isn't scary I don't know what is, I wouldn't let half of Congress be in charge of a local McDonald???s franchise let alone oversee 300,000,000 million plus people. (politicalpluralism.com)

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