STUDENT LOANS ARE TO BE PAID BACK, NOT ENTITLEMENTS

The Republicans in Congress want to bring federal spending under control. Among the programs slated for reductions is the federal student loan program. The current proposal on the table would save $10.4 billion over the next seven years.

Southeast Missouri State University's financial aid office entered the political fray by financing an ad in the student newspaper. The ad warned against cuts, despite the fact the university has a policy requiring Southeast to remain neutral on partisan politics.

The university -- financed largely by citizen tax dollars -- shouldn't be urging students to call their senators and representatives about cutting students loans, which are financed by citizen tax dollars.

The rationalization given by the university was that there are Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the issue, and, therefore, student loans aren't partisan. It is a naive statement. This is a Republican proposal that has drawn fire from Democrats. Just a few short weeks ago on the University of Illinois-Carbondale campus, President Clinton attacked the GOP proposal, saying Republicans had caved into the bank lobby.

What posturing key Democrats keep overlooking is the outright fraud, mainly in the form of students who get government-guaranteed loans without ever intending to pay them back, that has habitually riddled the federal student loan program. The Republicans aren't against education and students. They are against government waste.

Democrats are also misrepresenting the GOP plan. It wouldn't cut the student loan program. It calls for a 50 percent increase in student loans over the next seven years. But the GOP proposal would introduce more restraint into the program, shifting interest payments from the federal government to the loan recipients.

It is no secret that the federal student loan program is plagued by ridiculous default rates. Think about it: If students borrow money and repay it with interest, the program should be a money-maker for the federal government. The reality is that a high percentage of students who receive the loans default on repayment.

The federal government shouldn't be the one making these loans. The responsibility should shift to private bankers who would be more aggressive in securing loan repayment. Bankers, in short, would be less likely to make risky loans if the feds weren't there to cover the defaults.

Clinton wants to move the government into direct lending for student loans, which eliminates the banks from the program. When has the government ever done anything more efficiently than private business?

Student loans aren't an entitlement. Only those students with every intention of repaying the loan should receive money to attend college.