Long before the coronavirus hit our shores, our society’s focus on instant gratification has in many respects made acts of self-sacrifice a lost art.
On Monday, Rep. Alynna Pressley, D-Mass, claimed canceling student debt represents a “racial justice issue.” The following day, I submitted a contrary piece of evidence: I paid off my mortgage — with a balance far exceeding the average American’s student loan balance — seven years early.
At a time many Americans remain unemployed or underemployed, I recognize the economic hardship millions of families face, through circumstances (i.e., a global pandemic) not of their own making. Given the recent growth in coronavirus cases, extending the suspension on student loan payments past its current Dec. 31 expiration date seems an entirely fair and reasonable move.
But as someone who specifically decided against going to an Ivy League school due to the additional debt that would rack up, I recognize that incurring student debt ultimately represents a choice. Indiscriminately negating the effects of those choices does an injustice to those students who made tough decisions — working their way through school or starting out at a community college to save money — to avoid taking on massive amounts of student debt in the first place. --->READ MORE HERE
This week, the Left has intensified its calls for President-elect Joe Biden to forgive student debt via executive order, perhaps as much as $50,000 per borrower. Such a move would constitute both awful policy and an abuse of the discretion that Congress has granted to the executive branch in this area.
It is often said that Americans’ trillion-and-a-half-dollar student-loan debt is a “crisis.” It is not. As Beth Akers of the Manhattan Institute has noted, the typical four-year college graduate who borrowed starts with a debt of $28,500, which he can eliminate with 20 years of $181 monthly payments. By way of comparison, bachelor’s-degree holders outearn high-school grads by something like a million dollars over the course of their lives. College costs too much, but not so much that we need to feel sorry for the most educated people in our society.
What about those with far higher burdens? These large sums normally come from graduate studies, not four-year degrees, and are disproportionately possessed by folks with relatively high incomes, including doctors and lawyers. Higher undergraduate debt is also often the result of a deliberate choice to attend expensive private colleges rather than more affordable public ones, and to turn down avenues such as military service that can pay for college. Moreover, many students from truly modest means are already given significant grant aid. On top of that, the problem of truly unmanageable debt has already been addressed — and at the expense of federal taxpayers. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories/opinions:
Imagine Having The Left’s Attitude On Student Loans Toward Other Exorbitant Debt
Forgiving Student Debt Is (Still) a Dumb Idea
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