The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S. History#and How We Can Fight Back
An in-depth exploration and exposé of the predatory nature of the student loan industry
For the past thirty years, college tuition has risen at double the rate of inflation, with the cost largely shifting to student debt. Alan Collinge argues that student loans have become the most profitable, uncompetitive, and oppressive type of debt in American history.
In an unprecedented analysis of this $85-billion industry, Collinge covers the history of student loans, the rise of Sallie Mae, and how universities have profited at the expense of students. The Student Loan Scam includes stories from people across the country about how both nonprofit and for-profit student loan companies, aided by poor legislation, have shattered their lives—and livelihoods. With nearly 5 million defaulted loans, average undergraduate borrowers leaving school with $20,000 of debt, and average graduate borrowers accruing $42,000 in debt, this crisis is growing to epic proportions.
In this clarion call for social action, Collinge offers pragmatic solutions, including returning standard consumer protections to student loans.
“Collinge has lived through the national student debt crisis and has an astonishing tale to tell. Read and be outraged.” —Anya Kamenetz, author of Generation
“Alan Collinge has been to student-loan hell, and has managed to survive to tell about the experience. Turning his personal nightmare into a cause for activism, Collinge has emerged as one of the most effective critics of the student loan industry and its patrons in Washington. Readers will be as outraged as he is with what passes for federal student loan policy.”
—Barmak Nassirian, Associate Executive Director, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
Author: Alan Michael Collinge
Hardcover:
192 pages
Company: Beacon Press
(2009-02-01)
ISBN: 0807042293
List Price: $22.95
Amazon Price: $15.61
