Opinion: We Must Cancel Everyone’s Student Debt, for the Economy’s Sake

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

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NYMag

[TJ in Oregon]

If you do this once, what happens in the future? Does the government plan to continually forgive all student debt every 5-10 years or so? Or are today's college students simply out of luck? However you answer these questions is problematic. Ultimately this only provides a kind of escape hatch without addressing the fundamental structural issues that led to massive student debt

[dead0man]

The other 300,000,000 of us are going to be super pissed and ask for a free hand out too.  Especially the millions of people who worked their way through college.  Why do these people think they deserve free money more than people who didn't go $60k in debt to graduate college with a degree that won't ever be able to pay that off?  They made a bad financial decision.  Blame* the people that told them this was a good idea at the time and STOP telling High School students it's a good idea now for phuques sake.  I mean the odds are pretty good that there are dummies reading this right now that are racking up loans for a degree that they won't even get.


*maybe take some money from HS Guidance Counselor's hefty pension system?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

If you do this once, what happens in the future? Does the government plan to continually forgive all student debt every 5-10 years or so? Or are today's college students simply out of luck? However you answer these questions is problematic. Ultimately this only provides a kind of escape hatch without addressing the fundamental structural issues that led to massive student debt

American colleges could become tuition-free like Germany's, although American colleges would have to take some setbacks in order for a system like that to work.  The broader point is that we could have forgiven all current student debt for around the same price as the tax cuts that were just passed, and more people would have benefitted.

[TJ in Oregon]

If you do this once, what happens in the future? Does the government plan to continually forgive all student debt every 5-10 years or so? Or are today's college students simply out of luck? However you answer these questions is problematic. Ultimately this only provides a kind of escape hatch without addressing the fundamental structural issues that led to massive student debt

American colleges could become tuition-free like Germany's, although American colleges would have to take some setbacks in order for a system like that to work.  The broader point is that we could have forgiven all current student debt for around the same price as the tax cuts that were just passed, and more people would have benefitted.

Is it feasible to cancel their debts? Yes. But arbitrarily handing out money on a one-time basis is really problematic without a wider reform. You would need to integrate it with a wider reform package.

[TJ in Oregon]

Also, one thing that needs to be recognized is that the purpose of a university in the modern world is twofold: to conduct research and educate people as to the truth, and to prepare them for a variety of career paths. It is not, nor can it be, fundamentally about kids 'finding themselves'. The way our system is setup needs a massive overhaul. We have far too many people going to college to get a degree that is necessary only as a signalling technique to employers of their competence rather than building their skill set for a career.

[Beet]

Yes, we should cancel student debts, and reform the system so that universities are publicly funded with spending caps on anything that is not directly either research or education.

[Joey1996]

Tuition-free 2 year public college is the most feasible option at this point

[7,052,770]

Only if they also reimburse everyone who already paid theirs, or paid for college directly without loans.

[Mr. Reactionary]

Pls forgive my $60k-$80k student loans.

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Sorry, free college is not worth losing the investment in beautifying our colleges. No way. We are America. We have to look the best and internally, compete with each other to be the super-best. There is no point to a German education. I would never.

[TJ in Oregon]

Sorry, free college is not worth losing the investment in beautifying our colleges. No way. We are America. We have to look the best and internally, compete with each other to be the super-best. There is no point to a German education. I would never.

Given the trends in modern architecture in the last 50 years, we'd probably make them more beautiful by cutting their budgets.

[Storebought]

The other 300,000,000 of us are going to be super pissed and ask for a free hand out too.  Especially the millions of people who worked their way through college.  Why do these people think they deserve free money more than people who didn't go $60k in debt to graduate college with a degree that won't ever be able to pay that off?  They made a bad financial decision.  Blame* the people that told them this was a good idea at the time and STOP telling High School students it's a good idea now for phuques sake.  I mean the odds are pretty good that there are dummies reading this right now that are racking up loans for a degree that they won't even get.


*maybe take some money from HS Guidance Counselor's hefty pension system?

The majority of student loans are for sums less than $15,000. The most financially burdensome loans, though, are the small ones -- around $5000 -- from two-year degree programs that didn't lead to better jobs, or ones accumulated in four-year degree where the student dropped out.

[junior chįmp]

We should just change bankruptcy law to allow the discharge of student debts. Was legal until Bush changed bankruptcy law (and which Biden voted yes for while in the Senate)

[dead0man]

We should just change bankruptcy law to allow the discharge of student debts. Was legal until Bush changed bankruptcy law (and which Biden voted yes for while in the Senate)

indeed.  I think this would make lenders much less likely to lend the kids money though....which would be a good thing.  "you want how much money to go to school to do what?....are you serious?  I didn't even know you could get a degree in that!  Well, good luck with it, but we won't be assisting you financially in this."

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Sorry, free college is not worth losing the investment in beautifying our colleges. No way. We are America. We have to look the best and internally, compete with each other to be the super-best. There is no point to a German education. I would never.

Given the trends in modern architecture in the last 50 years, we'd probably make them more beautiful by cutting their budgets.

I think Cold War-era college brutalism properly reflects the horrifically dystopian job market that liberal arts graduates will be facing.

[Dereich]

One of the biggest benefits of working for the government or a non-profit out of college is that that working at a public interest location for five years will forgive your student loans. The pay in most public interest areas is dismal and totally noncompetitive with the private sector as is; this would just widen the gap. In my area of work (criminal law) it would certainly scare qualified people away from working for the public defender's office, taking away one of the main benefits for one of the hardest and worst paying legal jobs you can have.

[dead0man]

The other 300,000,000 of us are going to be super pissed and ask for a free hand out too.  Especially the millions of people who worked their way through college.  Why do these people think they deserve free money more than people who didn't go $60k in debt to graduate college with a degree that won't ever be able to pay that off?  They made a bad financial decision.  Blame* the people that told them this was a good idea at the time and STOP telling High School students it's a good idea now for phuques sake.  I mean the odds are pretty good that there are dummies reading this right now that are racking up loans for a degree that they won't even get.


*maybe take some money from HS Guidance Counselor's hefty pension system?

The majority of student loans are for sums less than $15,000. The most financially burdensome loans, though, are the small ones -- around $5000 -- from two-year degree programs that didn't lead to better jobs, or ones accumulated in four-year degree where the student dropped out.

well bully for them then.  I'm glad to see it's not as big of a problem as others have made it out to be.

[Storebought]

The other 300,000,000 of us are going to be super pissed and ask for a free hand out too.  Especially the millions of people who worked their way through college.  Why do these people think they deserve free money more than people who didn't go $60k in debt to graduate college with a degree that won't ever be able to pay that off?  They made a bad financial decision.  Blame* the people that told them this was a good idea at the time and STOP telling High School students it's a good idea now for phuques sake.  I mean the odds are pretty good that there are dummies reading this right now that are racking up loans for a degree that they won't even get.


*maybe take some money from HS Guidance Counselor's hefty pension system?

The majority of student loans are for sums less than $15,000. The most financially burdensome loans, though, are the small ones -- around $5000 -- from two-year degree programs that didn't lead to better jobs, or ones accumulated in four-year degree where the student dropped out.

well bully for them then.  I'm glad to see it's not as big of a problem as others have made it out to be.

The hard-working people who work hard in school are the ones who are the most affected by the loans. The very study I posted said as much:

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If anything, these people should be borrowing more, since the larger the loan the more "worth" the degree will carry. Basket-weaving or whatever you say is just bunkum -- they'd be better off getting pharmacy and nursing degrees, where the job prospects and future income growth, with the attendant loans, are much higher. Just like what Alexander Hamilton said in the Adams movie, "The more you borrow, the more that will be lent to you."

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

We need a law to stipulate that if someone is expected to pay debt at any point, but lacks the financial resources to do so at that point, then the amount they were expected to pay but were unable to is an amount they are not required to pay, but the amount is regardless considered equivalent to having been legally been paid when calculating how much they owe on the loan in the future.

[dead0man]

If anything, these people should be borrowing more, since the larger the loan the more "worth" the degree will carry. Basket-weaving or whatever you say is just bunkum -- they'd be better off getting pharmacy and nursing degrees, where the job prospects and future income growth, with the attendant loans, are much higher.

I agree, people shouldn't take student loans out for degrees that don't pay well.  Some people are going to have a problem with that though.


and the fact that cost=worth when it comes to degrees is a HUGE part of the problem.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The big problem with just letting the market decide what to charge is that it is very detrimental to subjects that are expensive to teach like Medicine, Chemistry and Biology. In the UK, where most universities charge a uniform £9,000/year whatever the course; liberal arts courses (which cost about about 3,000 per student per anum iirc) will subsidise STEM, especially the super-expensive medical courses.

[dead0man]

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

It certainly doesn't help that administrators vote themselves huge pay increases every year.

The president of my small college is one of the best paid in the state.

[SteveRogers]

One of the biggest benefits of working for the government or a non-profit out of college is that that working at a public interest location for five years will forgive your student loans. The pay in most public interest areas is dismal and totally noncompetitive with the private sector as is; this would just widen the gap. In my area of work (criminal law) it would certainly scare qualified people away from working for the public defender's office, taking away one of the main benefits for one of the hardest and worst paying legal jobs you can have.

Except it’s actually 10 years