They said go to college. Get the degree. That’s how you make it.
So people did. They signed the papers at eighteen, trusted every adult who told them this was the smart play, and went to class. And now the bill is eating them alive.
Nine and a half million federal student loan borrowers are in default right now. One in five. 4.2 million fell behind in the last year alone — after the pandemic freeze ended and payments came roaring back. Hundreds of thousands more are months behind and sinking. Another wave is coming.
And what is the Trump administration doing? Not a goddamn thing to help. They’re dismantling the SAVE plan — the one affordable repayment option that was keeping people afloat. Their excuse? “Simplifying” the system. That’s like simplifying a lifeboat by throwing it overboard while the ship goes down.
The consequences are real. Wrecked credit. Wage garnishment. The government can take your Social Security checks over a loan you signed at eighteen because every adult in your life told you college was the answer. They’re handing defaulted loans to the Treasury now — because what struggling families really need is a debt collector with federal authority.
This is a fucking trap. They sold the loans, set the interest rates, told entire generations that education was the ladder out. And when people can’t pay — because wages didn’t keep up, because the degree didn’t deliver what was promised, because life happened — they garnish your paycheck and call it personal responsibility.
A woman in Texas filed for bankruptcy, thought her student loans were gone, and found out this spring she owes $94,298 with interest and is in default. She broke down. That’s not accountability. That’s a goddamn debt trap run by the same government that told her to get the degree.
Take the flag pin off before you squeeze a bankrupt woman for ninety-four grand, you sanctimonious bastards. Family values, my ass.
Source story: Student loan defaults jump by 4.2 million after pandemic pause.