Dr. Hal Higdon
In a recent podcast, Ron Lieber, the author of “The Price You Pay for College,” told the host, “We have conducted a decades-long experiment using teenagers as guinea pigs, right? We should remind ourselves that if we are going to cancel some debt, it’s because we are admitting as a nation that this was a really dumb thing to do to children.”
At $1.7 trillion, student loan debt is second only to mortgages as the most significant amount of consumer debt. While most people are well into adulthood when they buy their first house, we ask teenagers to agree to loans sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars. Students become enamored with picturesque campuses, raucous football stadiums and a robust residential experience with their peers. Parents look into their young children’s eyes, and many cannot say, “No, you’re not mortgaging your future for four years of fun.”