Biden acts but loan forgiveness is still not enough to fix college costs: Opinion

Roughly two years into his presidency, Joe Biden has fulfilled a monumental campaign promise and alleviated a massive burden for millions of Americans. “With the flick of a pen,” the President has once again taken necessary steps to relieve financial hardships for working Americans and secure a competitive economic future for all Americans.

Of course, in our current political environment, what’s a blessing to many is often discounted to spite and rage from the “other side.” Despite what Republicans may think (or simply utter for political token), the majority of Americans impacted by the student debt crisis are hardworking people who were simply not afforded the access and opportunity of the political elites who routinely vote against ordinary Americans. In fact, nearly 90% of debt cancellation will go to borrowers making less than $75 thousand annually.

Mitch McConnell says Biden’s actions are a “slap in the face” to Americans. I say inaction by people like McConnell is a slap in the face to myself and millions of other Americans like me who worked full or near full time, sometimes multiple, jobs while attending college, yet still being forced to take on the burden of student loans to pay for egregiously rising tuition costs. Simply passing the buck, objecting to all proposed solutions or temporary fixes and placating to your base will not solve the problems facing higher education.

Over 200,000 Kentuckians would have all of their student debt wiped entirely, according to the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. That means one-third of Kentuckians with student debt will no longer have that hurdle to overcome.

Jesus and the debts of man

The Right has taken a stance on higher education - and education broadly - that ignores the need for strong, accessible public universities. Some on the Christian Right have attempted to use the Bible to support their rage, citing the book of Exodus. In that same book, God says “If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest” (Exodus 22:25).

Read the opposing view:Why Biden student loan plan, loan forgiveness is no more than theft: Opinion

Beyond the fact that weaponizing the Bible is inherently against the word of God, it is simply unfathomable that the man who fed the hungry, healed the sick and literally gave his life for the debts of man, would stand against something that does nothing but good. Biden’s actions cause no harm - only good. ( “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8)

The President’s actions go beyond debt forgiveness. For instance, cutting the amount of monthly discretionary spending borrowers have to pay in half to five percent and modest adjustments to income thresholds for payment deferrals, which come tied to interest adjustments to prevent loans from rising at times when borrowers have low income.

Biden was forced to act unilaterally, after nearly two years of congressional inaction, on a promise he made as a candidate. Candidate Biden then sought to cancel $10,000 of debt for all borrowers, though this week’s announcement is much more targeted and, overall, impactful considering the additional cancellation for PELL Grant recipients.

America needs higher education

Higher education is a crucial facet of the American economy - we need teachers to fill empty classrooms, engineers to design competitive assembly lines, qualified healthcare workers to secure medical advancement (the U.S. ranks fourth in global healthcare innovation), and so many more valuable assets to our economy. Yet, the opportunities higher education brings - for individuals and our economy writ large - are ripe with barriers, not the least of which being rampant tuition and fees forced upon students.

For the past couple of decades, the burden of public higher education has been dramatically shifted to the consumer. In the commonwealth, the student share of public higher education costs are 80% as of 2020 according to a review of data by KCEP. This share was around 20% in 1999.

More:'Student loan socialism': McConnell slams Biden for forgiving $10K of student loan debt

Last month, Dr. Ricky Jones highlighted the ways in which public universities are becoming more aligned with cash-strapped corporations. “Schools aren’t evil…they’re just starved,” Jones penned.

After decades of relatively lackluster investment into Kentucky’s public universities, the bipartisan budget passed this past legislative session received praise from higher education activists for its “historic investments into public higher education.” Though, that funding has zero chance at making a snip in tuition rates. In fact, the University of Louisville is set to have a fee increase for the 2022-2023 academic year that would amount to $2,000 more in tuition from what that rate was in 2003.

Courier Columnist Joe Gerth proposed the idea of block-grants geared towards lowering the tuition of public universities. Though, it seems unlikely that Republicans will get serious and put their words to work - if they do not support the current policy from Biden, what then would their solution be? Do they have one?

Perhaps it is simply easier to discredit and disagree than to stand up and get to work.

The rage coming from the Right only prolongs any real solution - resolve will never be found in the midst of hostility - but continuing to ignore the problem, pitting Americans against one another on practical, common-sense issues, only hurts all of us.

College is not necessary for an individual, but it is necessary that higher education be accessible for a sustainable and thriving economy. Unless and until Congress and our state leaders, including the Republican critics of Biden’s actions on student debt, get serious about higher education - get serious about a truly competitive American economy - barriers to higher education remain, the debt crisis grows, and our Nation is worse off because of it all.

Brandon Cooper is a recent political science graduate of the University of Louisville and an incoming student at The George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management this fall.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Loan forgiveness is a start. College-bound kids need higher-ed help