Students question candidates’ plans for loan pardons

While U.S. President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney both address the financial strain of college costs, they offer different solutions to conquer student debt.

A number of Boston University students who will be affected by these plans after they graduate said despite the increasing cost of college tuition, money should not stop a student from obtaining a degree.

“Nobody can realistically afford college in this economy — let’s be honest,” said Julianne Lee, a College of Communication sophomore, who identifies herself as politically independent. “Obama is better for those paying for school themselves. Romney’s plan is better for the middle-class family.”

Obama plans to continue to increase the amount of federal aid to students and push a proposal that would reward federal aid to colleges who curb tuition increases, as reported by The New York Times in September.

Romney plans to tighten financial aid requirements in attempts to reduce federal spending. However, he also plans to remove incentives in the federal aid system to raise tuition and return the issuing of federally subsidized loans to private lenders and banks.

Federal grants might help students finance higher education, but also have a negative impact on the economy, said political science professor Douglas Kriner.

“Increasing Pell Grants fits well into the overall narrative that Obama tried to create at the convention,” Kriner said. “It fits into a new Democratic mold that government provides a hand up and not a hand out.”

Romney’s argument is that federal aid disturbs the normal functioning of a government, Kriner said.

“He does not care for direct federally subsidized loans because he feels when government intervenes in markets, it leads to inefficiencies,” he said.

Michael Neminski, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a member of BU College Republicans, said he is on the fence with this issue.

“Investing in education is obviously the right move because it gives kids higher paying jobs and makes people in the country smarter,” he said. “Increasing the [amount of] loans we are giving out now is obviously not a good idea because of the deficit.”

Neminski said he does not think much, in terms of student loans, will change after the election.

“It is about whether or not the economy will be up or down, and if people can pay [their loans] back,” he said.

Romney said the more federal aid the government hands out, the more colleges will increase tuition, according to the Times.

“Tuitions across the country did increase in periods in which the Pell Grants were frozen, so it is clear that there are other factors at play,” Kriner said.

CAS freshman Bridget Daley said tuition is not increasing because loans are available for students. “Look how much tuition has risen in the past 10 years even when the Pell Grant was frozen,” she said.

Daley said Romney does not focus on the middle class, which needs money the most, enough.

“Obama has a better understanding and he is more connected with the middle class,” she said. “I think that in the long term, giving more student loans out will create more candidates for higher income jobs … The better the jobs and the better the candidates, the better the economy will be.”

Lauren Costa, a sophomore in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said the Pell Grant should not be increased, as Obama planned.

“It’s more of tax payers’ money going back into their pockets,” she said. “There are families that are eligible for loans and take a loan instead of coming up with the cash and prioritize.”

Costa said that her parents, who come from lower economic-class backgrounds, were able to put her and her three older brothers through school without loans.

“It is extremely difficult, but it can be done,” she said. “You have to prioritize education over comfort.”