Thoughts on Cancelling Student Loan Debt
Cancelling student loan debt would definitely benefit me, but that's not the only reason I'm for it. The biggest reason I'm for it is because I know there are people out there right now that have it worse than me when it comes to student loan debt for whatever reason. Maybe they have kids and can't give them the things they want because they're still paying on student loans 10 years later. Maybe the cost of living has increased in their area and haven't seen a pay raise to compensate. Whatever the case, there are people out there right now struggling because they have this massive debt they are trying to pay back because they were told the only way to get a good job is to go to college.
While that wasn't terrible advice, the price tag to attend college has increased over the years and wages have stayed relatively stagnant thus forcing people to have to find extraordinary ways to pay for college and that's where the need for student loans and financial aid came in. As it turned out, loaning money to people who couldn't afford college but wanted a better future was a very lucrative business and lead to some very predatory lending practices.
As the price of college rose, so did the average amount of the loans needed to cover the cost of school, especially when you're working a minimum wage job paying $7.25/hr. and the cost of school rose past $13k annually. ($15k is what someone making $7.25/hr. would be paid annually before taxes.) So back when college was only $13k a year, you might be able to pay for everything on $7.25 an hour, but once it climbed past that, people had to start making the decision on whether or not to secure loans because not everyone can get a scholarship and not all companies are, or were, paying for people to complete a degree, but they were, and still are, certainly requiring folks to have them.
So now, we're at a point in our society where a whole bunch of people are saddled with debt thus spending less money simply because when they graduated they had $38-50k in debt and can't pay it off quickly. Obviously this isn't the case with everyone, but the majority of people who have student loan debt are going to, and have been, paying it off for years which affects their ability to buy a home, a (new) car, travel, dine out, and anything else people can spend money on which is bad for the economy.
Part of the reason our economy is suffering is that people just aren't spending at the rate at which they used to, and I know people will say that's crap because companies are making record profits, but profits don't always equal high sales. Companies will raise the price of their product(s) to offset the losses in sales and Netflix is prime example of this. Netflix has increased their price at least 3 times in the last 5 years because they are losing customers and to offset those loses, they increased the price.
If they cancelled student loan debt, that puts an average of $300-600 per month back into the economy. People who weren't able to buy a new car, will be able to buy a new car. People who stayed on tight budgets and only spent $100 a week on groceries would spend more at the store and probably dine out a little more often. People could travel more, and all these activities generate revenue and sales tax. All things that are good for the economy.
Another reason I'm for cancelling student loan debt is because as long a companies are requiring people to have degrees and/or technical certifications, there shouldn't be a price tag to obtain them. I understand that people want to say that college shouldn't be free and all that jazz, but at the end of the day, what jobs can you really get with no skills or degree that has good benefits and pays well?
I've been in talent acquisition for almost a decade and the best jobs that came across my desk all require a minimum of a 4 year degree and anything under that the job paid, at best, $20 an hour which isn't bad for single person, but at the same time, it's not very good either considering the national average for rent is about $1200 per month which would be about 50% of the monthly net income of someone making $20 an hour. Even when I was staffing for construction companies the best opportunities were for people who had certifications. Heavy equipment operators, electricians, and other positions required either a ton of experience or a technical certification before they would even consider a person for the opportunity.
I think as long as companies are requiring post primary school education, there should be a free option because without any post primary school education, whether it be a 4-year college or a technical/vocational school, people will be stuck in jobs they don't want or saddled with debt for trying to pursue a career they were passionate about and I don't think it's right that people can't pursue the jobs they really want because they can't afford the cost and aren't willing to take on massive amounts of debt.
Look, cancelling student loan debt isn't going to make everyone happy but it should because it does benefit everyone to have that $1.6 trillion going directly back into the economy instead of being tied up in loans for something that should have been free in the first place if it's needed to acquire suitable and decent employment.
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