If people stopped taking those loans and paying the university prices, they would stop charging them. These are for-profit businesses, of course they charge whatever they can. They’re responsible for making their shareholders money, not helping students. And just because someone else is doing bad, doesn’t justify everyone doing it.
You say this like they are deciding to buy McDonalds or Burger King.
The issue is a path to prosperity for young people. If you are 18 your choices are the military, a trade school or higher education. Maybe the gig economy will let you be an Uber driver without any of the above or perhaps a waiter.
But most well paying jobs, jobs you can do for the rest of your life and will allow you to buy a home and raise a family, require further education beyond 12th grade. Almost all white collar jobs will require a college degree and as has been noted, there are precious few blue collar jobs left that pay well.
Corporations and banks alike have had to be bailed out by taxpayers due to questionable practices. Students deserve a fair shake. The means for doing this are (some of):
- limits to tuition fees
- linking tuition and average salaries
- low interest rates
- ample bursaries for the needy and smart
- workplace relevant, well-paying jobs for students who require them
- high teaching assistant salaries
- good teaching assistant conditions
- schools being forced to provide relevant learning experiences (if applicable)
- shutting down degree mills and scam schools which take undue advantage of foreign students or the would-be educated
- forgiving portions of a loan, eventually, if later salaries are low despite effort
- forgiving all of a loan in bankruptcy
But not blanket forgiveness of a fixed amount.
This is mostly incorrect. There do exist for-profit colleges, but most public and private colleges and universities are nonprofit institutions.
Higher education in the USA includes a variety of different types of institutions, from community colleges to Ivy League universities (and many other types).
So a whole generation should shoot itself in the foot and relegate themselves to a lower income and standard of living just to stick it to the loan companies? All except for those with rich parents who can pay for school anyways of course?
Perhaps you misunderstood what I was calling vindictive:
That opinion, similar to “no one should get help that I didn’t get it” is vindictive. It shows your motivation does not have empathy.
Nonprofit institutions in no way means they are inexpensive to attend.
They didnt think… period.
Most colleges arent for profit.
And this is like saying if people stopped taking out car loans, car companies would stop making cars.
Not everyone is as financially smart and savvy as you are.
Right, but that’s a non-sequitur; I never said they were.
What it means is that they are not out to maximize profit by charging as much as the market will bear. They are run and budgeted differently from for-profit institutions, and they cannot necessarily afford to charge less in tuition than they already do.
That’s not true either.
Nonprofits can sell their services at any price they want.
What makes them a nonprofit is what happens to the money the collect.
Harvard University is a nonprofit. Their tuition is $52,000/year. Columbia University is also a nonprofit with a tuition of $62,000/year.
And they spend that money educating students. It costs a lot of money to educate a student. Sticker price students help pay for aid for students getting merit or need based aid.
And yes, there has been administrative bloat - but schools need a diversity office and an accessibility services office now. They need writing centers and mental health services. Those offices are utilized. And yes, there has been facilities bloat - when your theatre was built in 1949, it may be time to install a modern theatre.
Congressman Mondaire Jones really shows how tone deaf he can be.
‘… But law school left me on my own. I graduated with more than $120,000 in debt…’
Poor little me, this horrible law school debt only got me into Congress.
This isn’t even a fire. This is an unwatched barbecue grill while the kitchen is on fire, the basement is flooding, and the septic tank is backflowing.
I’d much rather have us look at the underlying causes first, address those, then come back to the remaining outstanding debt (where appropriate).
If any student loans are forgiven, I want my $50K back.
A very succinct statement of what is wrong with forgiving outstanding loan debt. It is effectively making college free retroactively, but only for people who don’t pay their bills. The only way to make this fair is to not just forgive outstanding debt, but to write checks to every student who attended college during the years included who paid their bills.
It’s even worse. People like myself would have chosen a different college if I knew it wouldn’t have to worry about money.
What is wrong with you all?
We can only fix a problem if you get paid too?
I get it. Why should Joe Millennial get a check if Jane Boomer can’t? TOTALLY unfair! 
What is being ignored are the costs of higher education today versus what it was 30+ years ago as well as just sorting out the country to make it a better place. Let young people get out from under crippling debt that takes decades to discharge short of dying (if then) and let them be able to buy a home and start a family.
I should add…
I do not think all debt should be wiped. Say, up to $50,000. If you went to Harvard you get $50k wiped off of your $120k debt. If you went to Arkansas State and spent $25k your debt is gone. (Made-up numbers…this can certainly be tweaked.)
Also, I do not think this debt forgiveness works without serious reform in school tuition. At the very least offer a free route for higher education so this debt forgiveness thing is not needed in the future.