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[UPDATE] Ron Paul Wants To Eliminate Federal Student Loan Programs
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 24, 2011
Modified Oct 25, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Oct 24, 2011
Modified Oct 25, 2011
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[UPDATE BELOW] Student loans will account for more than $1 trillion worth of debt this year, amazingly set to surpass credit card debt. But there is a presidential candidate who is brave enough to free you from all this debt by never allowing you to get federal assistance to go to school in the first place: Dr. Ron Paul. "Just think of all this willingness to want to help every student get a college education," Paul said on NBC's Meet the Press.
Paul blames the federal government for rising tuition prices. "I went to school when we had none of those. I could work my way through college and medical school because it wasn't so expensive," he says. While it's true that the federal government gives out college loans with little accountability for the schools receiving them, there are myriad reasons why college costs are rising.
In 2009 the Obama administration tweaked the student loan program to allow low-income students to utilized income-based payments that forgives federal debt for school over 25 years at 15% of their yearly income, and 10 years if they work in public service. Under President Paul many of those "public service" jobs would be a thing of the past as well. Then again, depriving Americans of a college education may make for more Ron Paul supporters...
[UPDATE] A reader points out that Ron Paul has addressed the comments he made on Meet the Press on Sunday. While he essentially called federal student loan initiatives a "failed program," Dr. Paul wants us all to know that he wouldn't eliminate student loans, but "fix" them.
There are many headlines out there now stemming from his Meet the Press interview yesterday claiming that Ron Paul wants to end student loans. Well no, in fact, though he abolishes the Department of Education along with four other federal departments, the student loan part is taken out and handled elsewhere...
But the costs must be addressed—and not simply what the government spends, but the massive debt incurred by those in this country who just want a college education. To be sure, the countless Americans who are now slaves to education-related debt can tell you there are substantial problems with our current system.
Ron Paul simply wants to fix them.
Real Liberty means Freedom from explanations. He said he'd fix it people, isn't that enough?
Tagged
2012
college
election
Libertarians
obama
ron paul
student loans
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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