Should military service be a prerequisite for a student loan?

It's an interesting proposition. Our country is in debt pretty hard core and school is becoming over inflated. Fortune should favor the bold. I think student loans should be a qualifying factor to the point of demonstrated work history dependent on trade's the economy needs etc. If your a millennial high school graduate that has never had a job, smoking weed on mom and dads couch playing video games you should not qualify for Pell grant, loans etc. Those children should stay stagnant and pave the way for harder working go getters looking to advance. Also I think loans and assistance should only be given to degree programs capable of showing ROI. Don't approve someone for a $150,000 loan on a degree program designed to speak fluent language of Dothraki on game of thrones. You're wasting tax payer dollars because that person will default on the loan. I want the best for my children just like everybody else but something has to give to fix the countries situation. 20 Tril deficit will affect my daughters and your children's generation more than ours. To answer the question though, "NO" I do not believe military service should be a qualifying factor. Just a thought...

Wouldn't that be awesome, but no. There are a lot of bright kids out there that are not military material, doesn't mean they are bad, just not ready to be one of us.

Of course not. Not everyone is eligible for enlistment. It'd be nice to require a short enlistment to bring back a sense of deference, responsibility and propriety in America, especially given the millenial "1st place ribbon just for showing up" crap. But no, student loans should just be used less. Why does everyone feel the need to get a bachelors anyway? Plenty of trade schools that are quicker, easier to get financing, and provide much needed skills. The stats about higher pay are a little too general......people need to get on dept. Of labors website and start researching a course of career action for themselves before signing off on debt.

I don't believe so. Kids had to sign a Promissory Note to promise to pay the money back before they were even approved. Some even had to have their parents co-sign it. It's called being an adult. Military service shouldn't be a prerequisite to act like an adult.

I thank everyone for their response. I posed this question for a research paper last year, and came up with some surprising answers. The two main reasons this would never work are:
1) this would be akin to a draft, and it would be political suicide for any politician who suggested such legislation.
2) Colleges and Universities are, at their core, highly lucrative profit centers, and would stand to lose profits due to standardized tuition and regulated fees.

The fact is there are too many barriers to military service. Teenage obesity is on the rise, violent gangs, drug use, and high dropout rates have created a problem of crisis proportions. Nearly 41 percent of teenagers already have a criminal record (beyond traffic citations), which could exclude them from military service. For those that can qualify, there is no guaranteed entry. Currently, the military is not able to accept the number of potential applicants. For those that are able to enter military service, about 15 percent never complete basic training and therefore do not qualify for educational or VA benefits. For those that do successfully complete a minimum enlistment, usually two to six years, funding for college may not be available.

We have a student loan debt crisis. Student loan debt is currently $1.3 trillion dollars with $31 billion currently in default. The average non-specialty four year degree will cost approximately $100,000.00 for in-state tuition plus books and living expenses. We, as a country need to find a way to either subsidize higher education or lower tuition cost. Nearly 20% of college graduates find themselves unemployed or under-employed, impacting their ability to repay their loans. Predatory lenders swoop in to buy up defaulted loans sending interest rates skyrocketing and destroying the credit worthiness of the graduates. The dominoes fall fast leaving the bill to rest of the country. Does anyone have an answer?