Michael Horn argues that constant focus on student debt relief actually discourages low- and middle-income students from enrolling in college. The repeated messaging about debt makes prospective students fear they can't afford it, potentially eroding trust in higher education and widening enrollment gaps between income groups.
I think, ironically, tragically, whatever adverb you want to insert there, the administration constantly harping on the need to relieve student debt, has sort of pushed the news that higher ed is expensive more and more into the headlines. And it's made people arguably more cautious, not less so, about going to college because all they hear is debt unaffordable, won't be able to pay it back, on and on and on. And you get this. On top of that, I do worry about how many people are just going to say, I don't trust this higher ed deal. I'm steering clear, and I worry about who. Does that mean the colleges and universities are going to start to lose? I suspect it's going to be more low and middle income students, Jeff, not the upper income part of the spectrum.
