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Comment by klipt | Hacker News Reader

> The government will be left with a greater share of borrowers like Jennifer Rejon. A 29-year-old single mother of a 10-year-old daughter, she has $17,000 in federal loans. They helped pay for a medical-assistant degree from Corinthian Colleges Inc., a for-profit chain of schools that filed for bankruptcy in May. The U.S. Education Department this week said it may forgive hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to Corinthian students.

Sounds like those students got scammed.

> Rejon wouldn’t qualify for refinancing from private lenders because they screen borrowers based on creditworthiness and university quality. The government writes loans for any student who enrolls in an institution eligible for federal aid.

Here's an idea, why not require stronger certification?

Seems like the article writer is blaming Jennifer for her inability to pay loans, instead of blaming the for-profit institution that fleeced her. Seriously?

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Or how about blaming the government for just approving everyone?

Who else would give an 18yo with no assets, minimal skill, and no credit history an unsecured loan for 20k, 50k, or even 100k?

Does it really count as unsecured if it can't be discharged in bankruptcy?

Unsecured means there is no asset, such as a house, bank account backing up the loan. Unsecured does not mean forgivable.

It's assumed that providing access to education would help fix the "minimal skills", and thus provide for a safe way to pay back the debt.

Unfortunately the assumption falls short, and often the education/accreditation provided is nearly worthless in the current "job market".

Indeed. Really if people insist on financialising education it should be seen as an equity investment rather than a loan.

I thinking your loading the article with subtext that it doesn't have. I don't see any language in there indicating that they think the fault lies with her; hell they even describe her situation sympathetically. They're just describing that she's not likely to be able to pay her loans and that the inventory of loans is shifting more towards people with similar risk profiles.

"Sounds like those students got scammed."

So a business declares bankruptcy and you immediately say "scam". There isn't any way to determine this from the story.

"Seems like the article writer is blaming Jennifer for her inability to pay loans, instead of blaming the for-profit institution that fleeced her. Seriously?"

You can't take the blame completely away from people like Jennifer though. When I went through college, I picked a major that I knew would allow me to pay it back when I graduated..and I did. It took ~8 years, but I'm not debt free.

I knew so many people that assumed that as long as they had a degree, they would get a job. They were mistaken when the got out of college, did absolutely none of the work required to get a good job (internships, etc), and couldn't find a job.

It's the same with a house. If you don't do your research and don't want to lose money on a house when you sell it, do your research.

If anything, it shows us that we need more financial education in the US.

IIRC, Corinthian College students will get debt forgiveness.

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