Introduction
One topic of great debate today is the amount of student debt being accrued by college students that, whether, they graduate or not, who leave college with debts from several thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. These debts are, most often, federally owned. Student loan debt cannot be eliminated with a bankruptcy and can only be forgiven if the borrower were to die. At least that is how it has always been. However, there are today may people who feel that student debt should be forgiven by the government under of number of applicable circumstances. There are other Americans who feel that it is not cost effective and is unjust, because it forgives monies that other Americans had to pay. That said there are two distinct sides of the argument. After reviewing the relevant information it becomes clearer that forgiving student loans on mass would require immense governmental costs, a burden that would fall on the taxpayers and it is unnecessary because of already existing loan repayment alternatives.
A college and university education has always been something encouraged and prized. It guarantees one’s ability to learn their field of interest with belief that it will become their profession once they graduate. It allows individuals to call themselves experts and be given the respect for that knowledge. There was a time when college costs were far more humble and while it was still costly to some, but more reasonable for most. As the United States continued to grow the cost of entering university also became more costly. Today we see universities where the per unit cost was as little as $12; today these units may cost as much as $300; this would make the average 3 unit college course cost go from $36 to $900. It is these rising costs that have increased student need for financial aid. Almost any student who qualifies for student aid will be accepted, as it generally does not rely on one’s good or bad credit. So once they have exhausted their possible scholarships or grants, the loans are there to make up the difference. This translates over the course of four or five years to a huge debt, once one also included books and other class requirements. With the current political conversation that has recently turned to creating “free college and universities” all across the United States, the topic of already accrued debts has also been spotlighted. Both sides make an educated and relevant argument, worth discussing individually.
Supporting Loan Forgiveness
Right now there are thousands, if not millions, of Americans who had and continue to have student loan debt. This is true of people working in a fast-food restaurant and bosses of million dollar companies; most who attend college cannot escape the need of turning to financial aid to complete their education. Many see these debts as incredibly unrealistic as some may owe more than they might make in several years of employment. Because the monies have now reached the high billions; there needs to be relief for all of the Americans involved. Those who support the forgiveness of student loan debt see the entire practice as unethical and damaging to students in the long run. Their view has three core points that are foundational to their argument.
Automatic Debt: There are many that do not see the benefit of millions of people who enter adult world already carrying a huge amount of debt; they should be able to begin their young lives without debt. The add that there is also a likelihood that many students will not find employment after graduation with their field. Is it fair to assign debt when an income is not guaranteed to all?
Biased Against the Poor: They also strongly feel that federal student loan debt is unfairly taking advantage of the poor. Student from wealthier families generally do not need the help of financial aid, but the poor could not attend school without it. So the poor must pay for their education for the rest of their lives, while the wealthy do not. Also the poor will likely pay more in taxes as those loans increase regularly.
Equality of Education: Does the same education really have more value when it comes from one school to another? That said students who want to attend “ivy league” university, for example, will end up accruing more debt than a similar student in another university taking the same courses. That being said these debts are imbalanced. This means that the same education would actually be more costly for the poor than their wealthier counterparts.This is rather unethical and unjust according to the supporters of student loan forgiveness. The only way to fix the inequality is to eliminate the debt altogether and everyone can start fresh.
Opposing Loan Forgiveness
Experts have concluded that American student have accrued as much as 165 billion dollars in student loan debt. That is a huge amount of money. This is an amount that most could never hope to pay off completely unless they land that dream job or win the lottery. But just because the cost is high does not mean that you just eliminate the debt. That is no different than saying Jane Doe owes $10,000 in credit card debt; she cannot afford to pay it off so the credit card company decides that if it is too high, then will just cancel the debt. That is not really how the world works. Those who believe that student loans should not be arbitrarily forgiven have a rather different perspective from those who call for student loan forgiveness. They argue three very important points to support their position.
The Government Cost: The cost of forgiving student loans would be immense. The federal government would own colleges and universities all across the country.The United States economy is currently already struggling with debt, to create and even greater burden on the economy at this time is unwise.
Burden on Taxpayers: Americans always complain about their taxes and hate tax
increases. If student loans were forgiven by the government taxes would no doubt rise. This is going to perceived as unethical. People who did not ever attend college and people who have no children in college would be forced to “foot the bill” for other students in the United States, who now has, essentially, gotten their education for free.
Alternative Relief Already Exists: There is sense of accountability that comes with paying off the debt that has been accrued. Also, financial aid that is paid back can then be recycled to help other future students; which creates far less debt in the end. Finally, student loan forgiveness is generally unnecessary. There are already so many programs and avenues that can aid student with their student loan debt. There are forbearances and deferments available for who students who struggle financially with those debts.
This is not to say that the high dollar amounts of education debt could not be reduced overall, lessened through compromise and could use some dedicated reforms, but that does not mean that student loan being forgiven on mass is the best solution; it simply is not. The argument is not as “black and white” that many on both sides might prefer it. However, as with just about anything that divides society, it is a matter of finding the compromise that will ultimately bring resolution to the situation. Again, the number of students with high debt increases, but fewer and fewer students are successfully finding employment after they graduate. For some this renders their education as useless, financially speaking; literally former students are paying for an education that they cannot use. By making the overall cost of college and university far more reasonable for students, regardless of the socioeconomic background the debts would not be as extreme and the repayment would then be far easier and not required years upon years of rising debt. Forgiving student loans is simply not necessary if the overall costs are reduced and repayment and income sensitive options remain available.
Conclusion
Everyone knows someone who has accrued or is currently accruing student loan debt. It is very real and people who want the opportunity to gain the skills, education and training of their chosen profession a college education may be required. Government provided financial aid has been integral in allowing people, many living in poverty, an opportunity to attend the same schools and same degrees as those from greater socioeconomic class. This opportunity is not free and will likely create debt for some students, but not for others. This is entirely ethically questionable. With all of the alternatives, like forbearance, deferments and income sensitive payment plans to ease the burden of that debt throughout their life; making it possible for more to be able to pay that debt; this makes loan forgiveness unnecessary. While supporters of loan forgiveness are not wrong when they point out the high dollar amounts students accrue during their higher education is extreme, but logic seems to conclude that loan forgiveness is not the solution to the problem at hand. The consequences of such actions would not resolve debt, it would simply displace the cost back to the government, and, therefore, onto the taxpayers; again, which is unnecessary.
Bibliography
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Dash, Stephen. “Student Loan Forgiveness: Too Good to Be True?” The Huffington Post. March
18, 2013, 1. Accessed July 28, 2013 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-dash/student-loan-forgiveness-_1_b_6889754.html
