Speaking from personal experience, student loan forgiveness is an excellent idea and has many advantages for the individual, families, communities and ultimately, the national economy.
I am a grandparent who co-signed loans to provide my two grandchildren an opportunity to attend college. Their mother is a divorced elementary school teacher, and on paper, her teacher’s salary made them ineligible for certain types of financial assistance. Both of my grandchildren were motivated achievers academically, involved in school leadership and extracurricular activities.
While in college, they graduated in 4 years or less. One is in her second year of graduate school, working, full time, earning internships, with exceptional academic performance. The other grandchild is working for the federal government; and even with a federal job, he is living paycheck to paycheck, paying for shelter, food, transportation, student loan and of course taxes. However, he is living within his means and not asking anyone for monetary assistance.
I agree that student debt is troubling for borrowers and taxpayers. Please, realize that those who are working and trying to pay off these burdensome debts are also taxpayers. Many students find out later that their degrees do not provide the quality of life that inspired them to attend college. It now appears that Mississippi and four other states will treat student loan forgiveness as taxable income, which is contradictory and punitive to students. While Mississippi will punish students by this tax, the state government is being investigated by the FBI for fraudulent use of welfare money involving $77 million, given not to students nor those of low income, rather to wealthy individuals or entities for their personal enrichment.
Some students end up with loans which are 6-10% more than they originally borrowed, due to exorbitant interest fees. Those students who were able to secure jobs and pay off their student loans should be applauded. I empathize with those who had a desire to attend college but could not because it was too costly. Each student’s situation is different, and no one situation fits all holders of student debt. This is what I say to those who speak about the unfairness of it all: Think about the slaves who endured the harshness of the Underground Railroad to secure their freedom compared to those slaves who were emancipated by a stroke of Abraham Lincoln’s pen. Both groups of slaves endured the same cruelty under slavery and although how they gained freedom was different. However, I have not read nor heard about those who endured the Underground Railroad complaining about those who were legally set free.
This is not a political football game where sideline spectators are discussing how the game should be played. Student debt forgiveness is a lifeline for many who believed that a college education would provide a good quality of life, better than their parents and grandparents. I am wondering where is the pushback about the extreme high cost to attend colleges and universities and high predatory interest rates for these loans. Where is the outcry about tax credits routinely given to corporations and the stimulus checks issued during the pandemic? I did not hear the same uproar when Wall Street and banks were bailed out. What about the fact that 97% of PPP loans awarded some elected officials will not be repaid? Most students took out loans to afford college with the hope of improving their quality of life. Helping these students will allow them to be better consumers, contributors to helping others to become educated, all of which will ultimately help our economy and our society for generations to come.
Unlike some opponents, I cannot read minds or predict the future of whether some students might take advantage of this forgiveness and take out loans with no intention to repay. I only pray that this student loan forgiveness is a temporary solution until other societal wrongs are addressed and corrected.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn R. Hampton
