Reading today that
President Biden is considering relief for student loan borrowers.
The arguments are out about
punishing those who are able to pay off their loans or those who did not take loans. The other side is a very real human argument that this debt is crushing and ruining people's lives. (
NBC News Opinion Article)
There are not as many young people supporting cancelling student loan debt as is commonly thought. (
AEI Opinion Article)
With inflation and debt being a concern, is throwing money at the problem the right move? If I was American I would not be against it as a short term humanitarian maneuver, but I would want to see a real solution put into place.
As I read on this topic, I didn't see much discussion on addressing why large loans are given without thought of ability to pay off the loans? If you restrict the loans, it will put pressure on the Universities to adjust to the economics. That seems the likely place for this to get fixed. These universities are growing and feeding off the students. After they graduate and are saddled with student loans that are difficult to cancel out under US bankruptcy laws, those students get calls from the Universities for donations.
I don't understand why the long term solutions are not being looked at. First by fixing how loans are given out and perhaps taking the harsh steps of reducing them. Also, look at scholarships. They often benefit those with the financial means.
There are a few things the US could potentially learn from the UK. We don't pay the loan back based on how much we borrowed. We pay the loan back based on out income. Typically that is 9%. Student loans do not impact our credit rating.
It sounds like a good thing that President Biden is taking a hard look at this. The chin waggers focus on the debt cancellation, but that is short term at best. For the future of the students, I hope the US makes changes to the system, not just debt relief.