Cancelling Student Debt / Loans

One of the hottest issues to pop up recently is whether or not to “Cancel Student Debt”. But why?

At the most basic level we are talking about people who made a choice to take on debt allowing them to earn a degree. Hopefully they weighed the pros and cons. If the degree you are seeking is highly specialized like a doctor or lawyer then you can look at the income you expect to be earning and decide that a certain income will outweigh and pay for the debt you took on. That could be a smart decision.

If on the other hand you are seeking a degree that will earn you less income over the course of the next few decades then maybe it won’t pay for the debt you are incurring or at the very least make it difficult when faced with choices to also buy a home or start a family. Too many people may fall into this category. I fully understand the weight debt plays on us and can sympathize with people who find themselves in this position.

That being said people take on debt for various reasons every day, to purchase a home, real estate, a car, or as an entrepreneur to start a business. They too must weigh the pros and cons, if a bank will give them the loan in the first place.

What makes the person who chose to incur debt for a degree that isn’t as financially rewarding more deserving of debt relief than the business owner who may be successful but still has a large debt which he dutifully pays back? These are valid questions for society.

Now getting back to the example of the student. I am of the belief that our current society needs to do a better job of pointing out other avenues that people can take. Rather than incurring debt at a higher tier institution maybe they could have started at a two year university, a community college, and then transferred for their final years.

We should also show people that tech or trade schools are wonderful pathways to great earning potential. A person earning to weld can translate that into working for someone and then starting their own company and the sky is the limit.

I admit that as a society we need to do a better job of looking at people who hold the trade jobs as equal in status to university educated students and even lawyers and doctors. Laborers are some of the hardest working people in our society and should be admired as such.

My point is that there are many other routes that people can take other than incurring debt for a degree which will place them in a precarious position.

And again what about all the other debt people take on daily? Should we “cancel debt” for other reasons? If not, why not? That doesn’t seem fair. The woman who risked everything to start a business and lies awake at night worrying about paying her loan, her business insurance, her payroll, etc. do we not feel for her?

Forget all those other people for a second. Lets say we “cancel student debt”. Ok, then what? Is it everyone in the past up to present day who still owes anything on student loans? What about people who graduate next year and in the future? Let’s be honest the people pushing this plan do not intend to stop there. Of course they plan on cancelling debt going forward. That would only be fair wouldn’t it? Their real goal must be free public university education for all.

On the surface that sounds great and I wouldn’t be immediately against it. But again we must look at all the facts.

Why are universities so costly here compared to other nations? Let’s look at the American college experience. Its about so much more than academics these days. It’s about the entire college experience. Our universities are offering more and more to entice students to come to them over the next university down the road or in the next state over. Common sense tells us that these ever growing experiences drive up the costs to attend our current universities.

My point here is that if government takes over footing the bill for our college experience will that be able to maintain or will it shift back to a much simpler academic focused experience? As they say you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Students should not expect the same experience going forward. I would expect the single payer to demand downsizing at public institutions.

Is this worth the trade off? Potential students must ask themselves if this is the future they want. If so, then fine, but it must be a part of the discussion.

Now let’s return to the people in positions of political power pushing these proposals. Why? Be honest with yourselves. It’s to lock in an entire new demographic as a voting bloc. All college and university students will now become beholden. This is fact. People beholden tend to keep voting for the people giving them the thing they seek.

Let’s end with an appeal to personal responsibility. We don’t need to end the current American college experience. If that’s what you want then please attend, but it comes at a cost. But, let’s as a society start talking about all of the other options which are out there for our youth. The other avenues they can choose to achieve prosperity and happiness in life without incurring debt for a degree that doesn’t have a good ROI.

We have to recognize that this debate is a lot more complicate than a slogan “Cancel Student Debt”.