• Grangle1@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Over a LIFETIME, sure, they will make more. But especially in that past 20 years I’ve been mentioning, they start out with that debt holding them back, and it’s been more difficult for an increasing amount of people over time, due to the economic difficulties and the rising balance and interest of those loans due to exponentially ballooning costs of that education plus inflation, to both pay that debt back and establish a career and stable life that makes that increased earning possible. Most of that increased earning comes later in life for many, and payment on those loans can only be deferred so far. Millions of borrowers are putting off auto and home purchases and even marriage and starting families because their student debt is causing them to not afford such life milestones, because even jobs that require degrees do not pay enough early in one’s career to afford it; the increased earning is back-loaded, and really I would not be surprised if it’s also weighted heavily towards those who were already wealthy and could afford to not have to take out loans for their education, even for advanced degrees that will add on even more to their income. Further, with the value of a degree dropping due to employers focusing on experience over education and the increasing labor market with degrees, that income gap is also likely to drop pretty fast, and that drop I’m value is also likely to hit the grads from lower-income backgrounds who had to take out large amounts of loans much more than the wealthy who likely already had the right connections to get around experience requirements on top of not having to go into debt for their degree. They’re not the ones benefiting from this policy; it’s the ones who struggle despite their degrees, who are possibly hampered economically even more than the folks who didn’t go to college at least during the vital years when they should be able to establish themselves, who would be the main people who benefit.