Letter: Assess risks of lending to students
Jenna Lynn McMahon, 24, who graduated last year from the University of Tampa. She is working part-time, doing an unpaid internship and waiting tables on the weekends to help pay $900/month in student loans. She lives at home with her parents in Massapequa.(June 27, 2012) Credit: ULI SEIT
Newsday would be doing a great public service if it would send each superintendent of schools on Long Island the story "College loans, debt burden" [News, June 30]. It could be a great benefit to the guidance counselors when they start the college process with students to include a "how am I going to pay for this" section.
Maybe if Jenna Lynn McMahon had had a discussion like that, she might be in a very different place today than holding two part-time jobs and a $900-a-month student loan payment.
I would have thought by now that someone would have come up with a better plan. In the business world, if you want a loan to start a business, just like starting a career, there is a review of the chances of success and an assessment of the risk. Why aren't student loans held to a similar standard?
Why don't the lenders come up with a simple rating process, where students majoring in such areas as computer science or health care are allowed to borrow higher amounts because there would be a higher probability of repayment?
One side benefit might be that more students would take degrees in areas where demand for certain skills is high, and that would reduce the need for many companies to look overseas for employees. It could also go a long way to reducing the unemployment and underemployment of so many young adults.
Robert Foster, Smithtown
