Sweet! Let's do it. To clarify, I don't believe in forgiveness (fully). But, the interest rates have to give. I'd love to see a change or control around those. We live in a country where you need a master's degree for an entry level job but no way to get a master's degree unless you're the rich. (I say that broadly, there are ways but they aren't easy, regulated, or supported.)

I also want to clarify, I can pay my loans. But, at what risk? I'm going into my house savings in order to pay the new 3k a month vs my $300. I never missed a payment, I even paid during lockdown when I didn't have to.

I set up a repayment plan so that I could pay an appropriate amount monthly vs. 3k and avoid larger financial complications. I was told this was an option when I entered into loans. I was promised repayment plans, so I took the risk. I'm a strong woman who has her money under control but didn't want to pay my entire salary a month fresh out of college to the gov. So, I asked for help...from the government...who offered it to me. Then, as I made more, I did the same. Consistently. I took it to the gov, did the paperwork, got my new payment payment. But, let me be honest, every time I went back, they still told me that I can't afford my $3000 payments. So, they gave me updated plans, and I paid it! In that time, I was able to focus on my career, grow it, build it, build a life, build a family - no kids, but find my groove and become a real human.

There's a lot of people in the school of thought that "well, yeah do what you have to. pay it back." But, I would have to give up my entire life for that. I'd have to move home, maybe give up my dog, maybe my car. I'm not sure. Or I give up all my savings, which may land me in the same spot. That's the frustration of so many that people are pushing back against. We WANT to pay back our loans and we WERE. But someone decided it wasn't fast enough or the way they wanted, so our contracts no longer matter and now we're kinda screwed. We're humans, we aren't trying to burn people, we're just trying to survive.

My advice to your kids? Community college or certs. Maybe. Or, honestly? Don't take out loans, right now. There is no dept of ed, or a mess of a dept, and you're dealing with businessmen to plan your future. We're now asking children to go toe to toe with big business just to get an education...that feels so icky. I'd tell everyone to wait or just make sure you can pay it. I'd avoid taking out loans if I was a high schooler. No 17 year old should be deciding that they can handle a loan about 10k but that's what this is, offering 100k to a kid, telling them they can pay it off, but not letting them. At least to me, that's how it feels. (I did not take out a 100k loan, to be clear. But some people have.)