Consumer Bankers Association President Joe Belew recently wrote a letter trying to convince us that the rise in interest rates on student loans is actually a good thing ["Here are the real facts ," Oct. 5].
It's good for the lenders, whom his organization represents. It's not good for the borrowers.
What Mr. Belew also failed to mention was the intense lobbying of Congress that his organization carries out on behalf of lenders--lobbying that has made student loans among the most profitable, and predatory, in America.
One of Mr. Belew's recent successes was to make high-interest, private (not publicly guaranteed) student loans
This will allow Mr. Belew's clients (Sallie Mae and others) to heap ever-increasing high-interest debt onto the backs of students without risk--and without regard to the welfare of the student.
The student-loan industry has hijacked federal law over the past 15 years, and is awash in unearned cash.
Sallie Mae's stock has risen by 1,800 percent over 10 years. Its chairman is building his own personal luxury golf course. Its CEO again was ranked the highest-paid CEO in Washington by The Washington Post.
This has come at the expense of borrowers, many of whom find themselves in financial ruin as a result of this predatory lending system, being forced to repay double or triple their original debt, or even more.
Not to mention the unprecedented rise in the cost of college that America has seen dur-
Alan Collinge
University Place, Wash.