If you hadn’t heard, Robert Smith, Chairman & CEO of Vista Partners, a private equity firm, while conducting the commencement speech at Morehouse College, a predominantly African American all male private college located in Atlanta, promised to pay off the student loan debt of the 2019 graduating class.
A very noble and honorable gesture that is estimated to be somewhere between $10 million and $40 million. The College is working on getting an exact figure and determining how the process for eligibility, payoff, etc. will take place.
But what about the kids in that graduating class, who may have worked two jobs, taken extra years to pay their tuition without taking loans or whose parents took out second mortgages, and/or worked extra jobs so their children could go to college without being in debt? What about them?
It seems that Mr. Smith was jumping on the recent wave of student loan criticisms and making a splash against it. Sure it’s his money and he is able to spend it in any fashion he so pleases. I do hope that those receiving his very generous gift will pay it forward. I also hope that those incurring student loans in other classes and colleges aren’t resting their hopes and dreams on inviting Mr. Smith to their commencement address in future years!
I agree, they won’t be hurt, but they might feel it’s unfair that they didn’t receive the same free tuition, that someone else is getting by being less responsible.
That is nice for him to do but I would rather society have a structure to allow people to afford an education if they want one than be reliant on the whims of billionaires.
I heard a clip of him promising this. He said it was a challenge to the other alumni present - is he going to pay it all himself, or do matching grants, or what?
I assume he is going to donate the money to the college, and the college will set up retroactive scholarships, or something like that.
From what he said, everyone is eligible if they graduated.
It’s certainly very generous of him.
I have no idea what I would say to them. What do you say to the ant when things pay off for the grasshopper? “Life isn’t fair”?
I feel much as I do when they read Matthew 20:1-16 on Sundays.
Assuming that the graduates have not just been racking up bills, but rather like pretty much all other college attendees they have been paying bills so far… I don’t see where anyone is being less than responsible. Sure, some have been paying as they go. Others had pledged to spend years paying off that debt, they just got lucky/won the lottery but they aren’t getting refunds for what they already paid.
Really, characterizing some graduates as more or less “responsible” than others is pretty crass in my opinion. I seriously doubt any of these people are freeloaders in any meaningful sense of the term.
But, fairness isn’t really the issue. Some people get grants, some get scholarships, some get loans, some have family resources, and some pay their own way. Most, I assume, utilize a combination of these to get through school. I doubt any students relied exclusively on loans to pay their way and thus none truly got “free tuition.”
At every college there are those who get subsidized education and those who pay full price. Should my daughter feel there is something *unfair *about a student from a poorer family getting a nice need-based scholarship while we pay full tuition? I hope not. And I hope that students who graduated with no debt don’t feel victimized by their classmates who are getting their tuition debt paid off by a generous alumnus.
Since it’s his own money, it’s just tough luck for those who didn’t get it. He could have said, “I will pay off the student debts of everyone seated in rows 1-25” and then it would be tough luck for those in row 26, but that’s life.
But if it were something governmental like the Warren debt-forgiveness program, that would be more problematic.
Would it? There are many government programs that aren’t fair to all participants. Much of the corporate welfare that is doled out through subsidies, etc. is the government picking the winners and losers.
If it sucks for those who were attending school while simultaneously working off their loans, that is only a matter of perspective. In other words, this is why we can’t have nice things. If they could find it in their hearts, if there are those who feel this way, to understand that their outstanding balances, too, will be taken care of, comma, then they should be grateful. If any student is bitter, or feels cheated of all things, a good look in the mirror is in order.
Why focus on the members of the class of 2019 who don’t have debt? What about the class of 2018 that didn’t get their debt paid off. Or the class of 2019 of all the other colleges. Or the people who didn’t go to college. Or any other class of people.
Just think of what a great natural economics experiment this will make!
Amongst friends and family, they are joking good-naturedly about being Frank Grimes. But in quiet, pensive moments, I’m sure they have some regrets and resentments.
But what can be done about this? Let’s say this billionaire guy promised to pay everyone’s tuition–even cutting a check to those students who have already paid their bill. That wouldn’t stop the “what about?” game. What about the kid who graduated last year? What about the kid who took four years to graduate versus the kid who took six years to graduate? And why should some rich kid get his tuition bill paid for the same as some poor kid? Truth is, no matter what you do, SOMEONE is going to be unhappy. Is that enough to not do anything?
I don’t quibble with how a generous billionaire spends his money. But somew of the comments are wrong-headed IMO.
“That student paid less than I because he got a basketball scholarship. I may not agree with athletic scholarships but I can understand the concept.”
“That student paid less because he got 700 on an SAT and got a scholastic scholarship. I scored 699, sigh. Still I can understand the concept of thresholds.”
“That student paid less because he comes from a poor family. I can understand the concept.”
But this isn’t any of that:
“That student spent his weekends partying on a lender’s dime while I was working to make ends meet. He gets a cash reward now and, because I worked instead of partying, I don’t get it.”
Well, if someone is capable of finishing his studies while doing nothing but party, more power to them I guess (1), but why is it relevant who is paying for those studies? Or are you equating all students who have loans with those who do nothing but party?
1: it sure wasn’t the case in my school; those who got a Master’s In Bar during their first year didn’t even pass to second, those who worked on their MIB later would take longer to graduate than those of us who got no MIB.
A while ago there was a thread on whether it was possible to pay your way through college. And the answer is: it’s really not for the vast majority of students. You can’t make enough money as unskilled labor to pay for college.
Furthermore, although I don’t know the specifics of this university, most students who take on loans to go to school do so as part of a “package” of financial aid that includes working. Because unless you’re a very frugal partier or you manage to hide some assets, the people at the financial aid office know how much money it takes to make it through college, and they won’t loan you enough money to sit around and loaf.
It’s certainly true that some college students are going to work more to end up with not as much debt, but the kids who end up with no debt didn’t do so because they worked weekends. They did so because their families had money.
The difference between a student who’s getting their loans paid off and one who doesn’t in this case is largely (though not entirely) the same as your last example, of people who come from poor families not having to pay as much. The ones who don’t have debt don’t have it because their rich families paid for their college.
Yeah, a quick Google shows that average tuition at Morehouse college is about $27k, add in lving expenses and it is basically impossible to cover costs by stocking shelves in between classes and studying.
You’re ignoring the amount of financial aid these kids get. The average freshman student receives approx. $24k of financial aid of which about 2/3 is grants and scholarships with about 1/3 being student loans.