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Comment by toodlebunions | Hacker News Reader

Student loans are an impending financial disaster. Over a trillion in loans outstanding not, most of which have provided no benefit and serve little more than as the modern equivalent to a high school diploma. The debt burden follows students through life and impedes home ownership, children, and other middle class consumptive activities, and as a result the demand driven economy muddles along.

What is the solution? Forgive all loans after paying 10% of salary for 10 years? I don't know, but something needs to change.

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Imagine if we did something like that for home loans what would happen?

In reality, a student loan amount should not be given more than some percent of 10 year salary estimate for that enrolled major. That obviously means some professions like teachers or social workers may have difficulty in affording an education. In those cases they should be supported through grants.

Atleast we need some feedback loop to keep education costs under control otherwise schools will keep raising the costs.

Yes this. Why can a history major and a programmer take out the same dollars in loans? Obviously the market isn't self regulating...

> What is the solution? Forgive all loans after paying 10% of salary for 10 years? I don't know, but something needs to change.

No that would just inflate the education bubble even more. You need to figure out how to reduce the demand for all this useless higher education.

Limit the maximum percentage of a person's salary that can go to "loan" repayment, and put the school on the hook for anything over that amount - they have to repay the bank or government. The problem to me is that the schools, who decide who gets in, have very little on the line if they make a bad decision.

I think the percentage should be fairly high - say, 33% - but only on the amount of money a person makes above what an average high school graduate makes.

So, trade schools? Reintroducing shop class and welding into high schools? An optional 2 year program similar to national guard, but for domestic efforts?

I'm in favor of affordable higher education for those who want it, either way.

Any and all of those options sounds like a good idea

It's gotta be some sort of unbundling of education from certification. I've no idea how this might happen though. The technical challenge is difficult enough on its own, but there are also enormous cultural forces that must be overcome as well.

I am not optimistic.

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