WKU student says student loan forgiveness would be ‘life-changing’

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - The Presidential administration is discussing student debt and loan forgiveness, so how would it affect the country?

13 News met with a WKU student to talk about how she thinks loan forgiveness could change her life.

”You’re stuck in this situation where you can’t make the money to pay it, but it’s compounding and it’s going to grow, and then what do you do with all that debt,” asks WKU student Andrea Bravo.

With three years of school under her belt, Bravo, like most college students, has her share of debt--$8,500 in student loans. She says she expects it to be ten to $12,000 by the time she graduates. She says it’s a terrifying thought.

President Biden says he supports canceling $10,000 in debt per borrower. There’s even been mention of $50,000.

“Starting out life with zero debt gives me the opportunity to actually focus on what I want to do versus what I have to do. My biggest dream would be to travel.”

But financial advisor Tony Walker says students will end up paying regardless.

“My concern is let’s say we start forgiving student debt and I know the student feels like their debt is forgiven but that’s tacted onto our national debt and eventually, that has to be paid back. So my concern is those same students that have been forgiven now--one day, whether it’s a tax increase or whatever--are going to be asked to cough up that money right back again,” Walker explains.

It’s a precedent Walker says the country can’t sustain, explaining, “once you start forgiving any kind of debt then those next generations or those next students that come into the fray might expect the same type of forgiveness.”

Walker says the problem the country needs to address is not just student debt but debt on the whole. 13 News will update you on the latest information on student debt from the White House.

Copyright 2021 WBKO. All rights reserved.