He did it right
One student thinks rational choice is fairest for all
The subject of student loans has been a dinner table topic for at least a generation or two as young people and their families weigh whether and how much to incur, then when and how to repay.
But as debt rises and young people sink beneath the weight of it, student indebtedness has emerged as a central platform point in the upcoming presidential election with candidates and citizens debating the financial impacts from default to forgiveness.
A young man from Ohio has cogently put forth another form of mental calculus for the discussion, and it is at least as valid as any other measurement: fairness.
In an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal, Ethan Ames writes of the difficult decisions he made regarding his course of study and where he would undertake it — decisions built largely on the specter of college cost and resulting debt. Instead of a pricey private school and the pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in political science, he ultimately chose the University of Toledo, a public institution with a lot less curb appeal and a commensurately lower price tag. And he majored in accounting, which he believed offered a more secure path to gainful employment.
In light of presidential campaign discussions of student loan forgiveness among Democratic candidates, Mr. Ames, now a law student at the University of Chicago, was moved to write in an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal with this compelling conclusion: “If I could have borrowed without limit to pay for my education because the loans would later be forgiven, this wouldn’t have been my path ... I would have attended a pricey private school on Uncle Sam’s dime and majored in political science — a subject I might have found more engaging if less remunerative.”
The argument persuades.
Mr. Ames had no ah- ha moment. His encounter with reality began in high school when he passed up the opportunity to attended the pricey
and prestigious Denison University. He opted for the University of South Carolina. But after paying for a semester that cost nearly $ 20,000, he transferred to Toledo, from which he graduated with a degree in accounting then accepted a job at Pricewater-houseCoopers.
Was Mr. Ames correct in forgoing the pursuit of his dream major at his dream university? That’s a personal decision. Emphasis on the word “decision.” Contained in his column for The Journal was a telling and instructive depiction of a young person who deliberated his decisions and made them based on consequences. It’s that kind of deep reasoning that every student is commissioned to undertake. And the government should do its part by requiring schools to make accurate disclosures about postgraduation employment statistics as well as the financial ramifications of indebtedness.
Understandably, Mr. Ames seems miffed at the notion of loan forgiveness. Indeed, it pulls the rug from beneath his feet as the foundation for his higher- ed decisions topples under the prospect. “I wouldn’t have majored in accounting, transferred to Toledo, or even attended South Carolina,” he writes.
One of the great problems with student loan forgiveness is the inherent lack of fairness to those who have made hard decisions to avoid debt and who have struggled to repay whatever they owe.