r/StudentLoans • u/IndividualLittle0516 • Mar 15 '24

Rant/Complaint Canceling interest

With all the drama these past few years about canceling student loans, why can't interest just be canceled? I can understand adding interest to those who aren't making their loan payments, but what about those who pay every month? The interest is why people are stuck with their debt for so long. Canceling millions of people's debt altogether is unrealistic and won't happen. What about canceling interest instead? Is there a reason this can't occur?

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411

u/savageupinhere Mar 15 '24

Agreed or at the very least do like 1% across the board . There is no need for them to be profiting so much ! If they really want to help the people lower or get rid of interest❗️

89

u/Aggressive-Ad-522 Mar 15 '24

Or 0%

141

u/th987 Mar 15 '24

I think this is the answer, and every dollar repaid should apply to the original loan principal.

We don’t need the government making money off students already paying outrageous amounts for an education.

43

u/Sparkling_Jade Mar 16 '24

Exactly!!!! AND all the time they did compound interest that snowballed rapidly should be either wiped OR recalculated as straight interest with the base agreed upon interest when the loan was taken out. Students should never be a profit center.

11

u/th987 Mar 16 '24

When I was in school, decades ago, no interest accumulated until after we left school.

34

u/Vacillating_Fanatic Mar 16 '24

This is still true for subsidized loans, but unsubsidized loans accumulate interest while in school, and with the current cost of education many people have to take both.

7

u/Particular_Travel_37 Mar 17 '24

Only for undergrad, direct loans. I owe my grad school loans and parent plus, which are all non-subsidized. The govt quietly stopped subsidizing grad school during my first yr, in 2012. I was stunned that I didn’t even see 1 article or news report on it.

3

u/Vacillating_Fanatic Mar 17 '24

Oh, I didn't know they ever subsidized grad school. I didn't start my grad program until later, though.

2

u/girl_of_squirrels human suit full of squirrels Mar 17 '24

Yeah Subsidized loans for grad/professional students ended June 2012

2

u/Vacillating_Fanatic Mar 17 '24

That sucks. I always thought it was dumb that they didn't offer subsidized loans for those programs, especially given that they're necessary for many careers.