“I can be someone’s and still my own.” — Shel Silverstein

I suppose I have to be a teacher because I find that I repeat myself quite often. The best writers are the ones that offer lines like above. I’ve used it more than once in this space because it packs so much into such a tiny place. It’s simple and yet more profound than probably anything I’ve ever come up with.

We’ve been talking about student loan forgiveness for a few days now. I have tons of responses on social media and here. The negative responses (mostly on social media) usually fall under two different categories. These are categories I’ve addressed before. I keep repeating myself after all.

The main word we come to in all of these discussions is the word deserve. These students don’t deserve to have their loans forgiven. They haven’t done anything to earn that. Either that or we will cite the fact that they willingly entered into this contract, so they should suffer the consequences of that decision. Of course, the mere fact of suggesting that anyone should suffer anything should make us pause. This doesn’t even mention the fact that we are making a pretty heavy assumption that students are making informed decisions when they sign these deals. We assume they know what they are getting into. If they are in dire financial straits it is probably due to the fact that their parents didn’t go to college. So, why should we expect them to automatically understand how these loans work or how to pick a major that makes sense? Middle class kids that have parents that went to college will know these things. They also will be less likely to need larger loans.

As I said in a previous piece, the idea that any of us deserves anything is presumptuous. Certainly, in a philosophical/theological sense that is definitely untrue. We don’t deserve a damn thing. However, one could claim that everyone should get a measure of human kindness. Silverstein’s quote above eloquently points out that we may think we are lone wolfing it, but all societies have a certain interconnectedness that we cannot deny. We can belong to someone else and still be our own. We can support each other and still maintain a measure of self-reliance.

We all acknowledge that the government does not have an infinite amount of cash to spend. So, when we ask the question of whether we should forgive loans we have to look at it as an investment. What do we as a society get for that? Is that enough to justify the investment? It’s a fair question especially when thrust against other opportunities where we can invest in people.

The second argument levied is why these people get assistance and not those people. Someone asked why they should forgive student loans and not cancer patients. Of course, no one bothered to consider that we could conceivably do both. Sure, it means that other things may not be funded, but opponents love to present a false choice.

People often use these two methods to avoid the hard conversations that come with living in a society. Government spending is all an investment. It is an investment that will help some people and not others. These are choices we freely make as a society. We can dodge it as long as we want, but eventually we have to face these hard choices.

Author’s Note: I know this one is longer than most. I did the best I could to cut as much fat as possible. It’s an important issue that deserves a full airing.

Yesterday, social media was all abuzz when Joe Biden announced his plan for student loan forgiveness. The upshot is that most borrowers can qualify for up to $10,000 in total forgiveness. There was a ton of rhetoric and a ton of snark yesterday on both sides. The crisis has three underlying causes.

College Costs have Exploded over the last 20 years

Nationally, the average cost for a public college was over 20,000 a year. That ballooned to over 30,000 for private colleges. The average cost in 2000 was just over 8000. I’m not good at math, but that’s close to a 150 percent increase over 20 years. That obviously is well beyond the rate of inflation for that time period.

Now, we could go into the whys this has happened, but if we dive down that rabbit hole we may never make it out. The question is one of responsibility. For instance, had I known that I was going to become a teacher I probably wouldn’t have gone to a private college. Students should choose an institution that’s as cost effective as possible. Yet, it cannot all be on them.

College Degrees aren’t worth what they used to be

One commenter yesterday made reference to “Mesoamerican Lesbian Studies”. Yeah, we all know it’s an exaggeration, but still we need to define our terms. As much as people might laugh at liberal arts degrees in general, they are not necessarily coming from a genuine place. Back in the 1960s and 1970s you could get a college degree in anything and still get a good job. That was less true in the 1980s and 1990s, but it is far more true than it is today. Somewhere along the way the rules of the game changed. It’s not students’ fault they changed. Sure, we can expect them to adapt, but they aren’t unique in getting liberal arts degrees that might not sync directly with the job market.

The issue is more acute for those without the means to pay for college or support at home. My wife and I can advise our daughter on college. We can coach her into choosing a major that makes sense. Some kids don’t have that at home. Buyer beware goes only so far.

The Nature of the Loans Themselves

Someone on social media showed their loan expenditures for their undergraduate and graduate degrees. The totals ended up being well over 150,000 with total monthly payments coming in at over 1000. That by itself is bad enough. Then you throw in the fact that those 1000 payments barely touched the principal at all. So, they are in effect stuck with those payments for the rest of their natural life.

Those of us that are older objected to the idea of forgiveness. They were responsible. They repaid their loans. It is not fair that the current generation is “too lazy” to take care of their own loans. Again, it’s not that simple. At some point we have to realize how ridiculous it is to pay twice as much as what was loaned to you because of the nature of the loan. Mortgages don’t work that way. Car loans don’t work that way. Why should student loans work that way?

Putting it all together

As I said in an earlier post, monies spent by the government are an investment of sorts. It is fair to ask whether that is the wisest way we could spend our tax dollars. I would argue for a measured approach that addresses these issues from multiple angles. The first question we should ask is how many kids are majoring in something we might consider frivolous? I imagine it is lower than people think. However, it wouldn’t be difficult to target certain careers and subsidize students studying those things. It wouldn’t be difficult to require graduates to work in certain fields for a fixed period of time in exchange for forgiving their loans. We already do that in limited circumstances.

Finally, we have to admit that college is just too damn expensive. We educate students in public schools for around 9000 a year. That includes people like me that are support staff. Colleges don’t have nearly as many of those. They aren’t serving students with severe disabilities in the same way we are. Yet, they cost more than twice as much. That money isn’t going to the professors. So, where is it going?