Laboring Over Student Loans

You might think that folks would tire of reading about the student loan crisis/bubble, predatory for-profit "educational" institutions, and the non-dischargeability of student loans in bankruptcy. After all, I've posted quite a few times on these topics (see here, here, and here for a few examples). But you'd be wrong, at least at this Labor Day time of year. The most recent burst of interest in the blogosphere came from Sunday's New York Times which featured the sad story of Doug Wallace, Jr. who amassed $89,000 of student loans before losing most of his eyesight to diabetes. (You can read the story here and watch the video here.) 

Briefly, Mr. Wallace borrowed $89,000 to get his undergraduate degree in sociology from Eastern Kentucky University. (Why he wore a William & Mary T-shirt throughout the interview is a mystery.) Without, I hope, suggesting any lack of empathy for Mr. Wallace, one can only wonder why anyone would borrow $89,000 to get a B.A. in sociology. A fascinating subject, to be sure, but not one to which anyone who gives the matter any thought should pursue by borrowing money. One also wonders if Mr. Wallace's academic advisor weighed on the prudence of his course of action. Had Wallace not lost his sight, he might well have been able to get a job that would have enabled him to pay off his loan over the course of much of his working lifetime. Because he lost his sight, we'll never know if, at the end of 20, 30, or 40 years, he would have recommended anyone follow in his sociology footsteps.

But back to bankruptcy. After establishing the presence of several reasonably objective criteria, one can get a discharge of student loans only by meeting a third vauge requirement: that repayment would prove an "undue hardship." For a nice, short explanation of "undue hardship" plus a history of the increasing strictures of the Bankruptcy Code on dischargeability of student loan debt, check out Paul Caron's TaxProf blog here. (You know he's good when he agrees with me; compare his post here with mine here.) Then, if you're a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (where I'll be posted come spring 2013), there's a great discussion hovering between policy and practice here that's accessible via LinkedIn. Caron also refers in the first of his pieces I've linked to several pieces of empirical research that suggest that more than a trivial percentage of those who seek to discharge their student loans succeed to some extent. I'd like to hear from any of my grads who've fought this fight.

But I want to conclude with a final Labor Day link, to Susan Stabile's post at Creo en Dios! here. Professor Stabile does a nice job relating the value of work to our creation in the image of God and thus our opportunity to participate in God's creative activity. I can assure those not in the Roman Catholic tradition that Protestants (at least this Protestant) believe the same. For my detailed development of this theme, check out Consideration in the Common Law of Contracts: A Biblical-Theological Critique (abstract here).

Labor is more than a means of sustenance (although it's certainly that). It is a covenantal obligation and opportunity, one in which we should count it joy to participate. Thank God for work!