In the article “Forgive Student Loans?” Richard Vedder argues that the creation of federal student loans was the worst idea ever and that whenever a loan is taken out, the United States will have to suffer a shortage in their budget and will have no choice but to borrow from foreign investors. While student loans may be a factor to a shortage in budget, there are many other factors to include too. Some students are placed in debt at a young age and will have to worry about how to pay it off or end up paying it for years after graduating. Vedder also argues that college is not worth our time, the loan program is ineffective in what it promised to us, and that the student loan program is corrupted.
Vedder claims that “it’s not clear that college imparts much of value to the average student” and “the typical college student spends less than 30 hours a week, 32 weeks a year, on all academic matters” (405). While college does allow you to have a more flexible schedule compared to high school, I would disagree with college not teaching us anything. As soon as you leave high school and start college, you are going to have to start doing stuff as adults. You are responsible and the only one accountable for missed work, oversleeping, and getting to classes on time. You will have to learn how survive on your own for the first time and expect some mishaps along the way. Vedder may think that academically, college is lacking, but college is really preparing us for the real world and how to acquire skills for our future jobs. Of course, the academics will be different since high school is just general education while college is preparing you for your specific career in which we will make those hours up for in your typical 9-5 job.
“Moreover, the student-loan program has proven an ineffective way to achieve one of its initials aims, a goal also of the Wall Street protestors: increasing economic wealth for the poor” (Vedder 406). I disagree with this statement. From an article that was just posted in December 2019, it says “The share of low-income students earning bachelor’s degrees with debt has been remarkably consistent (75 percent) for 20 years, while the share of high-income students borrowing has doubled to 60 percent” (Delisle). Which means that the rich borrow student loans just as much as the poor. Not to mention that the numbers is rising in debt for the rich too. Every parent of every rich student is not paying for their education. Some would want their child/children to make their own money instead of them paying for everything.
Vedder then argues that “the sins of the loan program are many” and briefly mentions some reasons that I agree with such as interest rates and never changing loan terms. However, the biggest sin was that by giving FAFSA our financial information, colleges can manipulate how much or how little people will have to pay for tuition. He also mentions that it is based on how much the parents can afford to pay. Angela Conley, a college admission expert, from the article “Do colleges look more favorably on applicants who can pay full tuition?” stated that “By far most colleges want to admit students whose academic records document that they can indeed do collegiate level work and are likely to contribute to the college or university community. However, some less well-endowed colleges must respond to fiscal imperatives and admit qualified students who can afford the real cost to leverage expenses” (Conley p6). This means that colleges that are ridiculously high in tuition is more likely to be a scam compared to average college that most people attend. In fact, colleges are only aware of your financial situation if you are given some form of aid.
The argument that says student loans should not be forgiven and should not have been made to begin with. Older teens have no reason to be in such a large debt before they are even adults. College tuition is ridiculously high and some students are not financially stable and adding student loan debt under their names will not make it any easier for them. The reason why some people go to college is to improve their current self by making their life as simple as it can be. With more of us out there in the work force, the better the economy will be. The federal government needs to get rid of student debt so that there are more people in the work force and less out in the streets.
