Questions About College Debt – Arizona Daily Independent

There has been much discussion of President Biden’s attempt to use taxpayer funds to pay down college debt for millions of Americans, and there are several questions which have yet to be answered. Why is President Biden so motivated about this effort, after the Supreme Court rejected his attempt?

Paying off college debt was a significant plank in the President’s 2020 platform since he knew that young, college-educated Americans tended not to vote and he needed their votes. The promise of reducing their debt got them to the polls and he will need them again in 2024, thus the continuing work on this promise.

There are questions about the individuals who are burdened by the college loans that they took out. Did they opt for a private university over a public one? Public colleges are significantly less expensive. Did they choose to go out-of-state, despite the fact that out-of-state students tend to pay more for college? Did they commute to school or did they live in a dorm or an apartment? Commuting generally saves on college expenses.

Could they have attended a local two-year college and then finished the last two years at a four-year university? Two-year college attendance will save the student a meaningful amount of money. Did they join a fraternity or sorority, which would have added to the college cost?

Of real importance is the effort they made in high school to take challenging classes and maximize the work they did in each class to record the best grades? Most states have scholarships for students who are successful in high school, which obviously lowers the cost of a college education.

If individuals made choices which inflated the cost of a college education, why should taxpayers bail them out? Remember, that they could make these unwise choices   because inflated cost was easily covered by borrowing more. There are millions of Americans whose lives are hampered by debt from medical bills, business loans, mortgage loans and car loans, why are those with college debt worthy of special treatment, especially if much of their debt is due to poor decision making?

If those with college debt are truly deserving of Federal help, the answer might be having Federal counselors help individuals create GoFundMe accounts, where each can explain his or her situation and why they are deserving of direct help from American citizens.