Collegiate grief
This week, private loan company SoFi filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education, attempting to stop the government-sanctioned student loan billing suspension that’s been benefiting the majority of borrowers for 36 months.
The filing comes as the conversation around student loans in the US amplifies, with Biden’s proposed forgiveness — which could see some 40 million former students have up to $20k of debt erased — hanging in the balance as the Supreme Court reviews a host of lawsuits against the motion.
The cost of education
College enrollment in the US has started to drop in recent years, falling some 4.1% in 2022, as would-be attendees question whether it’s still really worth it. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), which has been tracking the rising cost of college for the last 40 years, won’t relieve any prospective students of their financial pessimism either.
Indeed, the BLS estimates that college-goers are now forking out 1246% more than their predecessors were in 1980 — and that’s just on tuition fees. Textbooks, materials and other educational supplies have also soared 949% since then. Both are way ahead of overall inflation, which has climbed a relatively modest 285% over the same period.
