Part 1 of "College Loans & Student Debt" was written in May of this year, while we were waiting for US President Joe Biden to announce his plan on student loan debt relief.
Check it out at https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2022/05/college-loans-student-debt.html
At the time, we thought Biden would make his announcement soon, but it kept getting delayed.
He finally made his announcement on August 24!
You can read it at
“The Biden-Harris Administration's Student Debt Relief Plan Explained.” Federal Student Aid. August 24, 2022. https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief-announcement/.
As expected, it didn't satisfy everyone, but it does have its plus sides.
For those who still owe money on federal student loans, those whose income falls below $125,000 will get at least $10,000 canceled, and for those who had a Pell Grant while in college, they will get another $10,000 canceled. Since I had a Pell Grant, I should be getting $20,000 canceled.
Will it cancel my entire debt? No!
But it will eliminate all the interest I still owe.
And talking about interest, my favorite part of Biden's student loan debt relief plan is this .........
- Cover the borrower's unpaid monthly interest, so that unlike other existing income-driven repayment plans, no borrower's loan balance will grow as long as they make their monthly payments—even when that monthly payment is $0 because their income is low.
So if you're on the IDR (Income-Driven Repayment) plan, you not only have lower payments, you don't have to worry about paying more interest.
So being that my interest will be eliminated by the $20,000 cancelation, I no longer have to worry about interest piling up, and I just have to pay off the principal.
This is important because it's usually the interest, not the principal, that causes severe harm to those with student loan debt.
A lot of people have a hard time just paying off the interest that they can't even start paying off the principal of the loan.
Let's just go with the hypothetical here! (not my exact numbers)
For example: if you have been given an $80,000 loan for your college expenses, and over time, your interest is $15,000. That $15,000 is NOT what you were given to pay your college expenses, that $15,000 is money that has been added to your burden AFTER you were given the $80,000.
Banks make profits off the interest. Or in the case of federal loans, the government makes a profit off your interest. You don't just owe what the government gave you, you also owe the interest that grew after you were loaned. The interest was only given to you as a burden. The government profits off your burden.
Some people owe interest MUCH MORE THAN the $15,000 I mentioned as a hypothetical.
So having all my interest paid off, and not having any more interest added, I can finally just start focusing on paying off the principal, what the feds actually gave me for my college expenses.
Nuthawut Somsuk/Getty Images
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Now some people are throwing hissy fits against student loan debt relief.
They scream about responsibility.
Those throwing those hissy fits tend to be Republicans.
They scream that those student loan debt should be responsible to pay it off.
Yet, MANY Republican politicians and supporters have taken out PPP loans in the early phase of the pandemic, and their entire loans were forgiven. In many cases, the amount forgiven makes $20,000 (the max on Biden's relief plan) look like chump change.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven.https://t.co/4FoCymt8TB
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) August 25, 2022
Learn more at
Li Cohen. “White House Calls out Republicans Who Criticized Student Loan Cancellation but Had Thousands in PPP Loans Forgiven.” CBS News. August 26, 2022. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-republican-critics-student-loan-cancellation-ppp-loan-forgiveness/
Also, the Republican messiah Donald Trump filed bankruptcy for his businesses 6 TIMES. So much for being responsible for his debts.
Learn more at
Juliana Kaplan. “Bernie Sanders Says Republicans Complaining about Student Debt Forgiveness Didn't Complain When Donald Trump Declared Bankruptcy 6 Times.” Business Insider. August 26, 2022. https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-gop-complaining-student-loans-didnt-complain-trump-bankruptcy-2022-8
"I hear Republicans complaining about $20,000 in student debt forgiveness. Funny, I didn't hear those complaints when Trump declared bankruptcy 6 times & had $287 million in loans forgiven by big banks," Sanders tweeted. "The GOP l-o-v-e-s socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the rest."
And this article also noted a classic response to Mitch McConnell's opposition to student debt relief
After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell called the president's student-loan forgiveness "astonishingly unfair," Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was quick to respond by noting that when McConnell graduated from University of Louisville, he only paid $330 in annual tuition.
"Senator McConnell graduated from a school that cost $330 a year," Warren wrote on Twitter on Thursday. "Today it costs over $12,000. McConnell has done nothing to fix it — and is irate that the President is stepping up to help millions of working Americans drowning in debt. He can spare us the lectures on fairness."
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Then we had tweets from some US veterans screaming against student loan debt relief!
https://twitter.com/collins_point/status/1562605537770242062
2:59 PM · Aug 24, 2022
Excuse me, but who do you think paid for all of the expenses for US veterans?
The taxpayers!
So taxpayer-funded individuals (that's exactly what US veterans) are angry that other people get taxpayer-funded relief?
Mega-hypocrites to the extreme! Those who want to be more hypocritical than that need to set more realistic goals.
And that's the problem, many people had to resort to putting their lives and limbs on the line to be cannon fodder for the ruling classes, just to get a taxpayer-funded college education.
If I was to start a higher education system from scratch, then all qualified students who are state residents get free tuition. Plus free money for your expenses (ie books, meal plans, supplies, other living expenses). No need to risk amputation over faraway battles just to get a college education. Just get good grades, pass all your exams, and you're in.
Is that expensive?
So is sending young adults overseas to fight battles that they shouldn't be involved in at all.
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Then there's this stupid cliche that non-college-educated people are all mad at those getting student loan debt relief. As if there are no families with both college-educated and non-college-educated people?
Here's a classic tweet in response to all that
What these people don't get is most blue collar families *want* their kids to have the option of college & many of those with debt are the 1st generation students to those blue collar parents.
All these people are broadcasting is they know nothing about working class families.
And also this from https://twitter.com/herosnvrdie69/status/1562909996958240770
It’s hilarious how people who have never worn a hard hat or worked a single day in a trade keep speaking for us lmao I have no student debt and an electrician and think all student debt should be canceled and college should be free. Cope harder.
and followed these classic responses
As a HVAC tech who just got his associates and is about to quit and go to a 4 year school for a poli sci degree I really hate how the right has decided blue collar workers and people who benefit from education are 2 different classes and none of us could benefit from this
IBEW, 20 years as an electrician. Zero student loans (I paid off the ones I had years ago for other stuff) and I don't think $10-20k was enough. My taxes have bailed out more banks, corporations and red states then this will ever equal.
Amen brother. 25 years IUEC. Paid for my wife’s nursing school, currently paying my oldest daughter tuition. Glad I have a job that allows me to do so. Happy for the people who aren’t so lucky to get some relief.
Non binary, queer, IBEW electrician here. I was able to pay off my BA in English because of my union wages. I’m happy folks are getting their debt forgiven! In fact, let’s get rid of more debt!
See more of those classic tweets, plus cool pics of people wearing hard hats, at https://twitter.com/herosnvrdie69/status/1562909996958240770
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Also, many of those blue-collar jobs require post-high-school education that costs money.
NY Times writer Jamelle Bouie mentioned some good examples of blue-collar workers and student loan debt
Jamelle Bouie, “Republicans Would like to Offer You Some Resentment,” The New York Times, August 27, 2022 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/27/opinion/republican-biden-student-loan-program.html
If you want to haul freight for a living, you’ll need a commercial driver’s license, which means you’ll need training, which means you’ll need school. This schooling can cost thousands of dollars, and students can pay their tuition with federal student loans. So, too, can people who need training to work as medical technicians or home care workers or physical therapists or restaurant workers, among many other trades and professions.
Millions of people with blue-collar jobs owe thousands of dollars in federal student loans, and they may not have the income needed to pay them off. Biden’s plan helps them as much or more than a graduate of a four-year college with debt on the ledger. It also helps the millions of Americans who took out loans, attended college, but for one reason or another could not complete their degrees and are in the worst of all financial worlds as a result.
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And we also have these so-called populists who focus on the doctors and lawyers making slightly less than $125,000 getting student loan debt relief, ignoring the fact that many jobs that require a college degree pay much less than $125,000 a year.
Here's another classic Twitter thread (this one from Blake Zeff) explaining how many educated professionals are struggling with student loan debt
https://twitter.com/blakezeff/status/1564375094092259332
I’ve covered student debt obsessively for the past 6 years for a documentary (coming soon!). One of the most misunderstood parts of this debate is: folks with graduate degrees. Many seem to think this group is all rich (or soon to be). This is weird & incorrect.
Quick thread…
You realize that teachers & nurses have graduate degrees, right? Do you think they’re rich? One teacher we spoke with is a 1st-generation college grad, now 150k in debt from compounding interest on his undergrad + masters degrees. The burden got so bad, he contemplated suicide.
Then there’s veterinarians. Do you know their average student debt is ~200k? Not nightmare or worse-case scenario. Average. They don’t become wealthy either. Their suicide rates are very high in part because of debt. Does anyone think veterinarians are frivolous parts of society?
Now let’s talk about the biggest bogeyman: lawyers & doctors. This may come as a shock but not all lawyers go to school to defend oil companies. Some want to be public defenders or work in civil rights. Their degrees cost hundreds of thousands, but they make a fraction of that.
A woman we spoke with grew up poor & lost her mom to cancer. So she devoted her life to working hard to become a doctor & treat patients in low-resource settings. She’s now 250k in debt, can’t afford to work on a lower salary & has to give up on her dream to serve those in need.
So no, MANY people with grad degrees aren’t rich. They’re folks who want to contribute to society. Others got undergrad degrees but found the job market impossible to penetrate so they worked harder to bolster their chances.
Much of the antipathy towards them is truly misguided.
