More student loans not answer: #tellusatoday

Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O’Malley proposed plans to lower college costs that include giving federal money to institutions. Comments from Facebook are edited for clarity and grammar:

College students who have never had a permanent job and supported themselves in the real world are too financially ignorant to borrow money for loans. The colleges just tell them that they can afford the outrageous tuition, book costs, and room and board because the government will lend them the money. Most students, ignorant of basic household economics, take the loans, and pay the price later.

— Sal Maggiore

Pigeonholing every student who has a loan isn’t right! Kids, not adults, who go to college straight out of high school struggle to get an education and need all the help they can get. To deny that help is undermining their right to a good education. Education should be free. If a student has an exemplary record he or she should be offered a free college education. We are so far behind so many countries that offer their young adults free education.

— Rick Neal

I feel sorry for kids looking at colleges these days. In the 1970s, I was able to work and save enough to pay for two-thirds of tuition for a year. The other third was covered by a $5,000 bond that my parents saved for each of their six kids. College was affordable for those willing to work at it without loans, grants or scholarships.

— Douglas Miller

Letter to the editor:

The editorial “Making college more expensive: Our view” puts forth ideas about how college tuition increases can be slowed, but it doesn’t propose anything of immediate use for a student who has no money for college and can’t pay any tuition. That poor person needs government help in order to go to college.

When President Obama proposed free tuition at community colleges, he was thinking about students who couldn’t afford college being greatly helped to live better through education.

Higher education leads to higher pay, and those who would receive tuition-free associate degrees would eventually repay the government by earning more and paying more in taxes.

You give some evidence that government spending raises cost.

However, in the connection you make between Pell Grants, federally subsidized student loans and federally subsidized health care, you once again miss the fact that some Americans are so poor they can’t afford college or health care without government help.

College tuition and health care are not areas in which America’s poor can wait for solutions in the distant future. They need help right now. Making a roadblock out of the fact that it will cost money to fix this problem dooms our poor to their poverty.

Marvin W. Schwartzwalder; Walden, N.Y.

We asked followers what they thought would make college more affordable. Comments from Twitter are edited for clarity and grammar:

I think higher education needs a total overhaul, including some sort of streamlining of degree paths.

— @bayoukellyfish

The first step is either to freeze tuition rates or at least keep increases below the cost of living rate.

— @PlumbbobGreen

College prices have gone up because government goosed demand with cheap loans while supply stayed constant.

— @DouglasLevene

For more of the discussion, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday.

College tuition is a big concern for students like me. Candidates from both parties need to offer sustainable solutions.

— @BeresAndrew12

For more discussions, follow @USATOpinion or #tellusatoday.