The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
I am a Latinx millennial, and I consider myself to have lived a life of privilege. But, I’m at the end of my first semester of graduate school and I am $36,000 in debt. I implore the vastly diverse Biden-Harris administration to follow through on their promises to expand equitable access to higher education.
I attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School from kindergarten through eighth grade, until my parents could no longer afford private schooling. Through open-enrollment I attended Catalina Foothills High School, one of the best schools in the area. Despite this educational background, my family struggled through the Great Recession and financial meltdown of 2008.
I may not have a business degree from Eller — I study journalism — but I am capable enough with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing to articulate that while a higher percentage of the millennial generation values a college education, many of us are unattracted to the increasing cost of tuition, debt and stagnant wages.
As a Latinx millennial, days away from my 26th birthday, without an asset in my name, I recognize the overwhelming debt that I am in.
Not only am I inheriting the nation’s debt crisis, greatly exacerbated by an ill-managed pandemic, I also belong to the other 30.8% Latinx millennials plagued with student loan debt. I not only owe $36,000 and counting but am about to enroll for health insurance that I can barely afford with my part-time bartending job.
And if I dare pursue a doctorate degree? It is some consolation that if I die, my debt would be “forgiven.” How much debt is my life worth to an unforgiving society that values individualism and status over collectivism and higher education? How has the only land grant university in the state of Arizona not yet recognized the value of my merit?
I have paid five years’ worth of tuition that has not reflected the state’s constitutional mission of “as nearly free as possible.”
Currently the nation stands at $1.6 trillion dollars in student loan debt. While Joe Biden’s plans to pardon $10,000 per borrower is appealing as a short-term fix, what is to be said about the cost of college in the future? What sort of job will I have to take in order to cover the other $26,000 that I owe? Entry level journalism jobs on average start at $36,000.
While the rate of Latinas obtaining an associate degree or higher has grown over 70% over the past two decades, we are still placing milestones such as buying homes, getting married and having children on hold. Not only are women my age who look like me pursuing more education, we are also grappling with more debt. On average, women of color owe more money than their peers — statistically, students of higher-income families are even receiving more financial aid than those of middle- to lower-income families.
How are we to catch up in the disadvantaged world of generational wealth and selective opportunity when we enter the workforce with at least $29,800 in debt, applying for jobs that only pay us $0.55 to the dollar of our white-male counterparts?
In a capitalist society where higher education is becoming exclusively for the affluent, why hasn’t a single presidential administration prioritized affordable access to a higher education? An educated society is constructive; it’s a society less likely to rely on government assistance and contributes more in taxes. So why is it that working-class students are still struggling to make ends meet with mediocre pay and multiple part-time jobs?
My father always told me, “We’re not rich, but the only thing we can give you is an education.”
I am now using that education to call upon this incoming administration to start with a $10,000 loan forgiveness, but follow through on the larger issue at hand. Make the pursuit of higher public education close to free and forgive student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 after graduation.
These are issues that my generation is trying to resolve, now. As efforts for our unborn kin, we can make educated decisions when we vote. We can and are selecting more women (and men) of color to appointed offices. We are using our outside voices, gathering in the streets and mobilizing upward in hopes of dismantling the insurmountable debt institution and putting an end to a disadvantaged America.
