http://finance.yahoo.com/...
A big change is coming soon for graduate students who use federal student loans to fund their education.
Currently, grad students with demonstrated financial need can take out subsidized Stafford loans, which don't accrue interest until after graduation. Through school and six months after graduation, the government pays for the interest that accrues on subsidized loans.
So, you have to pay back your loans immediately? On what income?
Oh, but they had to do this say the shills:
Though the decision may seem egregious to loan-burdened graduate students, it was the "lesser of two evils" debated in what became the Budget Control Act of 2011, says Mark Kantrowitz, founder of FinAid.org and FastWeb.com. Instead of cutting the Pell grant program, a lifeline that makes college possible for millions of needy students, Congress moved to eliminate graduate student loan subsidies.
I like how Kantrowitz pits Pell Grants against subbed loans for grad school. No one mentions though the massive defaults (over 50%) on loans for for-profit and online schools, with CEOs and investors siphoning off billions for their pockets. No, it's subsidized loans versus Pell Grants. Nothing to see here, move on.
Just a couple additional points:
1. To forestall the inevitable argument that loans cause increases in tuition, I don't buy it, and the studies show this isn't happening, and I wrote a diary about this:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
2. I really do like (almost wrote love) Obama as our president, and very well recognize he has a huge uphill battle to climb in the current context, but when it comes to education (primary, secondary and higher) he has been an utter disaster. From Arne Duncan to this decision, one bad deal after another. Race to the Top is as big a joke as No Child Left Behind, and he did not fight hard enough against loans for for-profit shysters.