New York had tuition free at state colleges without any requirements. Got too expensive, so they stopped it. Still giving free tuition is a good way to go and it does not pay for books, room and board or other fees.

One thing that hopefully almost everyone can agree on is that, for those that are cut out for it, a college education is very valuable.

Many people would further agree that going forward K > 16 education should be free, with some stipulations regarding GPA, and means testing.

Currently though, that is not the case.

It seems that some people would like to make college free retroactively. That is not how things work, but if we were to do that, wouldn't the fair thing be to reimburse everyone who has ever gone to college for 100% of their expenses? Simply forgiving currently outstanding loans seems grossly unfair.

See my other post for my compromise solution. It essentially has people pay a reasonable amount as they are able. Poor/low income folks pay $0. The well-off pay a significant percentage of their income. Any balance left at (say) age 65 is then forgiven.

That's between the extremes of forgiving ALL student debt regardless of income or family net worth, and demanding that all debtors pay 100% of their loan no matter what their financial situation is.

I've written before that student debt is just the symptom of the larger problem: the cost of college. I know that as a poor 3rd world country, the US can't afford free college. But a lot of other countries can...mostly in Europe. And some of those countries offer free tuition to ANYONE--including US citizens. And in many of those countries, university education is in English. And--put your fingers in your ears conservatives--some countries not only pay tuition, they GIVE the students money for room and board plus some spending money. The horror!

I'll also remind my readers that there is this wild, undiscovered country to the north called "Canada." Somehow this poor undeveloped country is able to offer tuition to the U. of Toronto for about US$ 5,000 a year to Canadians; US$ 34,700 to foreigners. Meanwhile, the U. of Michigan (to choose a comparable school in terms of size, quality, and geographic location) charges $16,700-18,836 a year to Michigan residents. Out-of-state costs $55-59,000 a year. Note that U of T tuition is less than ⅓ U of M. They must be crazy beyond that border.

But once again, all this boils down us "us" vs. "them." To the letter writer, the people who took out student loans they have trouble re-paying are "them." To say the letter writer is mean spirited is charitable.

This is a good time to give some thought to two Biblical passages. The first is from Deuteronomy:

At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts.

This is how it is to be done: Every creditor shall cancel the loan he has made to his fellow Israelite. He shall not require payment from his fellow Israelite or brother, because the LORD's time for canceling debts has been proclaimed.

You may require payment from a foreigner, but you must cancel any debt your brother owes you.

However, there should be no poor among you, for in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you,

if only you fully obey the LORD your God and are careful to follow all these commands I am giving you today.

For the LORD your God will bless you as he has promised, and you will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. You will rule over many nations but none will rule over you.

If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother.

Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs.

Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: "The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near," so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin.

And if you don't like the Old Testament, here is Matthew 18:

“Therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him.

In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars.

He couldn’t pay, so his master ordered that he be sold—along with his wife, his children, and everything he owned—to pay the debt.

“But the man fell down before his master and begged him, ‘Please, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.’

Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

“But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment.

“His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it,’ he pleaded.

But his creditor wouldn’t wait. He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full.

“When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him everything that had happened.

Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me.

Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’

Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.

That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”

Even people who are in favor of blanket loan forgiveness must admit that it would not be fair or equitable.

Some people have already paid off their loan(s).

Some never had a loan because they saved money to pay tuition, and/or their (lower middle class) parents scrimped and saved.

Some just used the loan to fund a 4 or 5 year long party, and may have never earned a degree.

The fact that the *purpose* of student loans is one most people approve of should be beside the point. Otherwise, it begs the question, what about other 'righteous' reasons to borrow money? For example, we have a friend who worked for the USPS. She had very little money but her mother needed to go to a nursing home so she put tens of thousands of dollars on her credit cards. That meant her plans to buy a house were crushed. Shouldn't her cards be paid off? There are any number of examples like that.

This would work much better:

* No pile of money up front.

* Borrowers are required to pay a modest percentage of their income (above a certain low threshold ) toward their loan(s).

* The percentage could cover a range, say 5% to 15%, depending upon income level.

* The idea would be to have borrowers pay off as much of their debt as they reasonably can.

* If, by say age 65 the loan(s) is not paid off, any remaining balance is forgiven.

That way, we aren't handing out $10K to $20K (plus the interest that would have accrued on that amount) to people who may be making a large salary in a year or two -- say, a recent law school grad that is currently working as a waitress but lands a position at a corporate law firm 6 months from now.

The only fair way to do this is to have people pay what they can afford to pay. Those working menial jobs for less than a living wage cannot be expected to pay off their loans. Those earning solid 6-figure salaries certainly can.

Any student loan bailout is going to be problematic. Who gets what and who will be unfairly treated. And it will only exacerbate the underlying problems.

I was fortunate enough to have the GI Bill which was a good supplement.

The answer or solution is elusive. Here is an idea. The GI bill pats after service or during service. What about a program that pays off college loans acquired while serving. Enlist. Have a government program in place that restructures your loan and pays down your loan while serving your country.

So then who here is okay with the banks being bailed out? You know those two banks in CA? I'm not okay with it...because there were regulations in place to stop it from happening...but then the banks lobbied and got those regulations loosened.....so they failed....and needed to be bailed out...

Students loans are not regulated enough...see what happened was, lenders, which are generally banks, saw these students were in need of cash to pay for college, they were so kind and would lend anything to anyone...because there were no regulations in who they could lend to...and with us telling our youth, you need to go to college or else...We applied for students loans which were not tied to reality...because there were no regulations keeping students in reality.....now it's the students who need to be bailed out, you know because there are no regulations on lenders....to operate in reality...

You know capitalism at it's finest...but when we apply capitalism to students...it's not okay? But it's the same exact thing...capitalism.....so why are you all complaining about Biden forgiving student loan debt? Just curious...

College tuition and loans went off the rails in the 80s, the interest rates under Reagan was 9%.

That and the requirements to get a job skewed towards a mandatory 4 year degree just to get hired, that left a lot of students in a bind.

So I have sympathy for some who have student loans that they may never be able to repay.

I don’t have a problem with some student loan relief, let’s make everyone who received PPP loans pay them back with interest, why should they have their loans forgiven and not students.

Joe Biden buying votes with our money. Looks like it may explode in his face. Sure hope so.

Go to a college you can afford, get an education and get a job. Perhaps I should go out and buy a house I can't afford in hopes the will forgive my mortgage. The author is right, just scam to buy votes.

I'm of two minds on this issue - and I paid my graduate loans and worked during the day while attending school full time. My tuition at UMD in the mid 1980's was $757.50 per semester, I wrote the check out of my construction wages. My daughter's last semester was over 5k. Just tuition. That system is broken and the schools have leverage it on the student's and parent's back with government and private loans. Something has to change. The vast amount of trade school fraud with these programs as well is criminal, the students end up fleeced.

However, a broad brush doesn't handle this correctly in my opinion - targeted relief for those who enter mid income positions that have community applications should be the first tier of it, some of that exists in Teach for America, it should be expanded, greatly.

Where I really think there needs to be reform is in the Bankruptcy Code, after a certain number of years - the schools need skin in the game here to lower costs and a clawback from the institutions is the right way to handle such a bankruptcy. It's completely unfair to allow private business to discharge billions of dollars, especially when it receives tax incentives, tax breaks, etc.

It's a nuanced issue - the author is arguing it simplistically. It's not that simple.

Guy kids going to college are using the new math - no wonder they can't figure it out

Your choice, your responsibilty. Stop whining about interest rates and the effect on your quality of life. Nobody held a gun to your head to get a loan, stop expecting everyone else to bail you out.

That restaurant meal analogy was the worst analogy I have ever read. Perhaps a bit more experience in writing would have helped. I'm assisting my grandchildren in their college expenses and they are applying for student loans without regard to whether or not the loan may be partially forgiven. The structure of student loans needs to be reengineered to provide a better exit capability for the student. When my grandson graduates and buys that restaurant I'll make sure your tab is picked up and that you are provided a "link" to better analogy writing.

Lynn, there is a difference between an expense and an investment. A college educated work force is an investment in the future. A college degree was long ago determined to be a requirement to enter and stay in the middle class. You cannot blame young people for investing what we told them was a requirement.

I agree that no help should be given to students who chose to go to a private as opposed to a state college. Expensive private colleges exist mainly to give parents bragging rights. The parents can pay for it.

"For every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, direct and wrong."

Higher education is not comparable to buying lunch. Education changes lives and provide opportunity. While you may have been able to pay for college for yourself and your children, many young people has no option but to take student loans. And then the interest accumulates over time making these loans difficult to pay off. It's complicated not simple.

For so many people, the interest on student has ruined their lives. They may have long ago paid off the amount they borrowed, but still owe more than that in interest.