As a full-time college student who intends on getting a masters degree and possibly a JD, the thought of massive student debt scares me, as it does many students around the US. There are adults old enough to be my parents who are still paying off their student loans 20 years after they’ve graduated. Younger generations like millennials and Gen Z are heavily advocating for student debt forgiveness, and they are questioning whether the system is fair and whether it works for the American people. Many individuals are unable to pursue higher education when factoring in the costs of loans, and numerous Americans agree that student debt is a major problem.
Student loan debts in the US are a total of 1.75 trillion dollars, and this number grows 6 times faster than the US economy. This presents a pressing problem. Thus in order to take steps toward rectifying it, Senator Elizabeth Warren unveiled a proposal to forgive up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt. Weeks after Joe Biden’s election, a CNN town hall took place where he was asked about this proposal. Biden stated plainly that he refuses to make that happen. Biden claimed that it would benefit students from elite private universities more and that the money would be better spent in early education. He advised that people ought to prepare, as payments on previously frozen student loans will resume.
Student loan debt is an issue that greatly affects racial minorities and is the kind of economic justice issue that Biden and Kamala Harris are expected to address by those who voted for them. Biden can wipe out the debt with an executive order; however, that may impact the economy negatively. Biden has been deferring student loan repayments, first through August of 2021, then through January 31 of 2022, and then for an additional 90 days. While deferring student loan repayments is helpful, it is a Band-Aid on a much bigger issue. Biden was expected to ask Congress to forgive $10,000 of federal student loan debts per borrower, but there would be many implications in doing so. Canceling student debt would have a positive impact on low-income borrowers and especially on women and people of color, because it would act as a stimulus to the economy as borrowers would then invest that money elsewhere, and it would also increase the median wealth for Black households. However, some Americans argue that canceling student debt would only benefit a privileged class of people and that it doesn’t solve the bigger issue of high costs for higher education.
If not forgiving student debt, Biden should and has made other changes by working on various initiatives pertaining to college costs such as increasing Pell Grants, broadening loan forgiveness programs and cutting payments of undergraduate federal student loans in half. Various countries in Europe have free or low-cost tuition for higher education. Students are even considering leaving the US to study in these countries rather than pursuing higher education for higher rates within the states. Lowering education costs may be something to consider and focus on that would help solve the bigger issue of expensive tuition rather than forgiving loans in one fell swoop, which only puts a Band-Aid on a much deeper core issue.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.