The Patriot Post® · Student Loan Payback

Nobody likes paying back student loans, especially given that it often take years to repay them. But NPR reports on the latest band of aggrieved “activists” who are refusing to pay back their loans: “Representatives of the ‘Corinthian 100’ met with officials from the Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Rohit Chopra, the CFPB’s student loan ombudsman, said in a letter to the strikers that the CFPB would like to ‘discuss further’ potential ‘ways to address the burden of their student loans.’” At issue is that these folks (“activists” isn’t exactly the word that comes to mind for us) earned or worked toward their degrees at Corinthian Colleges, a for-profit chain that went out of business last year, and jobs for graduates are hard to come by. (Welcome to Obama’s America.) NPR adds, “[I]n February, the CFPB and the Department of Education announced the forgiveness of $480 million in private student loans held by former Corinthian students.” The “activists” have federal loans. To be sure, there are definitely some lousy for-profits. But many for-profit vocational schools are providing a valuable and worthwhile education, especially in the skilled trades where there’s market demand. That said, much of higher education is a racket – a three-headed cabal consisting of the spendthrift schools, the heavy-handed Department of Education and the restrictive accrediting bodies that determine what schools are eligible for federal aid. Higher ed’s cost trajectory has outstripped even health care with no relief in sight. Meanwhile, how many of these “activists” do you think voted for Mitt Romney?