Student Loans: Forgive and Forget?
Palo Alto High School students and economics teachers weigh in on Biden’s new student loan forgiveness plan
On Aug. 24, President Biden announced a three-part plan titled the “Public Service Loan Forgiveness,” aimed towards forgiving the student loans of those who make less than $125,000 yearly. The plan may only affect students already out of college, but raises questions about the future of student loans.
“I think it’s [the plan] great. I think that student loans are crazy and insane, and that college is way too expensive nowadays.”
— junior Ava Coleman
“If you can go to school, get a degree, do the work that’s benefiting society, we should at least try to do something to help you out … Why do we need to give rich people a tax break? And I understand the rationale behind it? Yeah, oh, they’ll take that money, they’ll invest in the country and blah, blah, blah. But isn’t that what you’re doing when you’re relieving student debt?”
— economics teacher Eric Bloom
“I was really surprised, I didnt think that this type of forgiving bill would be passed but I’m glad it was. I think it sets an important precedent and acknowledges the kind of injustices in the system in general and I really hope that it will lead to further reforms for a system that’s generally pretty unfair and pretty discriminatory.”
— junior Anna Van Riesen
“I feel Biden’s plan to forgive some student loan debt is a great start towards a more equitable system of higher education. In a country where education is often necessary to earn a living wage, the very least that can be done is make education more attainable for low-income families and to help those who are in debt.”
—senior Daniel Garepis-Holland