“The Republican Party’s steadfast opposition to student debt relief remains a wildly unpopular stance — even with a majority of younger Republican voters.”
– Mike Pierce, executive director, Protect Borrowers Action.
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Current United States student debt stands at $1.6 trillion and is increasing. As detailed below, because of political reality, neither party has adequately addressed this issue.
Georgia’s average student loan debt is over $42,000. And that figure is higher than in 48 other states. A study conducted by an online HR platform, Techr, this means that these “residents are struggling under the weight of student loans.”
That study also found that the 1.7 million student borrowers in Georgia owed a hefty $71 billion in student loan debt. As would be expected, they are relatively young people, with about half under 35 and compose 15 percent of all state residents.
Most Americans incur student debt, but the proportion varies greatly by race. The percent of black students with a bachelor’s degree obtaining such loans is 81 percent and their payments average $258 monthly, with 23 percent being behind on payments. Hispanics are at 60 percent with average monthly payments of $188 and 20 percent are behind on payments. Whites are at 59 percent with $215 average monthly payments and only 6 percent are behind.
The real question is what can be done about this abysmal situation? The Biden approach was to simply attempt to abolish student debt by Executive Order. The Supreme Court stopped that, although Biden did partially succeed via other methods. The current administration’s approach is to undo everything Biden has done, student debt being one of these efforts.
So, who is right? The answer is more complex than choosing “a” or “b.”
Here is what one poll found regarding low-income Americans- nearly 60 percent say forgive the loans. Yet over a third state that is a bad idea.
Slightly more than half of Americans believe that we should erase all student debt. As usual, there were major differences by party.
Here is what another poll (by Protect Borrowers Action) found just before the 2024 election: 73 percent overall wanted the government to act to lower school debt, with half of those polled wanting either total or partial cancellation. The figures were even higher for Democrats who were Gen Z and millennials: 81 percent. For Republican Gen Z and millennials, the figures were much lower, but still high: 49 percent.
The fact is that we as a nation cannot go on as we have, spending more while cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy. The Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) should be called the Budget Buster Bill.
We have a choice with school debt. We can reduce some of the burden, especially on lower-income people. But, if we do, that will increase the national debt even more. Unless Congress moves to cancel out some or all of the BBB tax cuts, and selectively raise taxes to reduce the national debt, our tax structure is in trouble.
One thing is for certain. Younger people are under a tremendous financial strain. For my fellow boomers to shake our heads and do nothing is a poor strategy.
- Have a comment? Click here to send an email.
