If the government can bail out banks, they should bail out student loan holders.
By Anna Marks Editorial Assistant, Opinion |
When my college acceptance letter arrived, I sequestered myself in my clothes-strewn bedroom, away from the prying eyes of family members. Cuddling a treasured stuffed horse, I opened the email, clicked into the online portal, read the word congratulations and then skimmed the rest. There was no mention of financial aid. |
I couldn't tell my parents, not yet. Without a scholarship, attending the college of my dreams would mean a lifetime spent paying off debt. It was too early to celebrate. |
A few hours later, my financial aid offer arrived. Thanks to a generous scholarship, my college debt would be manageable. It was only then that I called my mom, who was on shift at a clothing store. We cried and squealed together. I could go. |
Many of my friends weren't so lucky. When their financial aid offers came in, some of them gave up on college entirely. Others borrowed heavily, believing that school would lead to a brighter future. Almost a decade later, many of them are struggling just to pay off the interest on their loans, much less the principal. The debt they took on has done more to change their lives than their degrees. |
There's been much debate about the student loan crisis in recent weeks, as President Biden seems to be weighing the possibility of canceling debt in some form. But many of the arguments I've been reading about this issue have boiled down to the same implicit question: What would make debt cancellation fair? |
In their guest essay, Charlie Eaton, Amber Villalobos and Frederick Wherry — researchers who have studied the student debt crisis for years — start with a different question. Instead of offering economic and social mobility to anyone who wanted it, did the government set students up to fail? |
When considering the history of student debt in the United States, they say, it's clear that the system that allowed students to take out loans for college was fundamentally flawed. Until now, they write, "the promise of loan-financed college as a source of mobility for all has proved to be empty words." They argue that Americans deserve a bailout, at least on the scale of those that the federal government provided to banks after the 2008 financial crisis. "But unlike in 2008," they say, "this bailout would go to the victims of a crisis, not its perpetrators." |
Plenty of those victims are my friends, colleagues and neighbors. They're yours, too. I can't help but wonder what their lives might be like if our government were to recognize its faults and take some responsibility for its mistakes. |
Here's what we're focusing on today: |
Forward this newsletter to friends to share ideas and perspectives that will help inform their lives. They can sign up here. Do you have feedback? Email us at opiniontoday@nytimes.com. |
Contact us if you have questions about your Times account, delivery problems or other issues, visit our Help Page or contact The Times. |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment