Bridge Cards Taken Away from about 30,000 College Students....

[bartock]

Dorms are often more expensive than off-campus housing and meal plans are often a huge rip off. Why shouldn't college kids be able to get food stamps? Do people truly understand the cost of college?

The next financial bubble to burst is student loans. Kids are told to go to college their entire lives, they are promised a bright future if they work hard and get a degree. They get accepted to a university and the "Academic Advisers" sign them up for tens of thousands of non-dischargdable loans. The kid has no idea he is selling his soul. The school soaks up all that money over the next 4 years and the lenders lock up a massive credit against someone who has no financial savvy. The situation with grad students is even worse, where many people have 200k in debt by the time they finish their doctorate. Some never get out from under the loans they signed when they were 18 and 19 years old. It's almost criminal.

The people I knew on EBT in college were kids that needed the money to get by. It is not easy to "work your way through school." I laugh at people who suggest that. It is nearly impossible to earn enough money at a part-time, minimum wage job to pay for college and graduate in 4 years with a bachelors degree. In fact, I don't know a single person who has ever done it. Almost everyone needs loans or financial assistance.

With the cost of college going up, expect more students to lean on government assistance to get through the process. I can't believe the higher education system in America has turned into a ponzi scheme for bankers and school administrators. I don't know how they sleep at night.

It's too bad for the 30k college kids losing food stamps. Maybe they'll drop out if their parents won't help them make up the difference. Honestly, quitting school is the responsible thing to do in the face of taking out more loans to pay for food. This stupid, greedy country of ours needs to figure out what the fuck its priorities are. Do we want people to be educated, or do we want everyone who tries to be to be financially crippled for life?

I'm paying 3% interest on my student loans, which were deferred through grad school and for some time thereafter.

Let's allow those any student to stay on food stamps rather than borrow more money to pay for living expenses. In exchange, they will have to pay market rates for private loans to go to school. Without much or any collateral, how much do you think the interest rates on those loans will be, especially today? How much more than $200 a month will that come out to, and for how many years?

And, to be clear, even with the overhaul single mothers are eligible and so are many students who work 20 or more hours a week. So, the poor single mother and working five job stories don't apply.

[Johnnny5]

IMO no college student without dependent children should be eligible for a Bridge card. Lack of employment is a sacrifice that many people make in order to attain a degree. Honestly, I see it as grossly unfair to those students who are struggling while employed and attending college at the same time. No one in America should go hungry, but students are facing a self induced hardship. They made the choice to forgo employment in order to further their education, and free food assistance should be reserved for those without a choice.

That being said, I would have no issues with a government supported program that offers food assistance loans for students who may need them.