24 Percent of Millennials Expect Student Debt Forgiveness

A study released Nov. 12 by Junior Achievement and PwC US finds that 24 percent of millennials expect their student loans will ultimately be forgiven. The average amount of cumulative student debt for undergraduates in the class of 2012 was $26,885, according to a recent Pew Research report. The average debt for 2013 graduates is expected to be even higher. "It's a scary statistic," says Jack Kosakowski, president of Junior Achievement, which co-sponsored the Ypulse survey. But the optimism might not be too far off base, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency estimates that 25 percent of the U.S. workforce is employed by a public service employer, and "many may be eligible for existing student loan repayment benefits, including Public Service Loan Forgiveness," according to the CFPB website. In June, President Obama issued an executive action to expand eligibility years for the student loan forgiveness program, which eliminates a portion of the debt for graduates who work full-time in qualifying public sector or nonprofit jobs.

From "24 Percent of Millennials Expect Student Debt Forgiveness"
CNBC.com (11/12/14) Langfield, Amy

How do we continue to pay for the one out of four of us that work in a job that doesn't produce anything? Eventually we all go broke.

it's kind of a misleading stat since the survey didn't ask why the students thought their loan would be forgiven. IF they suspect more jobs will start paying back their loans as part of their compensation, then that's actually kind of reasonable.

This is the problem with my generation. Everyone expects everything handed to them on a silver platter.

Well but the optimistic side of that is that we dont "produce" material things because those things can be made cheaper and more efficiently elsewhere or through machines. It's good for our actual needs to be cheap and easily available.

Now, this might not be the best thing for the country RELATIVE to other countries. Because with advancements in technology, it's easier to get jobs to places where someone will perform it for the cheapest. And since we're at the top, we're not as desperate or willing to work for as little as other places. And for a lot of heavy labor "producing" jobs there isn't really an inherent advantage we have that make it more appealing for the job to stay in the US.

But i'm optimistic that the overall effect will end up with EVERYONES standard of living improving--just some at a faster rate than others.

What fascinates me is seeing how the automation of jobs goes in the future. It seems scary at first: if machines can do every job, everyone is unemployed. But the other side is that if machines can produce everything, they're gonna be really cheap. AND because humanity as a whole has this extra free time, we can allocate it to progressing further in other ways -- like the rocket we just sent to a comet.

Sorry StupMan, I'm not buying that thought process.

My thoughts are that due to the debt forgiveness to mortgage borrowers who were underwater and businesses who got bailouts from the govt, many student loan borrowers are thinking they'll be afforded the same treatment. Should be interesting to see how it all folds out in the next few years.

yeah, that's a decent point. moral hazard and all that.

One major thing i think we should reform about student loans is giving them to these internet for-profit colleges that really are just set up to get the loan money and dont provide much useful education.

the whole thing kind of makes me re-think my view on school vouchers for kids.

My son has student loan debt and is a teacher. If he is with his school for two more years (after his current year - a total of five) up to $17,000 of his debt will be forgiven.

"What fascinates me is seeing how the automation of jobs goes in the future. It seems scary at first: if machines can do every job, everyone is unemployed. But the other side is that if machines can produce everything, they're gonna be really cheap. AND because humanity as a whole has this extra free time, we can allocate it to progressing further in other ways -- like the rocket we just sent to a comet."

This does nothing more than limit the available jobs. Today you are a banker tomorrow you are a rocket scientist (or other tech position) and will be hired because?

in Louisiana, if you go to work for the state government, after 10 years your debt is forgiven (not sure if it extends to teachers, local city or parish govt, etc)...and you make no payments during that 10 years. leave before 10 years, and all the interest that was accumulating is tacked on as well...

so the decision for many is do you take a job that pays, on average, about 65-70% of market rate for 10 years to offset your debt. and since yo're employed by the state, you have state retirement and no social security tax.

From collegedata.com comes this:I don't mean this to sound biased but your average kid and/or his parents is going to have to get that money himself. Scholarships are for the brightest, most athletic or those that fall into diversity quota categories.

"... i'm optimistic that the overall effect will end up with EVERYONES standard of living improving..."

Misplaced optimism in my view.

Might as well say that osmosis will elevate everyone's standard of living.

Well i was thinking more big picture long-term view for humanity. What you're describing is one of the issues we need to think about --especially with the speed at which technology is advancing. We need some way to bridge the gap, but long term the cheaper "needs" would make it easier to switch careers as we evolve into having new desired fields for humanity.

you think cheaper, more easily available basic needs is a bad thing? Would you prefer it if water was $50 a gallon and you had to pay for oxygen?

Does that 1 out of 4 include teachers who "don't produce anything"? Just curious.

I would say that 25% of the teachers do not produce anything but the other 75% produce Doctors, bankers lawyers, trash collectors...

We all work for banks...what do we "produce"?

click traffic for BOL?

[/i]"you think cheaper, more easily available basic needs is a bad thing? Would you prefer it if water was $50 a gallon and you had to pay for oxygen?"[i]


Cheaper relative to what, Stupendous Man?

Teachers, at least if they are allowed to teach and run a classroom rather than to kowtow to ill-conceived bureaucratic edicts, produce educated students. You know better than that, raitchjay.

It's burgeoning government bureaucracy that doesn't produce anything.

It's burgeoning government bureaucracy that doesn't produce anything.

Gridlock is something.

I know good teachers are very valuable commodities; my question was whether they fall under the "people who don't produce anything" category that Pale mentioned, since evidently "people who don't produce anything" aren't very valuable members of society.

You know better than that so why pose that question.

Sorry. I shouldn't have questioned it.

I'll move along.

:baaaaaaaaaaaaaa:

::munches grass, waits to be sheared::

The human resources required to acquire them.