May 4, 2022

Students Must Take Responsibility for Their Debt

We need to help our youth who want education to get it. But it must be done prudently. Teaching our youth that they don’t need to pay back debts is not a good start.

Lending money is not, as they say, rocket science.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in the last quarter of 2021, of the total of all outstanding business loans from all commercial banks, 1.08% were delinquent.

Per the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, as of second quarter 2021, a little over 2% of the $1.4 trillion outstanding in auto loans were delinquent.

Yet in the student loan market, totaling around $1.6 trillion, not that different from the total size of the auto loan market, an average of 15% are in default at any given time, per the Education Data Initiative.

It should be clear what the problem is.

Auto lenders make sure that those to whom they lend can and will pay back the loan. They are careful because if the borrower defaults, the lender loses.

But if, tomorrow, President Joe Biden or Sens. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders decide that it is not fair that there are Americans without new cars and managed to get government guarantees for auto loans, is there any doubt that there would be a dramatic rise in defaults on car loans?

Those lending wouldn’t care who they lend to because they wouldn’t take the loss on a default. You and I, we taxpayers, would, as we will if Biden and his party have their way to wipe out student loans.

Of course, “wipe out” is not the right terminology. Debts don’t get wiped out. They just get transferred to someone else. In the case of government guarantees, that someone else is taxpayers.

The concept of student loans backed by the government is another child of the allegedly compassionate 1960s.

Doesn’t it make sense to help the less fortunate obtain funds to pay for college?

But as many theologians and philosophers have noted, the greatest charitable act is to help another individual take control of their own life. Teaching personal responsibility is the most valuable gift that one can provide another.

Our American compassion, our moral compass, has gone awry.

A child growing up in America today looks around and finds himself or herself in a nation where debt is larger than the entire economy, and still growing.

But just as inflation shows that the costs of fiscal irresponsibility cannot be hidden, so the costs of teaching our youth that personal responsibility is irrelevant cannot be hidden. It manifests in the destructive behavior we see now.

The Wall Street Journal reported that one student loan adviser told them, “I’m seeing them say, ‘I’m going to take out more loans now and go buy GameStop stock with it because it’s going to get forgiven anyway.’”

A new Gallup survey reports “32% of currently enrolled students pursuing a bachelor’s degree report they have considered withdrawing from their program for a semester or more in the past six months.”

Thirty-six percent attribute this to financial reasons. But 76% attribute to “emotional stress.”

Of course, the universities love this. What business wouldn’t think the government subsidizing purchase of its product is a great idea?

Per the American Enterprise Institute, from January 2000 to December 2021, college tuition costs increased 175% and college textbook costs increased 150%. Over the same period, the consumer price index for all items increased 65.5%; prices of cars, household furnishings and clothing remained relatively unchanged; and cellphone services were down 40%, computer software down 71% and television sets down 97%.

Per Education Data Initiative, highest default rate — 26.33% — is among arts and humanities majors attending nonselective schools. Can anyone really think such loans make sense?

We need to help our youth who want education to get it. But it must be done prudently.

Teaching our youth that they don’t need to pay back debts is not a good start.

Misguided efforts by Biden and his party to cancel obligations on student loans should be vigorously opposed.

COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.