Reaction to Supreme Court Student Debt Cancellation Ruling

The Supreme Court ruled today that the Administration’s student debt cancellation plan is illegal and will not be allowed to go forward.

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

The President’s unilateral student debt cancellation plan was expensive, inflationary, poorly targeted, and would have done nothing to improve the affordability of higher education. With today’s Supreme Court decision, it’s time to put these costly cancellation schemes behind us.

Today’s decision resolves nearly a year of legal ambiguity for borrowers, but with only a couple of months remaining before the three-year payment pause comes to an end. The Administration and Department of Education should focus their efforts on helping borrowers resume payments in an orderly manner. Too much time has been wasted on empty promises, and not enough time has been spent on making sure borrowers are prepared to begin making payments again.

The Administration should also work with Congress on a set of reforms to truly contain higher education costs and improve quality and accountability. We hope today’s decision will dissuade this and future Presidents from attempting such costly unilateral actions without Congressional input.

It’s important to note that from an accounting perspective today’s ruling will reduce the 2023 deficit by about $400 billion, just as the announcement increased the 2022 deficit by that amount. This accounting convention may mask the recent rise in structural deficits but does not much change the grim realities of our fiscal trajectory.

It is time for Congress and the President to come together on plans to reduce deficits and improve higher education affordability at the same time. We need real reforms, not empty promises.

info@crfb.org

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CNN host abruptly ends segment when guest whips out the facts about affirmative action's impact on Asian students

CNN host Abby Phillip ended a segment with a fair admissions advocate on Thursday when he used facts to demonstrate the downside of affirmative action.

Kenny Xu — a board member for Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court case — told Phillip that academic excellence, not race, "should be prioritized" in college admissions.

"I think that admissions should be only based on merit," he said. "Why are we asking a university to calculate somebody's level of diversity? I think that sets a very bad precedent for anybody trying to get into college. We should be treated on the basis of our merits. We should be treated on the basis of how hard we work, or study, our SAT scores, our grades."

But Phillip pushed back. She asked why admissions boards should not consider "other factors" that students "bring to the table" like socio-economic background.

Xu argued you cannot do that fairly because, inevitably, admissions standards are changed for applicants from a disadvantaged socio-economic background versus applicants from a privileged background.

"We don't want that. We want black students to succeed. We want every student to succeed, low-income students to succeed," he pointed out. "But you have to put them in scenarios, in places where they are likely to succeed. And lowering your standard to admit somebody of a socio-economic status or race would not help you do that. In fact, you would harm their graduation rate and excellence."

Phillip responded that standards aren't lowered — but Xu held his ground, despite Phillip's attempts to interrupt him.

"The standard is lowered, as admissions data shows. Asians have to score 273 points higher in the SAT to have the same chance of admission as a black person," he argued. "So, the standard is lowered for black Americans."

Phillip then abruptly ended the segment. "Kenny Xu, thank you for your perspective. Really appreciate you joining us today," she said.

The phenomenon that Xu described is well documented.

Five years ago when the case went to trial, the Harvard Crimson reported on the Ivy League school's admission data. The paper showed that Asian students who applied to Harvard produced the highest average standardized test scores among applicant demographics, yet had the lowest admission rate. Black applicants, on the other hand, had the lowest average standardized test scores, but enjoyed the highest admission rate.

As CNN legal analyst Elie Honig explained, what the Supreme Court objected to was not diversity per se, but admission boards giving "specific numerical bump [in admissions] based on race."

"What I think is really interesting is there is a recognition here ... that racial diversity is a virtue, it is a value. They're not saying it's a bad thing or it's meaningless," Honig explained of the Supreme Court's decision. "The question is: What are the constitutional means to get there?"

The answer to that question, Justice Clarence Thomas suggested, is to honor the "colorblind" Constitution.

In his concurring opinion in the case, Thomas acknowledged that American society is not "colorblind." But that reality should not prevent our laws from being race-neutral, he argued.

"Racialism simply cannot be undone by different or more racialism," Thomas wrote.

https://www.theblaze.com/news/cnn-phillip-debates-kenny-xu-affirmative-action ?

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Forbes offers sympathetic portrayal of man with $177K in student loan debt for an anthropology degree, and both get roasted online

Forbes tried to draw up a sympathetic portrayal of a student loan recipient who ended up owing more than $177K in order to receive an anthropology degree, and many on social media responded with scorn and mockery.

The article documented the plight of 39-year-old Michael Kilman, a father of four children, who obtained a master's degree from Portland State University in 2014 but who has had to supplement his income as an adjunct professor and digital media creator by driving for DoorDash.

Although he initially borrowed $88K for his education, the deferred payments and interest spiraled the amount into more than twice the original amount.

“It affects everything, it affects even the things I do with my children and the fact that I may never be able to own a house,” said Kilman to Forbes. “Everybody you talk to who has significant student loans says the same thing, that these loans are kind of like this big weight that we carry around our necks that prevent us from actually doing well.”

The article is intended to make Americans sympathetic to those who may benefit from a student loan forgiveness program touted by President Joe Biden and under consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.

But critics on social media lambasted the attempt to bolster Biden's policy goals.

"Why is it even possible to get loans for a Master's degree in Anthropology from Portland State University? Honestly, the universities should be on the hook for this to some extent. They know those degrees are not a ticket to a high paying job," replied Christina Pushaw of the DeSantis campaign.

"He should ask the university, the institution that said their education was worth the investment, to bail him out," read another response.

"His poor decision making is not my or my family's responsibility," said another critic.

"Don’t pick a major where your career maxes out on a salary that is less than your education costs," read one popular response. "Or man up and deal with the consequences of your choice, by either switching careers, working three jobs, and/or living below your means."

The student loan debt moratorium is scheduled to end in September and payments will resume in October, unless Congress acts to put it into law

https://www.theblaze.com/news/forbes-student-debt-article-roasted

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