The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Student Loan—Indentured for 20 Years

Apr 12, 2010

Barack Obama lauded the education bill he signed into law last month, saying, “To make it sure our students don’t go broke just because they chose to go to college, we’re making it easier for graduates to afford their student loan payments.”

Easier for students to go to college? Absurd! The bill does absolutely nothing to control the cost of college tuition, which is skyrocketing. All the bill does is cap student loan payments. But that cap means that you could still end up paying more than $100,000–dragged out over 20 years after graduation.

The cost of going to college today, including tuition, room and board, and fees is nine times as high as it was in 1980 and still going up. That increase is twice as high as the inflation in medical care costs, which itself is twice the overall rate of inflation.

The children of the working class are being priced out of going to college. Stretching out loan repayments for 20 years, leaving a person practically indentured for life, doesn’t change that fact one bit.