My grandmother is a retired 1st grade teacher, and my grandfather is a veteran. She was able to save up money with those salaries to save enough money in my 541 plan that if it was not for the slashing of education funding in 2008 that the money she saved with the interest it had accumulated would have been enough to pay for an entire bachelor’s degree in-state. After getting 60 credits of my associates paid for by Running Start (a program in Washington State where the state will pay all of your tuition for you to go to community college in high school), and finishing up my associates degree there, there still was not enough money to pay for everything in the 541 plan after the social contract had been so entirely broken by the state and federal government in 2008. Fortunately my grandparents were able to pull some money out of their IRA plans without putting themselves in jeopardy, and I still ended up with a small amount of student loans. If my grandparents had maximum benefit pensions, I likely would have had tens of thousands of dollars more in student loan debt. Add onto this the rapidly increased cost of housing, and basically unless if your parents are millionaires or you are so poor that you qualify for every program, it is not possible to pay for college nowadays.
Also, quick note on John Oliver’s piece which I am responding to… that lazy river at Louisiana State University is not paid for by tuition, it is paid for by fees, which are added on. Tuition pays for teacher’s salaries and essential services which run the school, but mostly teacher’s salaries. That’s an important note, adding amenities to large campuses is not the driver of increased tuition. It is 100% because state governments have stopped paying the bulk of teacher’s salaries.
States have reduced funding because student loans are available, as every state has regressive tax codes. City budgets mostly pay for police, and that is our priority as a country.
Student loans should not exist. We should just pay for people to go to college, it is worth it.