USA 2024 Elections Thread

[grarpamp]

> Before midterms: We’re forgiving student loans, vote for us!
> The day after midterms: Sike, thanks for the votes



Student Debt: It Is And Always Has Been A Personal Choice

https://mises.org/wire/student-debt-it-and-has-been-personal-choice

The Supreme Court of the United States will hear plaintiff and
defendant oral arguments for Biden v. Nebraska in February 2023. That
case will determine whether the Biden administration has the
constitutional authority to forgive student loan debt and thereby make
taxpayers responsible for the debts that students have incurred.

This past year President Biden announced that his administration would
forgive federal student loans. According to the Congressional Budget
Office student debt forgiveness would cost taxpayers $400 billion.
Taxpayers are already taxed for public schools and for the public
universities within their states and, in some instances, within their
cities. Therefore, there is no reason that they should assume the loan
debt that students chose to amass by attending colleges that have
tuitions that they cannot afford.

Each of the fifty states has public universities. The tuitions for
in-state residents at the public institutions of higher education are
lower than the tuitions at private institutions. In all states,
out-of-state residents pay higher tuitions than in-state residents.
For instance, in New York State there are forty-five public
universities (SUNY), and there are twenty-five public colleges in New
York City (CUNY). The undergraduate tuition at CUNY is $305 per
credit. The average SUNY undergraduate tuition per credit is $295 for
in-state residents.

However, in some instances based on residency, grades, family income,
and other criteria, tuitions are free at CUNY and SUNY. If some New
York State or New York City high school students choose to attend
public colleges out-of-state or to enroll in private universities in
New York where the average private college tuition is $929.75 per
credit, they will pay tuition rates that are higher than if they were
to enroll in CUNY or SUNY, even if they did not meet the standards for
free tuition

Tuitions at private institutions are generally higher than
out-of-state or in-state public college tuitions. During the first two
years, all colleges, whether public or private institutions, have the
same core liberal arts, mathematics, and science classes; for the next
two years, students take electives and requisite courses for their
majors. Courses, taken during the freshman and sophomore years can be
transferred from public to private colleges and conversely within the
same state. Interstate course transfer acceptance is discretionary. A
three-credit English composition class carries a higher cost at a
private college than the same course at a public college. A student
chooses to pay more tuition for the same course at one college than at
another college.

In order not to incur debt, students should attend colleges based on
their economic comfort level; however, some do not. Many students
choose to attend colleges that neither they nor their parents can
afford. Both they and their parents accrue loans that will take years
to pay off. Loan repayment, depending on the amount borrowed, can take
anywhere from ten to thirty years to repay.

Students’ lives are curtailed by those loans. Where and in what types
of residences they will live, when and if they will marry, and when
and if they will have children are instances in which student loan
debt is the prevailing predicate. Choice then is the underlying
economic catalyst for students’ debts,

To curtail or to eliminate debt, students have the option to attend
in-state public universities or private universities that do not
charge tuition. In all cases students should be very cautious when
considering any tuition-charging private institution.

Some television pundits proffer the opinion that tuitions increase
because the federal government continues to hold student debt and that
while students accumulate large debt balances colleges will increase
tuitions. However, those pundits forget that debt is the choice of
students, and, as with any purchase, economic prudence in college
choice is essential. Students wrap themselves in debt because they
choose not to wait for their self-sufficiency; their debt is a choice
and should not be the burden of taxpayers. Caveat emptor.