Rising Tuition and Student Debt Relief Efforts in the U.S.
College tuition in the United States has been on the rise for decades. There has been roughly a 2.5% yearly increase in the cost of tuition between 1963 and 2020, and tuition costs have more than doubled since 1986. But why exactly is this occurring? To put it in the simplest of terms, universities and colleges are continuously trying to one up each other. To compete with other institutions, they must pay for new staff, buildings, and amenities, explaining why they charge more for tuition and other costs. As tuition costs grow, state funding for higher education has been on the decline all across the U.S. Between 2020 and 2021, 37 states experienced these declines, including Colorado which had its budget cut by 47%. In order to make up for the lack of funding, institutions charge more for tuition. Unfortunately, as these adjustments make it harder to afford college, most college students rely on loans to graduate from a four-year institution. The average student takes out a loan of over $30,000, and after 20 years, half of them still owe $20,000. As of 2022, 45.3 million borrowers have student loan debt. These are the individuals that would have been impacted by the President’s forgiveness program.
As tuition continues to increase, the chances of higher education institutions suffering could also increase. An option instead of the common four year universities would be to get an online degree, which is becoming a more affordable and convenient method of receiving higher education. In 2018, even before COVID-19 made online schooling a mainstream method, nearly seven million college students were enrolled in at least one virtual class, and this number has continued to rise. If this trend continues, physical campuses could become obsolete. While this isn't a concern at the moment, after all college admissions are more competitive than ever, it's something for institutions to keep in mind as technology evolves along with methods of education.
Earlier this summer, on June 30th, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, Arkansas, Kansas, and Iowa and struck down President Biden’s plan to relieve as many as 43 million Americans from some or all student debt. This plan would have required $430 billion to diminish student loans for these individuals across the nation, but the court’s ruling was largely due to the belief that the government didn’t have the authority to forgive so many loans, much less afford it. However, the six states’ main concern was the significant loss of profits for companies that service federal student loans. In Missouri, it was estimated that the Higher Education Loan Authority, or MOHELA, would lose about $44 million a year if Biden had succeeded in his forgiveness plan. This alone proved legal standing for the state.
Above is an illustration depicting the Supreme Court Justices listening to the arguments regarding the Biden v. Nebraska case.
During the 2020 election and campaign season, President Biden gained followers and voters by promising changes such as tackling the climate crisis, working for racial equity, and relieving student debt for millions. Because student debt forgiveness was one of Biden’s 2020 campaign promises, understandably, many of his voters were upset. This includes the young voters, whose turnout for the 2020 election increased by an average 9% per state nationwide, and older voters whose debts have been looming over them for decades. Especially during the pandemic, when unemployment and inflation were on the rise, this relief was being counted on by many. In March of 2020, Biden tweeted “We should forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans, as proposed by Senator Warren and colleagues.” He is also quoted on several other occasions along his campaign trail, including in a piece in Medium.com and at a Florida town hall. In terms of consequences for President Biden, with the 2024 election right around the corner, reelection might be a little harder to achieve due to some voters’ loss of trust in his promises and capability to keep them.
Citizens protest the Supreme Court’s ruling to not move forward with President Biden’s debt relief plan.
With all of this in mind, what would have happened if the plan had moved forward? Michael Jones, the Professor of Economics at the University of Cincinnati puts it in perspective. “You have individuals who can pay their debt back, but why in the world would you if you know there's a possibility here in the future of actually not having to pay that back?” The plan would have made it easier for individuals to take advantage of the federal government and its willingness to pay off their loans for them. However, it’s impossible to dismiss the financial and mental burden that would have been lifted from so many shoulders.
Despite the efforts being made to relieve student debt for Americans, it doesn’t change the fact that college tuition increases in cost more and more every year, making a higher education unattainable for so many individuals across the country. For those who were able to attend a college or university, the financial burden that came with their degree could follow them around for years or even decades, making day to day expenses even more difficult to afford. No matter your stance on how student loans should be handled in the United States, it’s easy to sympathize for the millions of lives that have been negatively impacted by student loan debt.
Works Cited
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Turner, Cory. “What the Supreme Court’s Rejection of Student Loan Relief Means for Borrowers.” NPR, 30 June 2023, www.npr.org/2023/06/30/1176839127/supreme-court-student-loan-forgiveness-decision.
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