Student Loan Forgiveness

President Biden has consistently bucked the Supreme Court to forgive student loans and free thousands of their debt obligations to government and loan providers.

Since the 1960s, we have seen a dramatic rise in college attendance, a radical shift in ideology toward a liberal mindset that flushes American principals down the toilet, and a steep rise in the cost of acquiring a degree.

According to Higher Ed Dive, 52% of graduates with a bachelor’s degree are underemployed. I think this is accounted for by businesses demanding that a new hire must have X amount of experience. How does one achieve that experience if they are not provided entry-level jobs for which they are qualified?

In my personal experience, most college graduates, even those with master’s degrees, do not work in their field of study, meaning they either couldn’t find employment in that field, decided that field wasn’t right for them, or were forced out due to lack of a decent salary or demands on their personal time, i.e., teachers.

While I believe young people shouldn’t have to start their lives with hundreds of thousands of student debt, I also think there is a way forward from this situation:

1. Improve high school education. Many students leave high school only to have to take remedial classes just to start their college education. We’ve all seen the eighth-grade graduation quiz from a school in Salina, Kansas, and almost no one graduating in America today could pass it. If we’re returning to foundational standards, let’s start with teaching kids how to pass that quiz.

2. Higher learning establishments should be required only for degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine and Chiropractic, and Law. All other degrees can be learned through hands-on training and apprenticeships.

3. Remove tenure and the inability of the school to fire teachers and professors who do not meet institutional standards or teach ideology counter to the institution’s mandate.

4. Do more to promote skilled trade and incentivize partnerships between trade schools and local businesses.

There is also currently a wide variety of ways for students to have their loans forgiven or reduced through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.

1. Do like I did and do pushups in the mud for your G.I. Bill

2. Military service through ROTC programs and active duty.

3. Work for any U.S.-based government organization.

4. Peace Corps

5. Americorps

6. Work for a non-profit. See examples.

7. Serve as a teacher for inner city or disadvantaged areas.

There is no short-term fix for the education problem in the U.S. We once dominated education standards around the world and have now slipped into 13th place, according to EssayHub.

I do believe Trump is right to end the Department of Education. As an institution, it has failed U.S. students, is rife with corruption, and embodies a woke liberal mindset.

However, we need a comprehensive plan to hand the education of our greatest resource, young students, to the states. Questions abound about how to do this, and more intelligent people than I am are already (hopefully) working on a plan to implement the transition.

But for those of us who busted ass to pay off college or did pushups in the mud for our degree, why are we left empty-handed? If the government is forgiving student loans, why not credit card debt or mortgage debt? If Biden forgave 100k in student debt, shouldn't I get equal forgiveness on a debt? Or maybe I'm just reaching. 

Hey, the entire system is made up of ones and zeros, so theoretically, we could throw a switch, and no one would owe anything. We would all have blank slates and clean balance sheets. Would we be able to live within our means, or would we be out there racking up more debt tomorrow?