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Indentured Servitude: Why Student Loans Won’t Go Away

By Christian Piatt
Student loan debt illustration, Marie C Fields / Shutterstock.com
Student loan debt illustration, Marie C Fields / Shutterstock.com
Jun 7, 2012
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There have been lots of news stories lately about student loan forgiveness and the like, and as the holder of serious five-figure graduate student loans, you’d think I’d follow the discussion closely.

But to be honest, I haven’t paid much attention for one, possibly cynical, reason; the systems isn’t going to change.

I joke sometimes that my dream is to pay off my student loans before I retire, but to be honest, that probably won’t happen. It wouldn’t surprise me if I have them with me the rest of my life.

I know, typical twenty-first-century young adult nihilism, right? Maybe. But my monthly payments are already the second largest bill we have next to our mortgage. Still, the payback time line spans many, many decades. I’d like to believe that those in power have the necessary motivation to change things, but here’s why I hold little, if any, hope they ever will.

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Student loan debt illustration, Marie C Fields / Shutterstock.com
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