Round Table Discussion:
Student Loans
The debt trap of Student Loans the next generation find themselves in (fully recourse; high interest).
Educational inflation has outpaced the Consumer Price Index inflation by 4x!
The potential of various “Storehouse” solutions, including current implementation examples.
For example, Christopher Lucey will be with us to share about thegofund.com which he co-founded with Luke Womack.
The world of student loan debt has been with us and GROWING since the 1990’s.
Today, we are going to highlight an organization that has done something truly inspiring that not only tackles the issue – but is solving the challenge “the storehouse way” – TheGoFund.com. I’m honored to have been a mentor and encourager to Luke Womack – founder. The year before the launch we meet in my office on Saturday’s for 4-6 hours talking, brainstorming, praying, researching how we could tackle this issue and how we could design a way to release the next generation from debt to go to the UUPG’s – when the name Jesus had never been heard.
It is also an inspiration for what I believe other groups could be challenged to do for their own families and communities throughout the nation in the years ahead to free young people from debt and to unleash them to go to the nations and complete the task of the remaining mission.
GO FUND Story…..from World Magazine
JOEL SUTTON BEGAN WORKING with the International Mission Board’s assessment and deployment team in 1999. Students had debt then too, but the average topped out at $17,000. Now, Sutton regularly talks to prospective missionaries who have between $60,000 and $100,000 in debt. “Those kinds of folks have really disqualified themselves for service,” Sutton said. “They’re living in the moment. They think they need the loan to get their education, but they don’t think about the ramifications down the road.”
Sutton and his Southern Baptist Convention colleagues urge college students to think about what they want to do with their lives before taking out loans. If students can’t avoid loans altogether, missionary recruiters urge them to take on as little debt as possible, get jobs to help pay some of their expenses, and even take a little longer to get their degree, if necessary.
That’s a hard sell, especially for students at Christian colleges, which rely on tuition payments to survive and have little incentive to encourage students to take on less debt. “We’ve found schools are not really talking to students about this,” Sutton said. “It’s a real conflict because schools are a business. Loans mean more payment out of students, so they don’t discourage them from doing the loans.”
(source: https://wng.org/articles/repayment-ministry-1617302578)
Higher Education News –
Expenses such as healthcare and housing continue to rise, so “simply owing on student loan debt — and, in particular, doing so for an extended period — makes it all the more difficult for borrowers to grapple with these growing costs,” the report says.
While after 20 to 25 years, the balances of these income-driven loans can be forgiven, they typically are not. The report points to a recent analysis by National Consumer Law Center that found only 32 borrowers’ loans have been erased in the time that these plans have existed. Two million federal student loan borrowers have been in repayment for 20 years, though this count includes those outside of income-driven plans.
THE HOPE CENTER – Research Institute on Colleges in America
(source: https://hope4college.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/RCReport2021.pdf)
newbreed.co 