# New Loan Forgiveness Program for Engineering Students **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 15, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088 "2008-08-15T12:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/1 "2008-08-15T12:46:54Z")
Very interesting - President Bush signed this into law this week. I should think that a lot of students would benefit from this. > [@](#): > > The ACEC-backed provision was included in the Higher Education Reauthorization and College Opportunity Act of 2008, and provides up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness for engineering students > [@](#): > > When implemented, engineers will receive up to $2,000 a year–for a total of $10,000–in credit against their outstanding student loan obligation following graduation and entry into an engineering career. From [here](http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/congress-takes-bold-step-reverse/story.aspx?guid=%7BBE360A07-58F8-4062-B5F6-0A2BF47A7245%7D&dist=hppr). > [@](#): > > Now that the bill has become law, the Department of Education will need to develop regulations for the program, and Congress must provide appropriate funding. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/2 "2008-08-15T16:15:19Z")
This could be good news for my nephew. He’s starting college this year, planning to major in engineering. I’ll have to pass the info on to my sis. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/3 "2008-08-15T16:25:23Z")
Oh man, that would cover most of my loans, awesome. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/4 "2008-08-15T17:22:04Z")
This is great news I could get a majority of my loans paid off. Thanks for the info. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/5 "2008-08-15T17:22:47Z")
Dang it, how come the science guys get all the breaks!? Doesn’t anybody care about good grammar any more? [takes English MA and goes to sulk in the corner] ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/6 "2008-08-15T18:10:56Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Dang it, how come the science guys get all the breaks!? Doesn’t anybody care about good grammar any more? [takes English MA and goes to sulk in the corner] [/QUOTE] When we start having to issue visas to Indian and Chinese Freudian Deconstructionists, we’ll start forgiving your student loans, too. (My first one was in Film Studies - yeah, no one forgives your loans because you can do genre analysis). ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/7 "2008-08-15T18:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Dang it, how come the science guys get all the breaks!? Doesn’t anybody care about good grammar any more? [takes English MA and goes to sulk in the corner] [/QUOTE] It’s not just science grads; there are provisions in the legislation for all kinds of folks: > [@](#): > > Encourages students to enter vital public service jobs by authorizing up to $10,000 in loan forgiveness for public defenders, prosecutors, firefighters, military service members, first responders, law enforcement officers, educators, nurses, and _others serving the public interest_. - U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor (my emphasis) This “other” category contains a lot of things, from nurses to school audiologists to lawyers. Check it out. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/8 "2008-08-15T19:32:07Z")
My sister was happy to see the link. They just bought my nephew’s first semester texts - around $1K - USED!!! :eek: That’s obscene. Really. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/9 "2008-08-15T19:55:06Z")
Thanks for that. Living in Detroit area, we are up to our armpits in engineers here. I forwarded the article to my husbands boss who has engineering student-kids. ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/10 "2008-08-16T08:29:14Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] Dang it, how come the science guys get all the breaks!? Doesn’t anybody care about good grammar any more? [takes English MA and goes to sulk in the corner] [/QUOTE] Grammer? What’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/11 "2008-08-16T12:31:38Z")
**Sunrazor** , got more room for another to sulk with you? ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/12 "2008-08-16T18:50:04Z")
So is that supposed to be automatic, or do we have to apply for it? Or are we just waiting for more details when the program is implemented? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/13 "2008-08-16T18:53:34Z")
Is it only for current students? I graduated four years ago, but I’m still up to my eyeballs in debt. Oh, and I assume I’d have to actually have an engineering job too, right? ☹ Fuck. :mad: ETA after reading the article (you’d think I’d have done that before): > [@](#): > > Recognizing the critical need to address the nation’s shortage of engineers, Congress cleared legislation this week that will provide new financial incentives for engineering students Shortage of engineers? Somebody tell that to the companies that aren’t hiring me, and haven’t been for _four fucking years._ :mad: :mad: ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/14 "2008-08-16T20:12:31Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Shortage of engineers? Somebody tell that to the companies that aren’t hiring me, and haven’t been for _four fucking years._ :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] I agree. I am not aware of any labor shortage in the engineering market. Furthermore, it isn’t such an inelastic or long training program that I think it is wise for the government to try to interfere in the marketplace by forgiving some student loans for engineers but not others. “We need for scientists and engineers!” is a good slogan or line in a State of the Union address, but it does not seem to be born out by the reality of the engineering job market. In fact, I believe that our undergrad institutions are producing adequate numbers of engineering graduates at present. ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/15 "2008-08-16T21:28:17Z")
This was not for engineers exclusively (as I mentioned upthread). Many professions were included in this bill: [QUOTE=American Consulting Engineers Council] The Higher Education Reauthorization and College Opportunity Act of 2008, extends various federal student aid programs to provide financial incentives for professions in areas of “national need.” ACEC ensured that the bill also included engineering among the eligible professions. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/16 "2008-08-16T22:02:30Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Shortage of engineers? Somebody tell that to the companies that aren’t hiring me, and haven’t been for _four fucking years._ :mad: :mad: [/QUOTE] Have I missed something? I wasn’t aware that you had been in engineering school. For some reason, I thought your degree was in something else. 😕 The quoted article is referring to the Civil Engineering profession. The debate over whether or not there is a shortage of Civil Engineers has been ongoing for as long as I’ve been out of school (20 years). The following is from the May 2007 issue of the Fort Worth Branch’s newsletter : > [@](#): > > Due to several phenomenon, the challenges will increase for professional services firms and for other institutions whose business is to create civil engineering solutions. First, there is the demand for engineering design for the new development/infrastructure required to support still-growing populations (both here and worldwide). Secondly, this demand will be compounded by the need for re-design for re-building that must simultaneously occur due to the unceasing, deteriorating affects of time on the infrastructure originally built decades or even centuries ago in our already developed inner cities. Third, while new technology may promote increased productivity, today’s civil engineers must regroup and take the time and effort to “keep up” throughout their careers with changes in their technologies accelerating at rapid rates formerly unknown to their predecessor practitioners. Lastly, here in the U.S., we must factor-in the soon-coming retirements of unprecedented numbers of experienced Baby-Boomer engineers. An editorial in the Savannah Branch’s newsletter of October 2006 had this to say: > [@](#): > > Much has been said lately about the shortage of engineers in this country. The ACEC is forecasting that outsourcing to other countries will become a fact of life for all AE firms because there will not be enough engineers in the US. AE firms are talking about how difficult it is to hire good engineers in the last few years. Scholarships are being increased to help educate more US engineers. ASCE is making efforts to increase the number of engineering students through working with student chapters at universities and with outreach programs to children even in elementary school. The goal is to get more people to enter the profession. > … > I recall discussions on this subject back in 1967 when the engineering school I attended was experiencing declines in class size. Nothing has changed since. [Here](http://wohlersassociates.com/blog/2008/03/lack-of-engineering-graduates/) is a site with some debate about it. I won’t muddy the water with my opinion on it, but I’m a bit surprised that someone in the engineering field has never heard of the subject before. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2008, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/17 "2008-08-17T19:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] For some reason, I thought your degree was in something else. 😕 [/QUOTE] Nope, graduated in '04 from RPI with a BS in biomedical engineering. I also spent a year trying to get my masters at UVM but a combination of my stupidity and lack of money forced to to “take a break.” ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2008, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/18 "2008-08-17T19:31:21Z")
I know the lawyers that do civil legal aid are salivating over the possibility. They’ve had a pilot loan assistance program, but this one will cover a _lot_ more. And when you’re trying to lawyers at under 40K a year to serve the poor, when they come saddled with five- or six-figure law school loans, you’re really not going to have much of a shot at getting them; they’re going to have to go to the big firms that pay _insane_ salaries. So here’s hoping that Congress actually funds the bill. Because all the legislation in the world won’t do shit without the $$ appropriated to back it up. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2008, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/19 "2008-08-17T21:59:13Z")
Thank you **NinetyWt**!I initially ignored the thread since it said “engineers”, but **Cheez\_Whia** alerted me to the fact that this covers more. Good news for my husband, who just began his internship at the LA District Attorney’s office in preparation for employment there after the bar. And for me, too, as I’ll be there in four years as well, hopefully. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088/20 "2008-08-17T22:36:16Z")
Does it include software engineers? Yeah…I know…and I agree with those those who say that SW development is not truly an engineering field. I don’t call myself an engineer normally, but hey, if it means I can get on board with this program, then I’ll call myself an engineer! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-loan-forgiveness-program-for-engineering-students/460088.md?page=2)