Economics
So You Paid For Your Own Damned College Costs
Good for you. But things have changed
President Joe Biden finally did something about student loan debt, and now all the people who were mad at him for not doing anything are mad at him for doing something.
There are three main groups of people who are mad right now.
Boomers who don’t know how expensive college is now.
I paid for my own damned college costs and by God, these kids should, too!
Yeah, I was able to graduate without debt, too. It was a different world then. You could make enough money with a part-time job to cover most or all of your costs. You can’t now.
These kids today expect to go to fancy schools and want us to pay for it!
You can get into plenty of debt with a state school. They aren’t nearly as affordable as you seem to think. This is not 1979.
People who didn’t go to college at all.
You don’t need college! I learned a trade/started a business/whatever and these spoiled kids now can do that too!
Yes, you can find ways to make a living that do not involve a college degree.
But many jobs do require a degree. The guy who wants to be a teacher might not be a great plumber. The woman who wants to be a doctor may not be a great ironworker. Do you want only the children of the wealthy to be able to work at the kinds of jobs that require a degree? Do you think the wealthy are going to supply enough teachers and therapists and social workers etc. for society’s needs?
Also? College isn’t just job training.
People who think student debt is just like any other debt.
Why don’t they just pay for their loans off like I paid off my damned house? I pay my debts!
My mortgage rate is under 4 percent and yours probably is, too. Some students are paying a rate twice that, depending on lots of factors. Check out NerdWallet.
I know people who are at retirement age and have been faithfully paying on their loans for decades who still owe more than they originally borrowed.
Why were these kids so stupid as to take out loans they couldn’t afford?
A lot of them knew they were taking on too much debt, but what choice did they have? If they didn’t have wealthy parents and they needed a degree to have the career they wanted, what were they supposed to do?
Many kids crossed their fingers and hoped for the best.
This move is just a stopgap.
College is free or very inexpensive in most countries. Some kids actually get a stipend to cover their basic living costs! As with medical costs, the U.S. needs to get its shit together, because the current system is a wreck.
And there’s another question nobody ever seems to ask.
Why is the government making so much money on the backs of students?
I don’t think people realize that the interest on student loans is going into government coffers. In fact, I have learned, nobody actually knows this number. Thanks, Slate, that was an enlightening read.
Young people should be buying houses, starting families, purchasing cars — you know, stimulating the economy. Instead, for many years, young people hold off on launching because they have to pay such high amounts of interest to the government.
So yeah. A young person is expected to do all the work of getting a degree and then begin their career buried in debt while still being expected to be able to cover regular adult expenses. When we decide to forgive $10,000 of this debt, everyone moans and groans.
Oh
My
God!
These kids are getting a handout!
No, they’re actually not. They’re simply paying a bit less to the government now.
It’s not a stretch to say that kids paying massive student loans are helping to cover government costs. It’s like we are extracting an extremely high tax rate on every not-rich kid who wanted an education.
Don’t worry, moaners and groaners. Most kids will still be paying massive amounts to the government anyway.
About Michelle Teheux
I’m a copywriter, proofreader and editor in central Illinois. Find me on Twitter or LinkedIn.
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