LOUISVILLE, Ky. — This week, the Biden administration extended the student loan deferral period once again. Now, the deadline is at the end of August. While many college graduates view this as good news, not everyone believes it’s the right move.
Those who are not in favor of extending that deadline include University of Louisville student Caleb He.
“I think this has good intentions, but it’s just economically feasible and it’s not prudent at all,” He said. “I am a first generation student, my parents pay zilch for college because all of it’s paid for by scholarships.”
Caleb is a political science junior. He plans to attend medical school after his undergrad and received nearly a full ride to UofL for high test scores.
He points to the debt on the shoulders of too many students as one of the bigger issues that pushing back deadlines won’t solve.
“Encouraging students who don’t have clear occupational goals is egregious. I think that’s harmful to, you know, just putting an entire generation of students in debt for no reason,” He said.
Political science professor Julie Bunck shares the negative sentiment towards student loans.
“We should think really carefully about how this is done and whether if we want to ‘forgive’ student loans and pass them onto somebody else who, in fact, didn’t take out these loans, didn’t commit to them,” Bunck said.
The professor adds that she believes the payment deadline will continue to be pushed back, but does not believe student debt will be canceled.
Bunck added that changes need to be made in higher education in general, where tuition and fees have soared.
“These wealthy universities and colleges that convince students that this is going to be in their best interest to take out a couple of hundred thousand dollars. It’s crazy and it needs to stop,” Bunck said.
One solution she offered is encouraging more financially viable ways of getting a degree, such as attending a junior college or staying in state. Both ideas would limit the dependence on loans.
“This is all bad economic management and I am not sure now the way to solve it, or the way to change the way we think, is about college is to say ‘well now you don’t have to pay it,’ never mind all the people who have already paid their loans, we’re going to let you off the hook and we are going to pass this debt onto someone else,” Bunck said.