Higher education has almost become a rite of passage. Near the end of high school, many students are asked where they will be going to school after graduating. It is expected that a vast majority of teenagers will continue their education at two-year and four-year colleges.
But the pressure to follow a “traditional” path is often not helpful. College does not guarantee success, and choosing a nontraditional path isn’t a certain failure. And then, there’s the cost of the whole endeavor.
The rising cost of tuition and fees is unsustainable. Coupled with interest rates and long repayment plans, student debt can be overwhelming. But cancellation or forgiveness, which transfers the bill to taxpayers, is wrong. People who neither agreed to certain loan terms nor received the product are meant to shoulder the burden. Worst of all, these actions don’t fix the root of the problem. It will continue well into the future.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced the cancellation of $10,000 in student loans for people making less than $125,000 a year. Pell Grant recipients will receive a cancellation of $20,000. For the many people who don’t have a college degree, didn’t take out loans, or who already paid off what they owed, this is a major slap in the face.
For myriad reasons, the policy is bad. Biden is going beyond his authority by using a national emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic, as the reason for this aid. The problem is that the Biden administration has tacitly admitted that the time of health-related crisis is over and that the economy is back on track. In addition, the bailout adds even more to the deficit that was supposed to be helped by the Inflation Reduction Act.
On top of everything else, this is a one-time measure that won’t affect future borrowers. It does nothing to address the root causes. It is simply a move to make Democrats appear sympathetic ahead of the midterm elections. People of all stripes will have to shoulder the burden, both now and in the future.
As expected, the reaction in a divided America was strongly for and against Biden’s plan. Organizations such as the NAACP believe the president didn’t go far enough, while many Democrats feel this is a step in the right direction. Across the aisle, conservatives are upset at the transferring of debt to those who didn’t sign up for it. Not to mention, it’s not a long-term solution.
Biden’s student debt bailout is a short-sighted move bringing long-term individual and collective pain. That much is certain. But the discussion surrounding student loan debt forgiveness and cancellation is a reminder that college is not for everyone. It is a serious commitment, both academically and financially.
College should be open to all, but standards for academic performance must remain high. It does no good to feed unserious students through these systems. That may benefit administrators and a university’s bottom line, but it does little to help students. Future students who lack discipline or focus would do well to reconsider a four-year college and all the financial costs that entails. There’s nothing wrong with taking time before leaping into a long-term academic and financial commitment. Those are good lessons for anyone who believes higher education is on their horizon.
Biden’s student bailout doesn’t address predatory university administrations or the exorbitant amounts they charge. Instead, the burden of this debt is transferred to those who didn’t ask for it. The focus is entirely off of the parties that should be most on the hook for it. So, thanks to Biden and his team, the cycle will only continue. No reforms made, no lessons learned, just righteous outrage at the weight that’s been repositioned.
Until there are actual improvements to college tuition, fees, and lending practices, students ought to watch out for themselves. Because the government is surely not watching out for them, and it is not watching out for regular taxpayers, either.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
