If we needed a reminder that the higher education system is inequitable and in need of reform, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered it this week. Today’s decision rejecting President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan is insult to the injury caused by yesterday’s decision effectively ending affirmative action in college admissions.
Approximately 40 million people would have benefitted from student loan forgiveness. People who are struggling financially, postponing investments like buying a house or saving for retirement. Disproportionately, these are also people of color.
Today’s ruling underscores the need to prioritize making postsecondary education affordable for low-income students and BILPOC students, those who can most benefit from the economic stability and social mobility a degree brings.
A Missouri college graduate with a Bachelor’s degree earns about $27,000 more per year than a peer with a high school diploma. That same student, however, borrows an average of $24,000 to pay for that Bachelor’s degree. Students need and deserve a path to an affordable college degree, one that doesn’t come with substantial debt.
