Let's look at hard figures on student debt so we can see who becomes ensnared in the predatory student loan industry in the US. I was a NY Times journalist but did not go to an "elite" college; I am a proud graduate of Buffalo State. But I attended during a gentler time when low-income kids were seen as a great investment by our governme…
Let's look at hard figures on student debt so we can see who becomes ensnared in the predatory student loan industry in the US. I was a NY Times journalist but did not go to an "elite" college; I am a proud graduate of Buffalo State. But I attended during a gentler time when low-income kids were seen as a great investment by our government. Times have changed.
-- The following figures are taken from The Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2022 Historical Trend Report. It's by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (PennAHEAD). I have included page numbers here:
-- Student debt is soaring: in 2021, 43 million people had student debt amounting to $1.75 trillion, up from $330 billion in 2003 (4c page 164)
--In 2016, of students whose families are in the lowest income quartile ($32,542), the average net price of a college education was equivalent to 94 percent of family income. (4b(ii) Page 163)
-- Nearly half of Black graduates become mired in debt. In 2012, four years after graduating from college, 48 percent of Blacks owed more money than they borrowed. In contrast, 17 percent of Whites owed more than they borrowed four years after graduating. (4e) Page 178)
--White families had a median wealth of $108,320 in 1983 and $162,176 in 2019, in constant 2020 dollars. Black median wealth was $7,188 in 1983 and just $9,111 in 2019, a rise of just 27 percent. Hispanic median wealth was $4,151 in 1983 and $14,173 in 2019, an increase of 241 percent. (Figure. 8b(ii) Page 38)
-- Finally: Of students from low-income families who received Pell grants, the average amount borrowed ($43,983) to attend college far exceeded the amount borrowed ($25,375) by students from higher income families. Blacks who qualified for Pell Grants borrowed an average of $58,644; Whites., an average of $31,578. (4e(ii), Page 175).
I rest my case. Student debt is making worse a serious divide between haves and have nots, and our government has become the company store. It's disgusting.
Let's look at hard figures on student debt so we can see who becomes ensnared in the predatory student loan industry in the US. I was a NY Times journalist but did not go to an "elite" college; I am a proud graduate of Buffalo State. But I attended during a gentler time when low-income kids were seen as a great investment by our government. Times have changed.
-- The following figures are taken from The Indicators of Higher Education Equity in the United States: 2022 Historical Trend Report. It's by the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education and the University of Pennsylvania Alliance for Higher Education and Democracy (PennAHEAD). I have included page numbers here:
-- Student debt is soaring: in 2021, 43 million people had student debt amounting to $1.75 trillion, up from $330 billion in 2003 (4c page 164)
--In 2016, of students whose families are in the lowest income quartile ($32,542), the average net price of a college education was equivalent to 94 percent of family income. (4b(ii) Page 163)
-- Nearly half of Black graduates become mired in debt. In 2012, four years after graduating from college, 48 percent of Blacks owed more money than they borrowed. In contrast, 17 percent of Whites owed more than they borrowed four years after graduating. (4e) Page 178)
--White families had a median wealth of $108,320 in 1983 and $162,176 in 2019, in constant 2020 dollars. Black median wealth was $7,188 in 1983 and just $9,111 in 2019, a rise of just 27 percent. Hispanic median wealth was $4,151 in 1983 and $14,173 in 2019, an increase of 241 percent. (Figure. 8b(ii) Page 38)
-- Finally: Of students from low-income families who received Pell grants, the average amount borrowed ($43,983) to attend college far exceeded the amount borrowed ($25,375) by students from higher income families. Blacks who qualified for Pell Grants borrowed an average of $58,644; Whites., an average of $31,578. (4e(ii), Page 175).
I rest my case. Student debt is making worse a serious divide between haves and have nots, and our government has become the company store. It's disgusting.