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Showing Original Post only (View all)Blanket student loan forgiveness is redistributing wealth upward [View all]
Claiming forgiving ALL student loan is far is a false claim. It in effect demands that middle income Americans pay for the education of those more privileged than themselves. Most student loan is owed by the upper 40% of incomes, with a substantial share concentrated among the top 20%.
A forgiveness program of $10-15K would cover the majority of people with Bachelors degrees. Forgiving loans above that amount targets those with graduate degrees and higher incomes.
What people are arguing for is the redistribution of wealth upward from middle incomes to those with substantially higher incomes. That is not fair or just. It is the opposite.
Here is some information supporting my position.
Recently released data from the Federal Reserves Survey of Consumer Finances confirm that upper-income households account for a disproportionate share of student loan debtand an even larger share of monthly out-of-pocket student debt payments.
The highest-income 40 percent of households (those with incomes above $74,000) owe almost 60 percent of the outstanding education debt and make almost three-quarters of the payments. The lowest-income 40 percent of households hold just under 20 percent of the outstanding debt and make only 10 percent of the payments. It should be no surprise that higher-income households owe more student debt than others. Students from higher-income households are more likely to go to college in the first place. And workers with a college or graduate degree earn substantially more in the labor market than those who never went to college.
What may be more surprising, however, is the difference in payment burdens. A growing share of borrowers participate in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which do not require any payments from those whose incomes are too low and limit payments to an affordable share of income for others. And some borrowers are in forbearance or deferment because of financial hardships. As a result, out-of-pocket loan payments are concentrated among high-income households; few low-income households enrolled in IDR are required to make payments . . .
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The highest-income 40 percent of households (those with incomes above $74,000) owe almost 60 percent of the outstanding education debt and make almost three-quarters of the payments. The lowest-income 40 percent of households hold just under 20 percent of the outstanding debt and make only 10 percent of the payments. It should be no surprise that higher-income households owe more student debt than others. Students from higher-income households are more likely to go to college in the first place. And workers with a college or graduate degree earn substantially more in the labor market than those who never went to college.
What may be more surprising, however, is the difference in payment burdens. A growing share of borrowers participate in income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which do not require any payments from those whose incomes are too low and limit payments to an affordable share of income for others. And some borrowers are in forbearance or deferment because of financial hardships. As a result, out-of-pocket loan payments are concentrated among high-income households; few low-income households enrolled in IDR are required to make payments . . .
?w=768&crop=0%2C0px%2C100%2C9999px&ssl=1
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/10/09/who-owes-the-most-in-student-loans-new-data-from-the-fed/
Heres the breakdown by degree:
No college degree: 8%
Associates Degree: 7%
Bachelors Degree: 29%
Masters Degree: 36%
Professional/Doctoral: 20%
https://www.savingforcollege.com/article/who-owes-the-most-student-loan-debt
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The number of people with loans making hundreds of thousands a year is surely small.
LonePirate
May 2022
#36
Rolling back just one of the latest billionaire tax cuts would cover all outstanding debt.
Doremus
May 2022
#21
NO social program is "fair" to everyone. Can we please drop that silliness as a talking point?
Thtwudbeme
May 2022
#7
Librarians working outside of the corporate arena have always made little money.
Scrivener7
May 2022
#52
No. There isn't anything wrong with what I wrote. There were a number of paths
Scrivener7
May 2022
#88
All my debts are paid, and I am financially fine. What you wrote is incredibly sad
Thtwudbeme
May 2022
#89
OK. Fine, but again, what is your point about the cost of living, the salary
Scrivener7
May 2022
#93
If it depends on getting a bill through congress, we are screwed and it's silly to discuss
questionseverything
May 2022
#60
Blanket student loan forgiveness is a political nuclear bomb that will destroy the Democratic party
Recursion
May 2022
#31
Like last election year's "Defund the Police" slogan that's rarely uttered since, & has been now...
Budi
May 2022
#43
Student loans wouldn't even be an issue if we did them through payroll deductions
Recursion
May 2022
#59
So tax the rich. The issue isn't loan forgiveness being unfair; our taxation system is. nt
Gore1FL
May 2022
#33
Student loans are one of the few things clawing down the gap between non-college graduates
Recursion
May 2022
#48
I would assume we would keep doing it. Affordable college is the point. It's not a cash grab. nt
Gore1FL
May 2022
#53
I don't see affordable college as a losing issue. I therefore reject the 20-year lock out argument.
Gore1FL
May 2022
#56
I just told you there is one pediatric cancer doctor for three counties in a remote region.
Act_of_Reparation
May 2022
#133
Cap forgiveness at the average amount for in-state tuition for a state school
Politicub
May 2022
#100
Yes, and what about parents who have a college fund for their kids? They'd be stupid to use it for
Alhena
May 2022
#122
The problem with forgiving student debt is what about students starting college next year.
asa4ever
May 2022
#118