CNC Student Rep Says Scrap The Interest On Student Loans
Saturday, February 4, 2012 @ 4:24 AM
Prince George, B.C. – The chairperson of the CNC Students Union would like to see an equitable student loans program in Canada.
Post-secondary students across the country took part in a National Day of Action this week to protest high tuition fees and cumbersome student debt. CNC Student rep Leila Abubakar says one of the greatest imbalances for those going to B.C. universities and colleges is the ridiculous amount of interest they have to pay on student loans. She says places like Newfoundland and Labrador have a no-interest student loan program in which all you pay back is the amount of the loan. She says here in B.C. interest is tacked on so you’re paying back much more than you received for your education. She says that forces people to compromise their education. Instead of being a student full-time they go to work full-time and try to squeeze in education, “and that leads to low grades and students taking courses two or three times because they’re not putting in as much time as they should be.”
Abubakar says if more loans are available that do not have interest, or if needs-based grants are available, it would go a long way toward helping students. Aubakar says the issue needs to be addressed by both the provincial and federal governments.
Comments
And if we did that, then just where is the incentive for the student to EVER repay the loan?
There is none.
They can let it ride forever, and still owe as much as they borrowed when they’re old, and even cold in the grave.
Not only that, but without an interest charge on them, those students who wait the longest to repay their loans gain an unfair advantage over those who repay quickly in that the dollars they are repaying in have diminished in purchasing power through ongoing inflation.
What percentage of these loans are repaid now, even with interest on them? Seems to me I recall reading somewhere the default rate was substantial. I doubt very much the reasons for that have much to do with interest. Likely either those who’ve borrowed are looking for a free ride as they make a career out of being permanent ‘students’, or possibly far more likely, the education they got didn’t turn out to be the ticket to economic success it was made out to be.
If students ARE truly serious about reducing the costs they’re paying for their education this way, they should get busy and study a bit about how the whole ‘money system’ REALLY works right now, and how it could be made to work better. Not through eliminating interest on their, or any other, loans the way they’re currently proposing, but in ways which would negate most of the reasons why interest charges are currently always more than they should be on ALL loans.
I’d like an interest free mortgage. How many supporters can I get to picket my bank? The more signs the more the bank can be intimidated. The real world? Just outside the door of those ivory towers, kiddies.
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