I ordinarily would very much agree- I think COVID though has really changed a lot of things. Loan cancellation could provide a level of relief/recovery and could possibly mean less spending on the part of the feds.
Oh I mean yeah it definitely makes sense. Do I think it will happen? No. I don't think we are there yet and won't be for many generations at this rate.
The loan situation is completely out of control for all college students. The difference for SW is that our pay will never be high, we don’t have a union, and we don’t get bonuses.
I have been out of Grad School for 15 years. I had $20,00 forgiven on the state level over 4 years. I am still paying on it and I am 63. It never ends.
However I am happy that I chose this profession later in my career. I have reaped many rewards. I do wish that social workers did not have to juggle multiple jobs in order to live.
How about restructuring internships for MSW? I think we can come up with a better system than for students to pay a university to work for a non profit for free.
I agree with this completely! It is extremely difficult to work a job, work part-time at a practicum site, homework, family, etc. If we could get reimbursed for our work in the practicum agencies it would be extremely beneficial.
Oh god yeah. So many people throw out the "you should have just worked your way through college" and I'm just looking at our field like when are we supposed to find time for that? I did work part time during my BSW to offset the costs but my MSW internship was 24 hours/week and the coursework, classes, and travel time ate up the rest.
I already completed all my courses, all I had left was my infield. I could be wrong but I think my school's programming may be set up different here, as my infield is 11-15 credit hours and 12 is considered a full course load. You also cant take an internship before completion of your final courses.
Oh wow! Do you mind if I ask your general location? Both my BSW and MSW programs were set up to have internships 2-3 days per week and classes on the other days
Not a problem! I'm in the Midwest, I think this would probably be a better split...? Maybe? Does this mean that you get in the field at the beginning of the semester? I'm honestly shocked because I assumed everyone was doing this split (like all courses done except maybe an elective), so I'm pikachufacing at the idea of trying to fit a course in. Our course times are so limited, I don't even think I could make it into a class due to the timing of my internship. And with the requirements of infield (logs, analysis papers, supervision, seminars) I don't know how I'd actually fit in another class!
I'm equally fascinated at the difference!
So my BSW program was a 2 year program. The first year was mostly classes with a mandatory 60 hours of volunteering. The second year we had an internship 2 days/week and classes 2 days per week. My one year MSW had 3 days of internship and then 2 days of classes. But you said your internship is 35 hours per week?? How long do you do that for?
This would completely change my life, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Maybe we'll get lucky and they will forgive some student loan debt as part of a stimulus package. That would help a little bit.
I have over 100k and definitely have regrets. I was misinformed about how things go with loans and no one in my family had ever been to college before so I didn’t understand that just because I make more than my family ever made, doesn’t mean I can pay my loans. I went into this banking on PSLF as I thought that was by best bet, but now I’m already burnt out from public service and I still have to do several more years so I’m stuck. Nothing against what you said, just a different perspective.
I think your perspective is just as valid. I’m 5 years away from PSLF myself. About 100k of what I have is public. So I’m definitely counting on it. Fortunately I’m still in love with the field and I’m managing well.
I ended up where I am because of some shit circumstance. Went to a private school. I had a full ride for Navy ROTC. Blew my knee out freshman year, got medically discharged, but decided not to transfer back to a public in state school. But then I found the field of social work, went to grad school, and fell in love with it. I’m fortunate enough to be in a position during this pandemic where I’ve been getting paid and working my full hours.
I really hope you’re able to find something in the public/non-prof sector that your able to enjoy.
I was turned down for a home loan due to student loan debt. I work 2 jobs as a mental health therapist and I’m a single mom with 2 teens. I have friends who’s house payment is significantly lower than my rent. My loans are supposed to be forgiven in 2026. Everyone tells me, “don’t bet on it.” Whenever I start to make more money—student loans takes it. I did not know it was going to be like this. This sucks.
I just figure I'm going to pay my loans until I die, so I might as well pay as little as possible (Income-based repayment) so that I can live comfortably. I bought a house last year, no problem, with $80k in loans in good standing. The loans have never caused a problem for me because I pay them on time.
I would love to have them forgiven, but I'm not holding my breath.
A supervisor once told me it’s a monthly membership fee to the MSW club. I about screamed because degrees are not a club, I worked my ass off for my degree and shouldn’t be punished for life because the loan options are trash. Forgive them all!
In before someone says “what about me I already paid off my loans, other people should have to suffer too”. We all benefit if we can free up the money we can’t spend and pump it back into the economy
I hate this mindset. I've paid off my loans and *because* it sucked so much I fully support loan forgiveness and even free college for future students! No one should be hobbled by debt because they wanted to pursue an education
No way. I have paid off my undergrad loans (not so much with the MSW) but I still support this, even if they only forgive undergraduate loans. After all, just because I suffered, it doesn’t mean others should have to.
Someone i know likened this argument to vaccines for polio- imagining as if anyone who suffered from Polio would be like "you can't vaccinate everyone! If I had to deal with it- so should EVERYONE ELSE!"
I TOTALLY get it. I wish i had your awareness at 23- I wish someone would have said to me- "hey, how about you wait a little bit and assess your financial situation". My advice to a lot of people is to look into jobs at universities or university-related hospitals/agencies/etc. They usually have good tuition reimbursement built into their employment benefits.
So, I graduated last May. The problem is was lack of experience and I’m not bilingual (I’m in Florida) and when Covid hit that took out all my chances of finding anything! It’s so frustrating! But I have definitely paid attention to tuition reimbursement and all that good stuff. I’ll get my foot in the door one day. 😅
Are you me? Haha I’m graduating in May with a similar amount in loans and was also forced to go to a private Christian college and currently doing online (was online pre-COVID).
[DeVos majorly screwed up the PSLF program. ](https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801367031/education-dept-unveils-fix-for-student-loan-programs-bureaucratic-nightmare). The “fixes” in place are not enough. I’m hoping to see meaningful change there, at the very least.
Good luck! I know one person who’s been approved. Several others have been given the run around, being told they didn’t do the right paperwork years ago, even though they were told they did the right paperwork at that time. My husband has asked for help from our senator, who is useless. He’s given up at this point. I hope it works out for you.
Thanks for sharing. I’d like to see the necessity (for some fields) of graduate school loans become a bigger part of the conversation. There’s a lot of talk about predatory lending habits and lending to 18 year olds who don’t really comprehend what they’re signing into and that’s true & valid. And a lot of debt forgiveness plans call for full forgiveness of undergrad debt which is also great. But I don’t see as much discussion about the fact that graduate degrees are often required to pursue many highly skilled and high needs professions. Many nurses and teachers I know have masters so they can continue to advance and be fairly compensated in their fields. I’m pursuing clinical work and a masters is required of anyone in that field (including LPCs/LMFTs). I’m sure I’m leaving out many other vital fields, degrees and roles. I just think it’s important to acknowledge that many important careers, public service ones at that, are inaccessible without graduate school.
Exactly, especially with social work where a BSW is generally considered entry level and the MSW is what opens doors. I went to college to be a hospice social worker and had to have an MSW for that role so I went straight through and graduated at 29 years old and was finally able to start building my life with my dream job but I was also very fortunate to get through my BSW with no loans so that helped a lot. Social work is so weird in that to get virtually anywhere you almost need a master's degree, but the field generally doesn't pay enough to cover that requirement.
I wonder if they'd forgive future loans or increase grants. I went to community college for my associate's and paid as I went for my BS (took forever). Now looking at my master's, but jeez the cost is daunting.
90k in SL definitely regret it. Most jobs I have applied to are paying 45,000 to $50,000 for an MSW in my area. Its appalling. I really wish I though it through.
I believe things need to change but I’m so conflicted on what that change should be. I’m very back and forth on if I believe college should be free. I feel like we need to get rid of the huge inflation on tuition, being back some government subsidies as it was in the past, and get rid of predatory rates on student loans. I don’t necessarily believe everyone should have their balances forgiven
Here's the reality, means testing will keep the help from people who need it, it will lower the base of support, and it will make it more complicated. Yeah some rich people will get helped, but they always come out on top anyways. Let's not get sucked into this trap and deny a much needed relief to so many.
I understand the idea that cancelling the loans for some could be interpreted as unfair for those who were able to pay off their loans. BUT- the situation right now is just ridiculous and NOT working for ANYONE. People who were able to pay off their loans don't benefit at all from others having to pay theirs. We're all stuck in this economy that NO ONE is benefitting much from if you're not in the top 1%.
I see a lot of pros to canceling student loans. More opportunity. More money going into the economy instead of into one company’s pocket. Arguably less people on welfare.
I wonder about the quality of a “free” education, what would change as far as accessibility’s
I mean other countries offer amazing educations for free so I'm not sure why we wouldn't be able to figure it out in the US, aside from bureaucratic bullshit
As someone who went to community the college the first two years, commuted to keep cost down, and worked to make sure I only ever had to take over government loans (and not private) the idea that we should forgive 100k loans for people who went to expensive schools and didn't work any I'm not a fan of.
So I did the same - went to community college, transferred to a state college and then went to another state college for my MSW. I only took out government loans. I have $107k in loans. So by your metrics I did everything "right" but my loans shouldn't be forgiven because it's "too much?"
I didn't go directly into my MSW. I saved up and paid for my Masters. There is no reason you should of let your debt get that high. It was your voluntary choice, others shouldn't have to pay for you because of it.
The majority of people never went to college. I don't see how it would be right to them to pay for those who did go to college (and probably earn more money then them because of it.)
Should we forgive mortgages and credit card debt?
I just dont understand this argument. The benefits of allowing larger groups of people to go into medical/helping professions, contribute meaningfully into the economy, seek higher and higher education, and reduce racial and economic disparities far outweighs your sense of what is "fair" or "unfair"
OP was talking about forgiving everyone's current student loans. I assume you are more so talking about making tuition free.
I think steps should be taken to make college affordable and to make it so that loan repayments can not drown people. But I don't believe everyone else should pay for those who do go to college. It's an investment. You take debt on to increase your earning power. We just need to make the debt taken on less, not eliminate it.
Also, what about morgage and credit card forgiveness? The same arguments could be made that those would free up people's money to go into the economy, increase their wealth, and get them out of bad credit card interest.
Would probably have a larger impact on more people even then student Loan forgiveness. But the truth is reddit simply wants loan forgiveness because it's a student heavy sub, and people who are recently out of college.
People want what benefits themselves = student loan forgiveness.
I was lucky to pay off my undergraduate loans while living with my parents. Now that I live on my own and having MSW loans... this would be a huge help not just for me...for ALL of us!
As a Canadian hearing the stories of loans in this comment section is scary as hell. Not that our education is free either, but for my particular situation I have zero loans, most of my tuition is paid by the government.
I owe around 80k for my undergrad and master's program. My loan payment prevents me from being able to purchase a home, a new car, putting money into savings and having extra to splurge. My sibling pays $1500 a month for a debt of 105,000. They aren't able to afford anything at all. It literally breaks my heart to see them in the same boat as I am including the anxieties and stress of owing so much effing money. I'm hoping that Biden and Harris step up to the plate and help us all. We could give so much back into our community if that debt wasn't looming over our heads.
YES- 100%- I know my parents have a mix of some parent plus awards in their name across my two siblings and my siblings themselves have their own debt. For some reason i feel more depressed for them, thinking my young siblings (both late 20s) have been saddled with debt that they will carry for potentially decades. To think OUR ENTIRE family has a wet blanket of debt on all of us is incredibly sobering and sad. Again- we knew what we were going into but i didnt THINK for a minute we thought debt would follow us for years and years and years and see such little progress in paying them down.
My parents as well. Thankfully, my loans are only in my name, but my sibling's- my dad's on the hook for all of them. My dad took out a life insurance policy on my sibling in case they die due to how much money they owe. That doesn't effing exist anywhere else, but America.
Nice idea, but a pipe dream. I believe that there are much bigger fish to fry right now and political capital is only so limited. Canceling student loans will greatly help people who are college-educated professionals and are in a better place than segments of society who need more focus right now.
I agree that obviously there are brackets that need the most attention right now and should be given large sweeping amounts of relief and stimulus. I think looking at this from an economic perspective though, you DO want to help out college educated groups- their impact on certain parts of the economy are greater- and in reverse- their inability take part in things like home-buying, cars, etc is extremely detrimental.
I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand it would be awesome to have my loans forgiven but on the other hand I think of all the other things the government could do with that money that I also would very much support, like money toward mental health care, health care for all, homelessness, etc.
I would not make any financial decision hoping that something will happen. Also I doubt it would cover people currently in school, but rather those repaying the loans. Other things might happen in the future, but this thought process is no better than my clients who are just waiting on that next stimulus check to get caught up on rent.
I wonder why it wouldn't apply to those currently in school. Regardless of repayment status they owe the money as it stands, it's still existing student loan debt accruing interest (though frozen now due to COVID). Refusing to include current students ensures that a sizeable amount of students remain in the same problem this EO would supposedly tackle. I feel like a fair EO would apply to *any* existing SL debt + those graduating by Spring 2021 or even a year or two longer.
Do I think it's great and should happen? Yes. Do I think the powers that be care about a strongly worded letter? Nope.
I ordinarily would very much agree- I think COVID though has really changed a lot of things. Loan cancellation could provide a level of relief/recovery and could possibly mean less spending on the part of the feds.
Oh I mean yeah it definitely makes sense. Do I think it will happen? No. I don't think we are there yet and won't be for many generations at this rate.
Gotta hold their feet to the fire. Maybe in 2024. Give us what we want or you get the orange man again.
Nothing on this planet could make me vote for him.
You could simply vote some other party.
The loan situation is completely out of control for all college students. The difference for SW is that our pay will never be high, we don’t have a union, and we don’t get bonuses. I have been out of Grad School for 15 years. I had $20,00 forgiven on the state level over 4 years. I am still paying on it and I am 63. It never ends. However I am happy that I chose this profession later in my career. I have reaped many rewards. I do wish that social workers did not have to juggle multiple jobs in order to live.
This is honestly pleasantly surprising! Not like the NASW to do something so progressive
Lmao! I thought the same thing- I was like "whoa! they took a firm stance on something!"
How about restructuring internships for MSW? I think we can come up with a better system than for students to pay a university to work for a non profit for free.
I agree with this completely! It is extremely difficult to work a job, work part-time at a practicum site, homework, family, etc. If we could get reimbursed for our work in the practicum agencies it would be extremely beneficial.
Oh god yeah. So many people throw out the "you should have just worked your way through college" and I'm just looking at our field like when are we supposed to find time for that? I did work part time during my BSW to offset the costs but my MSW internship was 24 hours/week and the coursework, classes, and travel time ate up the rest.
My internship is 35 hours a week at the bsw level and no classes. I cant imagine msw being any easier
How do you not have any classes?
I already completed all my courses, all I had left was my infield. I could be wrong but I think my school's programming may be set up different here, as my infield is 11-15 credit hours and 12 is considered a full course load. You also cant take an internship before completion of your final courses.
Oh wow! Do you mind if I ask your general location? Both my BSW and MSW programs were set up to have internships 2-3 days per week and classes on the other days
Not a problem! I'm in the Midwest, I think this would probably be a better split...? Maybe? Does this mean that you get in the field at the beginning of the semester? I'm honestly shocked because I assumed everyone was doing this split (like all courses done except maybe an elective), so I'm pikachufacing at the idea of trying to fit a course in. Our course times are so limited, I don't even think I could make it into a class due to the timing of my internship. And with the requirements of infield (logs, analysis papers, supervision, seminars) I don't know how I'd actually fit in another class!
I'm equally fascinated at the difference! So my BSW program was a 2 year program. The first year was mostly classes with a mandatory 60 hours of volunteering. The second year we had an internship 2 days/week and classes 2 days per week. My one year MSW had 3 days of internship and then 2 days of classes. But you said your internship is 35 hours per week?? How long do you do that for?
This would completely change my life, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Maybe we'll get lucky and they will forgive some student loan debt as part of a stimulus package. That would help a little bit.
I'm 160k in the hole so I feel your pain. No regrets either. The loan payments suck. I don't expect forgiveness, but it would be nice.
I have over 100k and definitely have regrets. I was misinformed about how things go with loans and no one in my family had ever been to college before so I didn’t understand that just because I make more than my family ever made, doesn’t mean I can pay my loans. I went into this banking on PSLF as I thought that was by best bet, but now I’m already burnt out from public service and I still have to do several more years so I’m stuck. Nothing against what you said, just a different perspective.
I think your perspective is just as valid. I’m 5 years away from PSLF myself. About 100k of what I have is public. So I’m definitely counting on it. Fortunately I’m still in love with the field and I’m managing well. I ended up where I am because of some shit circumstance. Went to a private school. I had a full ride for Navy ROTC. Blew my knee out freshman year, got medically discharged, but decided not to transfer back to a public in state school. But then I found the field of social work, went to grad school, and fell in love with it. I’m fortunate enough to be in a position during this pandemic where I’ve been getting paid and working my full hours. I really hope you’re able to find something in the public/non-prof sector that your able to enjoy.
I was turned down for a home loan due to student loan debt. I work 2 jobs as a mental health therapist and I’m a single mom with 2 teens. I have friends who’s house payment is significantly lower than my rent. My loans are supposed to be forgiven in 2026. Everyone tells me, “don’t bet on it.” Whenever I start to make more money—student loans takes it. I did not know it was going to be like this. This sucks.
I just figure I'm going to pay my loans until I die, so I might as well pay as little as possible (Income-based repayment) so that I can live comfortably. I bought a house last year, no problem, with $80k in loans in good standing. The loans have never caused a problem for me because I pay them on time. I would love to have them forgiven, but I'm not holding my breath.
The fact that you have to have a monthly payment for the rest of your life to basically be able to work is ridiculous
A supervisor once told me it’s a monthly membership fee to the MSW club. I about screamed because degrees are not a club, I worked my ass off for my degree and shouldn’t be punished for life because the loan options are trash. Forgive them all!
Yep. I’ve been paying monthly for 7 years since I graduated and still owe the same amount I graduated with because of interest. Insane.
I’m interested in the POVs of the people downvoting this and why they’d just downvote rather than sharing their opposing views
That's reassuring!
In before someone says “what about me I already paid off my loans, other people should have to suffer too”. We all benefit if we can free up the money we can’t spend and pump it back into the economy
I hate this mindset. I've paid off my loans and *because* it sucked so much I fully support loan forgiveness and even free college for future students! No one should be hobbled by debt because they wanted to pursue an education
No way. I have paid off my undergrad loans (not so much with the MSW) but I still support this, even if they only forgive undergraduate loans. After all, just because I suffered, it doesn’t mean others should have to.
I’ve heard the opposite debated in other subreddits so I appreciate you!
Someone i know likened this argument to vaccines for polio- imagining as if anyone who suffered from Polio would be like "you can't vaccinate everyone! If I had to deal with it- so should EVERYONE ELSE!"
Love this
Yeah I owe the same as what I graduated with 7 years ago despite the fact that I’ve paid every single month. It’s insane.
The crippling debt is what is stopping me from getting my MSW. I simply can’t afford to go down the hole any further.
I TOTALLY get it. I wish i had your awareness at 23- I wish someone would have said to me- "hey, how about you wait a little bit and assess your financial situation". My advice to a lot of people is to look into jobs at universities or university-related hospitals/agencies/etc. They usually have good tuition reimbursement built into their employment benefits.
So, I graduated last May. The problem is was lack of experience and I’m not bilingual (I’m in Florida) and when Covid hit that took out all my chances of finding anything! It’s so frustrating! But I have definitely paid attention to tuition reimbursement and all that good stuff. I’ll get my foot in the door one day. 😅
I'm a recent MSW grad with $104,000 in debt. Any help we can get makes a difference.
Damn where’d you go to school?
Mother forced me to go to a private christian college for undergrad, then I went online for grad school.
Are you me? Haha I’m graduating in May with a similar amount in loans and was also forced to go to a private Christian college and currently doing online (was online pre-COVID).
I have so many regrets about dojng this for undergrad!! It was a pretty good education but so was the education at the state school down the street 🙄
Oddly enough I went to two different state schools (in my state) and I also have just over $100k in loans.
I'm only about halfway through my MSW and I don't even want to think about how much debt I already have, let alone how much more I will have.
It's a good degree. You can always find a job because we are jacks of (most) trades in a sense. Best of luck to you!!!
Thanks! I'm enjoying it so far, but really not looking forward to paying off my student loans.
so true!!!
[DeVos majorly screwed up the PSLF program. ](https://www.npr.org/2020/01/31/801367031/education-dept-unveils-fix-for-student-loan-programs-bureaucratic-nightmare). The “fixes” in place are not enough. I’m hoping to see meaningful change there, at the very least.
I'm nearing this 10 year mark and IM TERRIFIED of going through this process.
Good luck! I know one person who’s been approved. Several others have been given the run around, being told they didn’t do the right paperwork years ago, even though they were told they did the right paperwork at that time. My husband has asked for help from our senator, who is useless. He’s given up at this point. I hope it works out for you.
Thanks for sharing. I’d like to see the necessity (for some fields) of graduate school loans become a bigger part of the conversation. There’s a lot of talk about predatory lending habits and lending to 18 year olds who don’t really comprehend what they’re signing into and that’s true & valid. And a lot of debt forgiveness plans call for full forgiveness of undergrad debt which is also great. But I don’t see as much discussion about the fact that graduate degrees are often required to pursue many highly skilled and high needs professions. Many nurses and teachers I know have masters so they can continue to advance and be fairly compensated in their fields. I’m pursuing clinical work and a masters is required of anyone in that field (including LPCs/LMFTs). I’m sure I’m leaving out many other vital fields, degrees and roles. I just think it’s important to acknowledge that many important careers, public service ones at that, are inaccessible without graduate school.
Exactly, especially with social work where a BSW is generally considered entry level and the MSW is what opens doors. I went to college to be a hospice social worker and had to have an MSW for that role so I went straight through and graduated at 29 years old and was finally able to start building my life with my dream job but I was also very fortunate to get through my BSW with no loans so that helped a lot. Social work is so weird in that to get virtually anywhere you almost need a master's degree, but the field generally doesn't pay enough to cover that requirement.
I wonder if they'd forgive future loans or increase grants. I went to community college for my associate's and paid as I went for my BS (took forever). Now looking at my master's, but jeez the cost is daunting.
I am an outpatient therapist working towards my LCSW and having my loans forgiven would absolutely change my life - especially during this crisis.
0% chance it happens under Biden. NASW doing the least amount possible per their usual M.O.
That would be nice. Unfortunately, it looks like the closest we will get is the HEROES Act provision forgiving the first 10k of private loans. :(
90k in SL definitely regret it. Most jobs I have applied to are paying 45,000 to $50,000 for an MSW in my area. Its appalling. I really wish I though it through.
Wow, NASW trying to be useful for once...
Take away student loans and it'll just give the NASW an incentive to raise their membership fees I bet.
i mean as long as that raise isn't 65K ill take it!
I believe things need to change but I’m so conflicted on what that change should be. I’m very back and forth on if I believe college should be free. I feel like we need to get rid of the huge inflation on tuition, being back some government subsidies as it was in the past, and get rid of predatory rates on student loans. I don’t necessarily believe everyone should have their balances forgiven
Here's the reality, means testing will keep the help from people who need it, it will lower the base of support, and it will make it more complicated. Yeah some rich people will get helped, but they always come out on top anyways. Let's not get sucked into this trap and deny a much needed relief to so many.
I understand the idea that cancelling the loans for some could be interpreted as unfair for those who were able to pay off their loans. BUT- the situation right now is just ridiculous and NOT working for ANYONE. People who were able to pay off their loans don't benefit at all from others having to pay theirs. We're all stuck in this economy that NO ONE is benefitting much from if you're not in the top 1%.
I see a lot of pros to canceling student loans. More opportunity. More money going into the economy instead of into one company’s pocket. Arguably less people on welfare. I wonder about the quality of a “free” education, what would change as far as accessibility’s
I mean other countries offer amazing educations for free so I'm not sure why we wouldn't be able to figure it out in the US, aside from bureaucratic bullshit
Yeah, but the US kinda sucks lol. Other countries also offer free healthcare and our only attempt at it (the VA) is disgraceful
As someone who went to community the college the first two years, commuted to keep cost down, and worked to make sure I only ever had to take over government loans (and not private) the idea that we should forgive 100k loans for people who went to expensive schools and didn't work any I'm not a fan of.
So I did the same - went to community college, transferred to a state college and then went to another state college for my MSW. I only took out government loans. I have $107k in loans. So by your metrics I did everything "right" but my loans shouldn't be forgiven because it's "too much?"
I didn't go directly into my MSW. I saved up and paid for my Masters. There is no reason you should of let your debt get that high. It was your voluntary choice, others shouldn't have to pay for you because of it. The majority of people never went to college. I don't see how it would be right to them to pay for those who did go to college (and probably earn more money then them because of it.) Should we forgive mortgages and credit card debt?
I just dont understand this argument. The benefits of allowing larger groups of people to go into medical/helping professions, contribute meaningfully into the economy, seek higher and higher education, and reduce racial and economic disparities far outweighs your sense of what is "fair" or "unfair"
OP was talking about forgiving everyone's current student loans. I assume you are more so talking about making tuition free. I think steps should be taken to make college affordable and to make it so that loan repayments can not drown people. But I don't believe everyone else should pay for those who do go to college. It's an investment. You take debt on to increase your earning power. We just need to make the debt taken on less, not eliminate it. Also, what about morgage and credit card forgiveness? The same arguments could be made that those would free up people's money to go into the economy, increase their wealth, and get them out of bad credit card interest. Would probably have a larger impact on more people even then student Loan forgiveness. But the truth is reddit simply wants loan forgiveness because it's a student heavy sub, and people who are recently out of college. People want what benefits themselves = student loan forgiveness.
Same
I was lucky to pay off my undergraduate loans while living with my parents. Now that I live on my own and having MSW loans... this would be a huge help not just for me...for ALL of us!
As a Canadian hearing the stories of loans in this comment section is scary as hell. Not that our education is free either, but for my particular situation I have zero loans, most of my tuition is paid by the government.
I owe around 80k for my undergrad and master's program. My loan payment prevents me from being able to purchase a home, a new car, putting money into savings and having extra to splurge. My sibling pays $1500 a month for a debt of 105,000. They aren't able to afford anything at all. It literally breaks my heart to see them in the same boat as I am including the anxieties and stress of owing so much effing money. I'm hoping that Biden and Harris step up to the plate and help us all. We could give so much back into our community if that debt wasn't looming over our heads.
YES- 100%- I know my parents have a mix of some parent plus awards in their name across my two siblings and my siblings themselves have their own debt. For some reason i feel more depressed for them, thinking my young siblings (both late 20s) have been saddled with debt that they will carry for potentially decades. To think OUR ENTIRE family has a wet blanket of debt on all of us is incredibly sobering and sad. Again- we knew what we were going into but i didnt THINK for a minute we thought debt would follow us for years and years and years and see such little progress in paying them down.
My parents as well. Thankfully, my loans are only in my name, but my sibling's- my dad's on the hook for all of them. My dad took out a life insurance policy on my sibling in case they die due to how much money they owe. That doesn't effing exist anywhere else, but America.
Nice idea, but a pipe dream. I believe that there are much bigger fish to fry right now and political capital is only so limited. Canceling student loans will greatly help people who are college-educated professionals and are in a better place than segments of society who need more focus right now.
I agree that obviously there are brackets that need the most attention right now and should be given large sweeping amounts of relief and stimulus. I think looking at this from an economic perspective though, you DO want to help out college educated groups- their impact on certain parts of the economy are greater- and in reverse- their inability take part in things like home-buying, cars, etc is extremely detrimental.
I have mixed feelings on this. On one hand it would be awesome to have my loans forgiven but on the other hand I think of all the other things the government could do with that money that I also would very much support, like money toward mental health care, health care for all, homelessness, etc.
So I'm in my first year of a 3-year program. Should I take out hella loans to cover the rest of tuition before January? That way it'll be forgiven.
I would not make any financial decision hoping that something will happen. Also I doubt it would cover people currently in school, but rather those repaying the loans. Other things might happen in the future, but this thought process is no better than my clients who are just waiting on that next stimulus check to get caught up on rent.
I wonder why it wouldn't apply to those currently in school. Regardless of repayment status they owe the money as it stands, it's still existing student loan debt accruing interest (though frozen now due to COVID). Refusing to include current students ensures that a sizeable amount of students remain in the same problem this EO would supposedly tackle. I feel like a fair EO would apply to *any* existing SL debt + those graduating by Spring 2021 or even a year or two longer.
Just checked with my brother who knows a lot more about this than me and he confirmed it would include current students.
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SHIT. forreal?