The Current State of Student Debt: How Did We Get Here?
Episode description
This week, the Supreme Court heard two cases challenging President Joe Biden’s one-time student loan forgiveness plan. The plan, which will determine whether over 40 million people in the US can have up to $20,000 in debt canceled, has sparked conversations about whether it’s fair just days after it was announced.
One important conversation you won’t hear in the media, though, is how we ended up here in the first place. That is, how did we end up with so much student debt, and what can we do about it?
In today’s episode of Fiscally Savage, Dylan provides a brief history of student loans and explains how they work, how student loan debt became a $1.7 trillion crisis, and what we can do about it.
Show Highlights
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[03:22] The two lawsuits challenging President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan
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[08:02] The history of student loans
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[14:54] How student debt became a $1.6 trillion crisis
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[21:44] How degree inflation and change in accountability move the goalpost from high school to college
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[26:25] Difficulties that are inherent in the current state of the student debt crisis
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[31:13] What we can and should do about the student debt crisis
Links and Resources