President Biden’s decision to forgive an additional $45 billion in student loans for public servants is a step in the right direction. But let me be clear: it does not go far enough. The student debt crisis in this country is one of the great moral and economic failures of our time. Millions of Americans—young people, working families, and seniors—are drowning in debt simply because they wanted to get an education. That is unacceptable.
In the 1970s, a student could go to college, work a part-time job, and graduate with little to no debt. Today, that is nearly impossible. Over the last 40 years, the cost of higher education has skyrocketed, while wages have stagnated. Students are graduating with tens of thousands of dollars in debt, and they’re paying off loans for decades. This is outrageous. Higher education has gone from being a path to opportunity to a trap of financial ruin for too many.
Meanwhile, universities have become bloated with administrative costs. For every professor, there is now nearly one administrator. At the same time, universities are exploiting adjunct professors who are paid poverty wages, with no job security, while top executives are making millions. The priorities are all wrong. It is no secret that financial institutions are making billions off the backs of students drowning in debt. The student loan system in this country is rigged in favor of the banks and loan servicers, not the borrowers. For decades, these institutions have profited immensely from the crushing debt of millions of Americans who are simply trying to get an education and a shot at the American dream.
Let’s be clear: student loans have become a cash cow for Wall Street and the financial elite. These companies charge sky-high interest rates, making it nearly impossible for borrowers to pay off their loans. In many cases, the interest on the loans grows larger than the original amount borrowed. What we are seeing is a predatory system designed to keep people in debt for life. This is immoral.
While students struggle to make ends meet, the CEOs of these financial institutions are making obscene profits. This is a system that rewards greed and punishes those trying to better their lives through education. It is unacceptable that we are allowing financial institutions to profit off of the financial desperation of young people, forcing them to delay buying homes, starting families, or even moving out of their parents’ houses.
If we are serious about addressing this crisis, we need to get these predatory institutions out of the student loan business. We need to cancel all student debt and ensure that no future generation has to face this kind of exploitation.
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We need bold solutions. It’s not enough to forgive loans for just some Americans. We must cancel all student debt—every last penny of it. We must make public colleges and universities tuition-free, so that everyone, regardless of income, has the opportunity to get an education without being shackled by debt for the rest of their lives. This is not a radical idea. It’s what many other countries already do. And if we can afford to give massive tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, we can afford to invest in our young people.
This is about justice. This is about investing in our future. It’s time to stop profiting off the backs of students and start treating education as a right, not a privilege for the wealthy. If we are serious about creating a fair and just economy, we must fight for policies that lift up working people—not just the rich and powerful.
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