By The American Contemporary
Voters across the country are continuing to voice displeasure with President Biden over his perceived inaction toward student loan forgiveness, with some borrowers going as far as to purposefully halt their payments in protest (upwards of 25% according to some surveys). Biden was hindered in his efforts to provide relief to student borrowers following a Supreme Court ruling which forbid his executive order to forgive student loans up to a specific amount across the population of borrowers. However, despite the ruling, the Biden administration has been working toward advancing some degree of student debt relief, such as the introduction of the SAVE income-driven repayment plan which increases the threshold for minimum payment and removes the accumulation of interest on accounts which are unable to pay the interest earned each month in full. Additionally, Biden’s team has announced continued efforts to forgive debt of public servants, students of specific defunct or dishonest universities, and student who have held debt for a considerable period of time.
Despite this however, many voters are split across the aisle as to whether these actions are seen as beneficial or detrimental to the state. Many on the traditional political left perceive Biden’s efforts as being insufficient to alleviate hardship and suffering for borrowers who are suffering under inflation, poor economic performance, and job insecurity. Meanwhile, critics on the traditional political right argue that Biden is acting in defiance of the Supreme Court, and his actions are unfair to those who have already paid back their debt plus interest. Further, many argue that it is not fair to force taxpayers to foot the bill for students who willfully took out loans for schooling.
As the debate rages on however, I am left questioning why it is that our political leaders seem to be so fixated on stopping the bleeding without addressing the wound itself. The modern educational system is a broken mess of inadequate student performance, rapidly declining quality of education, and vapid bloat from needless administrative meddling. As the price continues to climb, students are getting less and less value for their tuition. And with the ease of government loans, coupled with the societal drive to push students toward college for non-technical roles, a system which originally may have been intended to allow anyone to achieve higher learning regardless of socioeconomic status has now evolved into a machine which allows this extortion to continue unchecked.
Of course none of this is to discount the importance of education in society, nor should it discourage anyone from furthering their educational pursuits. But instead, it is a challenge to the narrative that only those who attend college are capable of achieving. Further, it is a challenge to the notion that we as a nation require a surplus of college-educated individuals formally trained in niche fields as opposed to experienced workers and tradespeople. It similarly calls into criticism how it could possibly be that so many college educated minds have been sent into the workforce, unable to return on the debt their accrued. To me, this appears as though it is either a case of insufficient demand for college educated minds (or at least those educated in specific fields of study), or there is such a surplus that companies are now able to hire those who are willing to work for the lowest cost. Either way however, this creates a problematic workforce ecosystem where under-experienced and overqualified young adults are unable to find both meaningful work and work which allows them to pay back their loans while sustaining a family.
From a fundamentalist perspective, the issue that must be addressed is no longer how to manage those who already have outstanding debt, but instead altering the system which has allowed such debt to accrue. Similarly, it is imperative that we tackle the economic and societal hurdles which have led to this situation of higher costs and poorer quality education, and the sustainability of policies which encourage formal education for everyone. Until we shift out focus, we are simply putting a bandage on the wound, when we really should be working on stopping the bleeding.