| The economy in 2008 was the stuff of a good | | | | lot of focus? The answer is simple. The reason |
| Stephen King novel - scary stuff. As 2009 begins, | | | | America is strong as a country is because we have a |
| prioritizing what to fix first is a task for an incoming | | | | strong middle class. Homeownership is often touted |
| President who must wonder what he got himself into. | | | | as the reason the middle class is stable and it is part |
| One area that should be at the top of the list is the | | | | of the answer. A large secondary answer, however, |
| student loan market. | | | | is the generally high level of education of most |
| The facts are fairly simple. If you want to get into | | | | Americans. |
| higher education these days, you are probably going | | | | Having lived in many other countries, I can tell you |
| to need student loans. Yes, a few of us will have | | | | that the idea of millions of people going to college is a |
| parents who can foot all or part of the cost, but the | | | | rare one. One of the immediate differences you |
| vast majority of us are going to borrow, borrow and | | | | notice between "us and them" is a large percentage |
| borrow some more. The only problem is finding | | | | of our population goes to college in one form or |
| someone to borrow from in 2009 is going to be | | | | another. Besides creating a viable market for |
| difficult. | | | | fraternity movies, this high education level provides |
| Student loans are often viewed as a form of | | | | our economy with people who start businesses or |
| government funding. There are government backed | | | | highly qualified people who work for companies. It is |
| loans, but the majority of student loans are actually | | | | this educated, mobile workforce that is the real basis |
| private. This means the lenders are part of the | | | | of the stability found in our middle class and student |
| financial markets in general and, as we know, those | | | | loans pay for that education. |
| markets are a huge mess. The who, what and why | | | | Student loans are a vital link in the continued |
| of the financial meltdown are subjects for another | | | | existence of a strong middle class in this country. |
| article. The key thing to understand is the credit | | | | Yes, banks need help. Yes, the housing market needs |
| crunch effecting mortgages, credit cards, auto loans | | | | help. It is educated people, however, that are our |
| and so on are also affecting the availability of student | | | | strongest assets and we better not forget that. If |
| loans. | | | | we do, no amount of corporate handouts is going to |
| With so much going wrong, why should our new | | | | save us in the long run. |
| leadership make sure the student loan market gets a | | | | |