Allow students to refinance college debt

Governor Walker’s plan to make college more affordable for Wisconsin students is a good start, but it doesn’t go far enough. Walker made a stop at UW-La Crosse earlier this month to unveil his plan, which includes providing more grants for students, and the ability the deduct more student loan interest on their taxes. There is nothing wrong with those ideas. It is estimated that Walker’s plan, if approved by the legislature, would help about 32,000 people in the state, saving them about $165 each on their taxes. But what Walker isn’t proposing, or apparently even considering, is something that would help make college more affordable for all college students in the state. That would be to allow those who have student loans to be able to refinance their student loans at lower interest rates. People do that all the time, with their car loans or their mortgage. It makes sense to allow people to refinance their debt, including their student loans. Those loans are typically bigger than most car loans, with the average Wisconsin college student graduating with more than $28,000 in student loan debt. It is good that both political parties are putting forth ideas to help students struggling with student loan debt, but it makes sense to help all of those college students, not just a relative few.