Does Biden’s Student-Debt Forgiveness Help?

Advocates of debt-cancellation love to bemoan the struggles of Americans with outstanding student debt. Debtors must drive less, find cheap housing, forgo eating out and cut costs in other ways. Debt causes people to miss out on good things and live more frugally than they might have. In this way, debt is painted as bad.

But why wouldn’t debt recipients expect to have to alter their behavior to pay off a student loan? Did students expect to continue living as though they had no debt at all? They knew that paying for school would translate to less money to buy other things, at least in the short term. These things were sacrificed in the interest of attaining something better: a college education. Debtors willingly took on their loans and the hardships that come with them. In this way students associate sacrifice with their success.

President Biden’s debt-forgiveness plan removes those hardships without taking away the benefits. It’s teaching a generation of students that hardship is unilaterally bad, degrading their appreciation for the work it takes to be successful. Forgiving debt will cheapen the accomplishment of having attained a college degree and further undermine the work ethic of everyday Americans.

—Cullen O’Hara, Cornell University, industrial and labor relations

A Step in the Right Direction

This year, despite celebrating a record-breaking 38% growth in its endowment, taking the total to $3 billion, my college hiked its tuition by 5.7%. The total cost of attendance is now $77,354 a year. This was a slap in the face for families such as mine that are struggling through hardships from the pandemic and rampant inflation. For a school that constantly professes its mission of social justice and prioritizing equity, Swarthmore seems to ignore its active contribution to the national student-debt crisis. And Swarthmore isn’t alone. Harvard, with its endowment larger than many countries’ economies, raised tuition by 3%.

Those against forgiving student debt often stress the importance of hard work and self-reliance, but such virtues are increasingly difficult to hold when even well-financed colleges are actively looking to exploit their students. We put in the hours to earn an education at the most prestigious schools, to acquire the skills necessary to be productive members of society, only to be taken advantage of by those institutions.

President Biden’s debt cancellation won’t solve the structural issues that led to the student-debt crisis, but for many students who can use a helping hand, this is a step in the right direction.

—Long Tran-Bui, Swarthmore College, politics, philosophy and economics

The Future Is Bright

I am a tradesperson, a lady machinist. My student loans helped me buy tools and pay for my technical degree. The future is bright for machinists. The federal government’s forgiveness of $10,000 is a worthwhile investment, because I am going to add value to my community as a machinist. And I will be debt-free.

—Laura Gilmore, Idaho State University, computerized machining technology

Reform, Not Refunds

I will have more than $150,000 in student debt when I complete my dual degree program at Yale Law School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. My debt should not be forgiven. Participating in these academic programs is a great privilege that comes at a great price. But when I walk across the stage on graduation day, I will be handed more than a diploma. I will be armed with a professional safety net subsidized by American taxpayers.

My grandfather paid for college by working as a truck driver in Arkansas. For years, my single mother struggled to pay off her debts while supporting me and my brother. Our family’s story is common, but the message is noteworthy: Embrace personal responsibility. The Biden administration’s student-debt relief initiative undermines the values I was taught and forces single mothers and truck drivers to foot the bill. It is unfair. It is partisan. It is wrong.

Today, millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. With inflation at record highs and economists warning of a recession, the administration should be allocating support to those who need it most. Instead, President Biden is subsidizing graduates who are well-prepared to weather a financial storm while ignoring the main issue.

Colleges charge exorbitant tuition, offer useless degrees and perpetuate a system that is broken. To fix the problem, higher education should be made responsible for the risk of nonpayment by graduates. We need reform, not refunds.

—Sam Stollenwerck, Yale Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business, law and business

Click here to submit a response to next week’s Future View.