James A. Belvin said in his Feb. 11 Point of View article "Private loans = better options" that "In a perfect world, students and parents would not be required to borrow to achieve their educational dreams." We had a more perfect world before the student loan program began in 1965. Many college students could work themselves through public colleges without borrowing because tuition and books were comparatively cheap.
The student loan program has provided the leverage for skyrocketing college costs. And as we've seen in North Carolina, the lack of fiscal restraints promotes excess administration and waste. It seems long gone are the educators whose major driver is public service and intellectual pursuits, and they have been replaced by greedy impostors and schemers.
When loans are guaranteed by the government (or others), it creates opportunities for abuse. And abuse is the primary "innovation" bankers have provided the student loan program (often working with unscrupulous financial aid officers). So we can do without the private innovation that Belvin fears losing.
