this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2025
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I've met people who foolishly took out six-digit loans to go to college and I agree that those loans ought to have been denied to them, but most people I know went to relatively low-cost public universities or to the private universities that gave them generous need-based scholarships. My own family wasn't poor by the time I went to college and my education at a prestigious private university cost a total of about $45,000 (in 2006) after the need-based scholarships that I got. Some of that was paid for by loans and I don't feel that those loans were predatory.
That's an argument for the government to help college students less, not to help them more.
So because you know a couple people who maybe didnt make the best decisions, forget everybody else. How many students who take out those high loans go on to become something useful and needed by society. Cause the people I know that took out that much mostly went on the become doctor's.
Yes cause the students have the power to set the prices. It's the loan givers dealing with the universities that keep driving up prices. If the government was to step in and say we're only paying this much the prices wouldn't be so exorbitant. You know, like the other developed countries do.
Doctors borrow that much for medical school. Their undergrad degree doesn't cost more than anyone else's.
The government does step in and run state schools where it sets the prices, and its prices are reasonable. In this context, private universities are a luxury.
So the $98,000 it costs for an in-state student to go to my nearest local state college for 4 years is fairly set by the state? What about the $101,000 for the next closest.
That seems totally fair, right?
In the state I am most familiar with, a four-year degree costs about that much only if you live on-campus. The degree itself (without room and board) is $56,160, and that's if you get no financial aid whatsoever (and need all four years to finish - I finished mine in three by taking no classes except the ones mandatory for my diploma, but that's not possible in some universities). Most people are eligible for a lot of financial aid.
So as long as you live close enough to commute from your parents house, get to live there for free or real cheap, and jump through the hoops and hurdles without any issues, you too can get by relatively cheap!
Everybody else can get fucked cause this person was one of the lucky ones!
Also, make sure you go to what is considered one of the more affordable universities while living in that state for over a year before hand!
Its super easy and affordable
It's not just luck. Most people I know who started out poor are immigrants whose families worked extremely hard for their sake, and who worked extremely hard in school themselves so that they could get accepted into colleges that offered them favorable terms. There they majored in well-paid fields like finance, law, medicine, or engineering, and afterwards they were able to pay off their debts without issue and live upper-middle-class lifestyles.
It's a lot harder for people whose well-to-do parents refuse to help, but eventually those people do become eligible for financial aid without counting their parents' income (easiest to do by either waiting until age 24 or getting married) and that financial aid will be quite large if they're poor. As I've said, my family wasn't poor by the time I went to college and my financial aid still covered 2/3 of the cost.
Just because you know some people that got through unscathed, doesn't mean there isnt a greater problem.
But I woulda thought your degree would have taught you about survivorship bias
Also:
Luck
Luck
Luck
I think my experience proves that succeeding without student loan forgiveness is possible, even in difficult circumstances, and that's why I think the problem isn't student loans.
Which family you're born into is luck, and so is innate talent, but how hard you work in high school and which major you choose in college are deliberate decisions.
Its also possible to give your body to sports and go for free like I did. Doesn't mean everyone is going to be able to do that.
There are also people out there who give their all and don't get accepted into the college that would be best for the financially. I've seen and and helped console them after they freaked out about having to pay a bunch more. I think the problem is student loans and those that benefit from praying on 18 year olds trying to make the "right" decision
But it all brings it back to why can most every other developed nation send their students to University for practically free and still have people living comfortably even though they have to pay taxes for it, but its too hard for the US to do it?
Dude…
You quite literally benefited from a fund of money set aside to help you go to college and you are okay with pulling the ladder up behind you.
You didn’t need student loan forgiveness because you got a scholarship. I feel the most logical perspective would be that we shouldn’t be gatekeeping passionate individuals from continuing their educational journey.
College should be free for anyone to go to. College students are adding more dollars to our economy for each dollar that we spend on their education. For higher level degrees, the benefits to our economy could be even greater for each individual.
Take the example of a doctor, if we paid for more doctors’ educations then we could have more specialists available for complex surgeries, potentially extending lives and raising the quality of life for many individuals. Saved lives also means that there are more people contributing to the economy as well.