10 Reasons Why More Student Debt Cancellation Will Be Required In The U.S. During The Next Decade
This list is not designed to support or refute either side of this contentious issue. Rather, it's my view of the likely reality of what's to come in the higher education and job markets in the U.S.
- Black and African American college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than White college graduates.
- Four years after graduation, 48% of Black students owe an average of 6% more than they borrowed.
- Black and African American student borrowers are the most likely to struggle financially due to student loan debt making monthly payments of $289.
1. AI and automation are going to reduce or eliminate careers.
Many of these careers are ones that students are currently investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to train for in college. So they're going to receive their degrees, never get jobs in their preferred fields, yet still be saddled with student debt for life.
2. Tomorrow's jobs do not exist today.
The job market is changing so rapidly that students can't possibly be adequately trained for a career by way of a traditional four-year college education. Therefore, harkening to #1 above, there is no way for colleges to train students for tomorrow's jobs because we don't know what they are yet. But, that won't change the amount of debt they owe.
3. Colleges and universities will continue to have free reign to charge whatever overpriced tuition they wish.
There are zero checks and balances on college tuition rates. The ROI is ridiculously poor for most students.
4. There is zero accountability for colleges and universities to provide a quality education commensurate with what's required to prepare students for the job market (not to mention for the cost).
When was the last time we heard anyone calling for the accountability of the entities that are actually taking all this money?
5. The current solution is not adequate to resolve the issue.
Right or wrong, Joe Biden's proposal, assuming the whole thing is allowed to be put into action, will help some people but leaves out about 2/3 of debt owners. Its a halfway measure that's only going to help a modest number of people and anger a far greater number of people. Those with debt who don't benefit from the current solution will not go softly into the night.
6. There is no will in the U.S. Congress to address the issue through quality legislation.
No one is arguing there is not an issue over an overabundance of student debt. However, all Congress wants to argue about is who should or should not receive debt relief for the purpose of scoring political points.
7. An increasing percentage of Americans will owe student debt; therefore, the contingency for canceling more debt will increase.
As more American incur debt they can't pay off, more of them will call for increased debt cancellation.
8. The U.S. will enter a deflationary period for which debt cancellation will be called on as an economic stimulus.
There is a chance we enter a deflationary phase after the current inflationary period. Assuming so, debt cancellation can be considered a stimulus that the government could implement.
9. The amount of loan defaults will increase to the point where more debt cancellation will be the only viable solution.
So many people won't be able to pay off their debt regardless of what's put in place now, so defaults will increase and taxpayers will be on the hook anyhow.
10. Debt cancellation will continue to be a racial equity issue.
There seems to be merit to this claim so Democrats will continue to press this issue by way of further debt cancellation.
Hanson, Melanie. “Student Loan Debt by Race” EducationData.org, January 16, 2023,
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-by-race
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