by Anna Haas ‘23

Last summer, President Biden announced his student loan forgiveness plan, to the delight and relief of many facing student debt. The plan stated that more than 40 million federal student loan borrowers could be eligible for up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness. However, the Supreme Court must first rule that the plan is allowed to move forward before any student debt can be forgiven. Student debt should not be forgiven by the government for a multitude of reasons, including the lack of accountability it allows those in debt and its unfairness to taxpayers. 

Before being allowed to take out a loan, students had to sign an agreement acknowledging the amount of money they were taking out and would ultimately have to pay back with interest. There was the understanding of what they were getting themselves into. As such, it is their responsibility to pay the money back. There is also the issue of the forgiveness plan being unfair to those who have already paid back student loans as well as the taxpayers that will have to pick up the burden. For those who worked hard to pay off their debts from schooling, suddenly having millions of people get theirs forgiven is unjust. As for everyone else, they will have to pay the debts for people wholly unconnected with them through taxes to much discontent.