Obama Expands Student Loan Relief
At least 25 million former students who struggle to pay a monthly student loan debt might appreciate a new bill signed by President Obama today. The memorandum is intended to put repayment caps on the loans of almost 5 million student loan borrowers who have amassed over $1 trillion in student loan debts.
According to the article posted on ABC News’ website, 71 of today’s college graduated average $29,400 each in debt by the time they graduate with their bachelor’s degree. However, the intended cap program only applies to those borrowers who took out student loans after October of 2007 and continued to borrow through October of 2011. As it turns out, some students with a remaining outstanding balance in 20 years will find their debts completely forgiven.
President Obama states, “At a time when higher education’s never been more important, it’s also never been more expensive…Over the last three decades, the average tuition at a public university has more than tripled, at the same time that the typical family’s income has gone up just 16%”.
House Speaker John Boehner is less than optimistic about how this new measure will help students seeking higher education. He argues that a new loophole will do nothing toward actually reducing the cost of a college education to begin with or in assisting millions of graduates in finding employment “in the Obama economy”.
In addition toward a push in student loan repayment rules, Senate Democrats are looking to push a legislation that would allow 25 million students to refinance their student loans and much lower rates.