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Katko calls student debt looming financial crisis

Ellen Abbott
/
WRVO News
Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) at a roundtable at OCC.

Rep. John Katko (R-Camillus) is putting the spotlight on the student loan crisis. The congressman gathered students and financial aid administrators for a roundtable discussion at Onondaga Community College Tuesday.

Katko says he is not optimistic about the fact there is over $1 trillion in student loan debt in this country.

"I think it’s one of the looming financial crises in this country, the student loan debt,” said Katko.

And participants at the student loan roundtable discussion agree that something must be done, including Wells College senior Kailin Kucewicz. She took out the maximum loan she could for her education, but believes the loan process could have been more transparent from the start.

"I’m banking on the fact that I’m going to be really successful, and I’m going to pay that off. But I have no idea, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So as much as you’re focusing on loans and that I think it’s also an education and transparency process,” said Kucewicz.

Katko suggests there are a number of things that could make the process easier, like simplifying the federal financial aid form families have to fill out in order to be considered for grants or loans, and eliminating some of the federal red tape that drives up costs at colleges and universities. Katko has signed on to a handful of bills meant to help students on a couple of fronts.

"One is to allow refinancing, another allowing them to discharge in bankruptcy under very strict conditions. Those types of things are part of the package. What their prospects are, I’m not sure."

One thing Katko doesn’t support is a Bernie Sanders-like plan to pay for college tuition at state institutions for all who want it. He doesn’t see how the federal government would be able to afford it.

Ellen produces news reports and features related to events that occur in the greater Syracuse area and throughout Onondaga County. Her reports are heard regularly in regional updates in Morning Edition and All Things Considered.