As of June 2024, Americans owed about $1.6 trillion in student loans, 42% more than they owed a decade earlier. Student loan debt is one of the most pressing issues and is a matter not to be taken lightly. It has long-term negative effects and dramatically challenges students’ mental health. Thus, student loan debt should be eliminated through forgiveness.
First of all, student loan debt negatively affects students for long periods. According to CFR.org, “student debt is harming younger generations of students by preventing them from reaching their financial goals.” Adding to this, EducationData.org also states, “Student loan debt may inhibit a consumer’s spending for decades as it takes the average student loan borrower 18½ years to pay off their loans in full.” This clearly conveys the fact that younger generations of students are facing challenges in meeting their financial milestones, such as buying their first houses and cars. On top of this, they work for months on end trying to pay off their loans. The younger generations wouldn’t have to suffer through these problems if student loan debt were excused.
Another reason that student loan debt should be eliminated via forgiveness is the fact that students’ mental health often deteriorates when they have the constant thought of the debt nagging in their subconscious. The University of Georgia’s newspaper states, “The study found high levels of mental health issues, including feeling depressed, stressful feelings and worrying thoughts, were associated with student loan debt…” This shows a form of cause and effect. The students are getting overloaded with college and the weight of student loan debt, and the effect is that they are experiencing mental health challenges.
However, some people say we should not eliminate student loan debt because eliminating student loans will take a toll on the economy. Heritage.org writes, “…will make both inflation and the labor shortage worse.” While it is true that eliminating student loan debt will affect inflation, eliminating student loan debt helps the economy too. Britannica says, “A Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia study finds… people with student loan debt are less likely to be able to open businesses. And the effects snowball from there: fewer small businesses means fewer jobs and less economic output and consumer spending, which in turn means lower national income and slow economic growth for the country.” This shows that people with student loan debt are less likely to open their small businesses, which would impact the economy by slowing the nation’s income and economic growth.
In conclusion, the elimination of student loan debt is a serious topic. Student loan debt should be forgiven because of its negative long-term effects and challenges to students’ mental health. Therefore, we should all raise our voices and advocate for the elimination of student loan debt for the benefit of future generations seeking knowledge in college.
Works Cited
The editors of ProCon. “Student Loan Debt | Pros, Cons, Debate, Arguments, Education, Forgiveness, & Bankruptcy.” Britannica, 8 November 2024,
https://www.britannica.com/procon/student-loan-debt-debate. Accessed 10 December 2024.
Fry, Richard, and Anthony Cilluffo. “5 facts about student loans.” Pew Research Center,
18 September 2024,
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/18/facts-about-student-loans/.
Accessed 09 December 2024.
Hanson, Melanie. “Effects of Student Loan Debt on Economy [2023]: Data Analysis.” Education Data Initiative,
25 November 2024,
https://educationdata.org/student-loan-debt-economic-impact. Accessed 09 December 2024.
Hataway, Leigh. “Student loan debt may worsen mental health problems.” UGA Today, 11 July 2023, https://news.uga.edu/student-loan-debt-and-mental-health/. Accessed 08 December 2024.
Sierra, Gabrielle, and John Delury. “What Should the U.S. Do About Rising Student Loan Debt?” Council on Foreign Relations, 16 April 2024,
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-student-loan-debt-trends-economic-impact. Accessed 08 December 2024.