Since the 1970s, many colleges and universities have become predatory financial giants, while mountains of student debt pile up and academic work becomes ever more precarious. An ascendant academic labor movement may be key to reversing these trends.
This is why I’m against student loan forgiveness. When a thing costs $10, and the government offers to pay $8, the cost of the thing tends to rise to $18.
We need overall student loan reform. Then, maybe forgiveness as a secondary thing to compensate those who won’t benefit from the reform (ie people who borrowed before the reform). But overall reform of the system should be the primary goal, not a one-time payout to those lucky enough to take out their loans before x date.
OTOH I can see parents not questioning the numbers from FAFSA (which were INSANE) and going “Well, I guess that’s just what college costs now…”
There needs to be relief for people trapped in predatory loans, worthless degrees and useless for profit schools.
My wife got a good degree… in print journalism, just before that industry folded in like a wet newspaper. She’s STILL carrying $40K in debt that she just can’t get rid of, worked in her chosen field for 90 days 20+ years ago, and hasn’t been able to use her degree since. :(
She got trapped in a cycle of low paying service jobs and here you go…
Eyyy
That all sounds totally reasonable, I’m just worried about future generations. If loan payoffs now cause inflated tuition for them, that’s not fair and they will rightfully curse us like we curse boomers.