Editor COMMENTS

Those students and their parents looking into educational plans for the future may find financing college a not-so-easy task. In the face of increasing defaults on educational loans by college graduates, Jimmy Carter plans to ask Congress to abolish all direct Federal loans to college students. Colleges, banks, and other loaning agencies are also being foreced to abolish or cut down on student loans.

In 1958 the Federal government set up the National Defense Education Act which has since helped nearly 15 million students get a college education. Most students repay their loans after graduation, but nearly ten per cent are defaulting (this compares to less than one per cent for ordinary commercial and consumer loans). According to recent figures, the U.S. Government has loaned or guaranteed more than $13 billion to students, but nearly $747 million remains unpaid. It is speculated that there will be a rise to over $1 billion next year.

Reflecting the plight of many post-graduates, a certain student recently received a Ph.D. in history financed by a Federal loan. Upon entering the job market, he found his degree virtually worthless, and he is now a salesman. Furious when his first quarterly bill arrived, he said, "There was by university telling me to start paying $240 a year. For what? To pay off a degree they gave me so I could sell refrigerators?"

A problem that arises is credit. When a student defaults on his loan, there is nothing tangible to repossess. Taking the case to court only wastes more money when a jail term is all that can be expected in the way of reimbursement. In an attempt to stem the flow of defaulters, many colleges are being forced to prosecute despite the economic barriers.

The government is now taking steps of their own: a new law will go into effect this fall which prohibits students from declaring bankruptcy until five years after graduation.

Many students are blaming their colleges for the defaults, claiming the colleges are not preparing them adequately for the job market they are training for. Federal authorities put the blame on many school officials who tempt prospective students with wealth and success through education then force them to sign legal forms the students do not totally understand.

For many students, it looks as if the only feasible means of supporting a college education will be to work their way through college, unless they are fortunate enough to receive financil aid in the form of a scholarship or from parents.

--Rick Hines