This Picture Will Make You Think Forgiving Student Debt Isn't So Crazy After All

[JoePhilly]

85. I have to agree with you. Something else is going on here.

I went to college from 81-84, and then graduate school from 85 to 89. I accumulated over 60k in loans, and then I married in 1990, and my wife had another 20k plus in loans. So together we had over 80k total.

We paid them off in about 7 years.

First, when I got my first real job out of graduate school, I did not immediately start to spend all the money I made. As a full time student, I had an extremely low income. So when I got my first job out of school, I did not change my lifestyle to reflect the "new money". My wife and I, recent graduates both working, stayed in the same crummy apartment. We had the income to move, but we decided to pay off most of that debt first.

We also delayed having kids. No new cars.

On the one hand, I feel bad for anyone who has taken school loans that they can't get out from under.

Where I struggle is that I know you can pay them off, but you have to make doing so a priority. I was a lower middle class kid, no family money, and I was able to manage the loan process. My wife as well.

Now, I have a son who is a freshman in college. He won't have loans to pay off because my wife and I have been saving for him and his 2 sisters too.

If we "forgive" all the student loans ... does that mean I should stop paying for my son's college, have him take loans, and then demand "forgiveness"? That would certainly save me a small fortune.

What really needs to happen is an expansion of things like Pell grants and Stafford loans, and other mechanisms that help kids go to college.