Game Show Pays Off Student Loans
The student loan problem has gotten under our collective skin – so much so that a new game show revolves around it.
“Paid Off,” on TruTV, promises to pay off a share of the winning contestant’s student debt – 20 percent, 50 percent, or 100 percent – depending on how many answers he or she gets right in the final round of questioning.
“Paid Off” is as inane as any television game show. The format is more “Family Feud” than “Jeopardy,” with softball questions designed to spark as much faux competition as possible among the former students who compete. One example: name the most romantic date costing under $10: picnic, walk, Netflix movie, etc.
The show’s host, Michael Torpey, who also plays a corrections officer in “Orange is the New Black,” explains in the first episode of “Paid Off” that he created it because he and his wife struggled with student loans. He was only able to pay them off because he landed a long-shot acting job for a television commercial.
Torpey says his goal is to help debt-laden students “achieve their dreams by paying off their student loans.” He’s right that college debt is, indeed, standing between many Millennials and the adult milestones of buying a house, saving some money, or getting married.
The average amount of debt owed by college graduates increased again last year, to more than $39,000, according to Student Loan Hero.
Unfortunately, the weekly show won’t make a dent in this growing problem.
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