SALISBURY, Md.- One issue former House Speaker and GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich did not address at Salisbury University Tuesday was student loan debt. As of 2010, this particular debt has officially surpassed credit card debt in the US. Earlier this month, a Michigan congressman introduced the Student Loan Forgiveness Act. Part of the act would cap interest rates and improve loan forgiveness.
The goal is to help ease the burden on graduates, so they can help contribute to our economic recovery. Opponents argue the act would just spoil students and bail them out of being responsible adults.
We spoke with students at Salisbury University for some perspective on the issue, including junior Henry Hunt, who is currently about $20,000 in debt.
"I kind of choose not to think about when I graduate, how much money I'm going to have to pay back and how much I will owe."
Hunt said he chose Salisbury University because tuition was more affordable than other schools. He is happy with the school but says if loans weren't a factor, he would have explored other options, too.
"I kind of choose not to think about when I graduate, how much money I'm going to have to pay back and how much I will owe."
Hunt said he chose Salisbury University because tuition was more affordable than other schools. He is happy with the school but says if loans weren't a factor, he would have explored other options, too.
Hunt supports the idea of the government helping students like him manage all that debt.
"I think it would encourage students to seek degrees. It would encourage students to not only stop at Associate's Degrees or a community college level. It would encourage students to not just get a bachelors degree but to come back for a masters and maybe even a doctorate degree," he told WBOC.
But he thinks there would need to be some kind of a cap, saying, "If everybody is being forgiven on these loans, then we're in a sense providing education for free."
Sophomore Amanda Phimmasone is studying graphic design and plans on going to graduate school.
"I will be in a lot of debt," remarked Phimmasone.
She thinks the presidential candidates might have a political advantage if they address that debt issue.
"When Obama ran, a lot of college students got more active in voting. If they do address things like college loans and all that, more college students would definitely be interested in that, too, since it does address them," she points out
But he thinks there would need to be some kind of a cap, saying, "If everybody is being forgiven on these loans, then we're in a sense providing education for free."
Sophomore Amanda Phimmasone is studying graphic design and plans on going to graduate school.
"I will be in a lot of debt," remarked Phimmasone.
She thinks the presidential candidates might have a political advantage if they address that debt issue.
"When Obama ran, a lot of college students got more active in voting. If they do address things like college loans and all that, more college students would definitely be interested in that, too, since it does address them," she points out
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