As the pandemic stretches on, President Biden Joe BidenUS ambassador to UN calls Putin’s peacekeeping forces ’nonsense‘ US relocates Ukraine embassy staff to Poland UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting at request of Ukraine MORE has come under pressure from Democrats to cancel student debt in amounts larger than he has supported. They argue the move would narrow the racial wealth gap and help lead an economic recovery and they have demanded immediate executive action.
The goal of Congress and the White House should thus be to ease the path to and through higher education prospectively – by providing access to inexpensive loans – rather than simply relying only on loan forgiveness after graduation
Biden has promised to address student debt but spoken in terms of only $10,000 in relief. This month, Senators Charles Schumer Chuck SchumerSenate Judiciary chair wants Supreme Court pick confirmed by early April Why Congress must vote on a new Iran nuclear deal American unity is key to a Europe whole and free MORE , Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth WarrenElon Musk shuts down Warren claim that he doesn’t pay taxes Senate confirms Biden FDA nominee Biden’s FDA pick clears key Senate hurdle MORE and others called for $50,000 of debt to be forgiven for any American, regardless of income level, raising the ante against prior Senate and House resolutions that called for smaller amounts of relief.
With the political rhetoric so charged and a major policy decision potentially looming, I decided to look closely into the issue of how college debt affects low-income students in higher education and their families. Over the last year and a half, after talking with many in different parts of the country, I observed first-hand the crumbling of the national promise to provide equal access to higher education and educational opportunity to all.
Faced with a financial aid gap of around $15,000 to attend the University of Iowa, her cheapest four-year option and first-choice college, she decided to stay home, rather than take on loans
I came to the realization that the problem is less that low-income students and families are taking on too much debt, than that they frequently take on too little.
The national debate over the student loan crisis and the many stories of students saddled with decades of college loan payments has convinced many low-wealth families to avoid educational debt at all costs, even though, for all but the wealthiest families, financial success in America often depends on undertaking some debt.
Consider one student I got to know in https://worldpaydayloans.com/payday-loans-sc/union/ my travels – a graduate of the advanced, international baccalaureate curriculum of her Chicago public high school, who now studies psychology at her local community college. Her first name is Kim. Her college counselors advised using debt in order to get to more competitive campuses, but then she heard a teacher mention that he was paying off student loans and she worried about becoming a burden to her parents.
Now, as she approaches the end of her sophomore year at community college, where she has easily earned nearly all A grades, she still does not view a bachelor’s degree as attainable. Even though local universities have partnered with her community college to offer substantial scholarships, the scholarships do not cover the full cost of tuition and she still does not want to undertake any debt. (Her father, meanwhile, has taken out a car loan to upgrade her car.)
Research shows that a student’s success depends on resources that are more available at more competitive institutions. Students who undermatch by choosing less-demanding colleges than those they qualify for graduate on time in smaller numbers . Yet a majority of talented students from low-income families do not even bother to apply to competitive colleges. In fact, most low-income students enroll in community colleges, often because they have the cheapest list prices, even though the majority of those students fail to earn any credential there within six years.