Generation Debt

We slide into early spring with news about pending bills in Congress, debt loads in general, and even some (sort of) juicy investigations (as juicy as investigationsregarding student loans can be, at any rate).

-Congress has been hard at work targeting the student loan industry for reform, but will it help those of us who've been out of school for awhile and are dealing with usurious interest rates? The College Student Relief Act looks like it helps undergrads only. Or how about the Married Student Debt Relief Act? It "would double the student loan interest tax deduction to $5,000 for married couples who file a joint tax return when both spouses hold student debt." (No help for me, there, I'm afraid, since I'm single and "make too much money" to deduct student loan interest on my taxes - a "fact" which makes April quite cruel, to me.) Folks in Iowa might be getting some student loan help soon, though, with the introduction of a bill that would give employers a tax break for helping employees with student loans.

-A helpful reminder from the Scripps Debt Advisor: student loans are loans you can only get rid of by paying them or dying. No discharge in bankruptcy, and no real help if you're disabled. For more on how debt sticks with the borrower for a looooong time, check out articles from Red and Black, the Daily Texan, the Cornell Sun, the Shield, the Chicago Tribune, and the Toledo Blade. Bob Herbert has weighed in on student debt recently, as well. Note also that Georgetown Law recently held a roundtable discussion on student debt, and you can check out a webcast of that discussion. And here's a little advice on trying to get lower interest rates for private loans.

-You might have heard that New York is investigating banks and universities for getting too cozy over student loans. You might also have heard that the cases settled. So much for a nice, loud soapbox on the industry.

-Poor Sallie Mae, the embattled underdog (that'd be sarcasm) of the student loan world. Al Lord must be crying into his $18.3 billion stock sale profit over his troubles. More on the student loan lobby (and Sallie Mae) here and here.

-Here's a random opinion column link that we thought you might want to weigh in on from the Yorktown Patriot: "higher education gives little return to society for the enormous resources it sops up." Thoughts?

-For your reading pleasure: Make Love, Not Debt, the blog of a couple trying to work out their debt issues.

National Student Loan Debt Clock: $467 billion - when it rains, it pours.