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Case Study: the Student
Student With Credit Card Debt Kerri (not her real name) was a third-year student enrolled at York University working towards the completion of her psychology degree. She had accumulated credit card debt since her first year of university after applying for a credit card on campus. She had $12,000 in credit card debt. In addition to this, she also had $10,000 in government student loan debts under OSAP. Student Loans Aren’t Discharged As Kerri was still a student, she was well aware that there was nothing we can do about her student loan debt. Under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, student loans granted under a provincial or federal program cannot…
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Solving The Problem of Higher Education
Defining the Problem When I reflect on the subject of rising tuition costs and student loan debt in Canada, I’m struck by its parallels with the events that led to the U.S. housing crisis: Easy credit backstopped by the federal government allowed individuals who had no business in purchasing a home (i.e., inadequate down payment or household income) to do so. In the absence of government-guaranteed mortgages, banks would never have lent money to many home buyers were it not for an agency such as the Federal Housing Administration guaranteeing repayment in the event of default. As a result of easy access to credit, there was a huge demand for…
