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Argument for Not Forgiving Student Loan Debt Speech

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English | Graded Assignment | Write a Persuasive Speech
© 2016 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Page 1 of 3
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Graded Assignment
Write a Persuasive Speech
Total score: ____ of 50 points
During the next several lessons you will be writing a persuasive speech and taking a stance on a topic that can be
debated.
To begin, save this document to your computer with your name at the end of the filename (e.g., NG_ELA9-
10_W_11_GA_Alice_Jones.docx). You will write the first draft of your speech in this document, and you will
continue to use the document throughout the assignment. When you complete your speech, you will submit this
document to your teacher for grading.
Refer to the Write a Persuasive Speech Assignment document and follow the steps to complete the assignment.
Your teacher will score your assignment using the Write a Persuasive Speech Grading Rubric. Look at the rubric
yourself so that you know how your assignment will be scored.
Check with your teacher regarding the due date for the assignment, and contact your teacher for instructions on
scheduling your presentation.
Eden Asipov
9 English
13 February 2020
Final Draft
Looking Towards the Future: An Argument for Not Forgiving Student Loan Debt
Have you ever wondered about the crisis of education becoming too expensive for students to be able
to obtain it? Due to the exponential increase in the costs of obtaining a college degree, students are either being
driven away entirely from earning a degree or are taking out student loans which cripple their financial
prospects well after graduation. Currently, the full debt stands at $1.7 trillion, held by more than 43 million
borrowers, according to a CNBC report titled “U.S. Student Debt Has Increased by More Than 100% Over the
Past 10 Years.” Even worse, according to a SoFi Learn article, student loan debt has now surpassed total credit
card debt in the United States. Clearly, there is a student loan debt problem. As a solution, many people have
pointed to blanket student loan debt forgiveness, which would effectively cancel much, or all, of the debt that
borrowers are still working to pay back. However, taken altogether, student loan debt forgiveness creates
inequality and while student loan debt forgiveness sounds attractive, we should focus instead on how we got
here. Therefore, considering the unparalleled damage that blanket student loan debt forgiveness would cause
and the failure of the policy to address the root cause of the issue, student loan debt should not be forgiven.
For starters, one of the most notable ways a student loan debt forgiveness program could leave its mark
on society would be by widening the wealth gap, therefore creating more inequality. For example, according to
Constantine Yannelis, professor of finance at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, “any policy
that is a universal loan forgiveness policy- say forgiving debt up to $50,000- is going to give most of the dollars in
forgiveness to upper-income individuals.” On top of that, according to a Wharton University of Pennsylvania
article titled “How Student Loan Forgiveness Could Increase Inequality,” the evidence shows that under a
universal loan forgiveness policy, the average individual in the top earnings section would receive $6,021 in
forgiveness, compared to $1,085 for those in the bottom earnings section. All of this demonstrates that if a

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English | Graded Assignment | Write a Persuasive Speech
© 2016 K12 Inc. All rights reserved. Page 2 of 3
Copying or distributing without K12’s written consent is prohibited.
universal student loan debt forgiveness program were instituted it would increase inequality, showing that the
policy will benefit the wealthy few the most at the expense of the many.
Furthermore, while student loan debt forgiveness sounds attractive, we should focus instead on how we
got here. This is because the issue cannot be solved if the root cause of it is not addressed. What is the true
cause of the student loan debt issue that has been hidden from students for so long? The real cause of the
student loan debt “crisis” is the government. Primarily, liquidity provided by the federal government enables
colleges and universities to raise their prices, causing students to have to take out loans most of them cannot
pay back in order to afford tuition, leading to the student loan debt crisis. For example, a 2015 report from the
Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that for every dollar in subsidized student loans, universities raised
their tuition 60 cents. Clearly, student loan debt forgiveness is not the answer because it will increase federal
subsidies for higher education, which would serve to give colleges and universities more money, allowing them
to skyrocket their costs while simultaneously crushing taxpayers more and more, demonstrating that student
loan debt forgiveness would only exacerbate the problem, not solve it.
On the other hand, some have argued that student loan debt forgiveness is beneficial and necessary
because since failed policies and programs have made the federal government the main cause of this crisis, it is
up to the government to fix the problem. Another argument offered in favor of debt cancellation is that it will
redistribute wealth to help those who need money to pay off their student loans, which some believe will
actually increase fairness and equality within our society. However, these arguments, however honestly felt, can
be swiftly addressed and shown to be unfounded. The argument that because failed policies and programs have
made the federal government the main cause of this crisis, it is up to the government to fix the problem is
incorrect and mistaken. This is evident due to the fact that years of evidence has shown, such as the evidence
from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York report above, that federal student loans offer colleges and
universities excessive funds that enable them to raise their tuition without fear of losing customers, which
causes the student loan debt crisis. Giving the government more power to fix this crisis because it is its
“responsibility” by throwing more money out of the pocket of taxpayers at the colleges and universities in order
to pay off student loans will only serve to allow colleges and universities to increase their prices even more
because they know someone else will have no choice but to pay them off, and that will only worsen the
problem, not solve it. A final argument that proponents of student loan debt forgiveness give is that it will
redistribute wealth to help those who need money to pay off their student loans. Much like the other argument,
this argument also has serious flaws. This is because according to Preston Cooper in his article for The James G.
Martin Center for Academic Renewal titled Forgiving Student Debt Isn’t the Solution to Anything,” evidence
shows the highest-income quartile holds nearly three times the amount of student debt as does the lowest-
income quartile. This demonstrates that redistributing the wealth among the rich and the poor will only serve to
create more inequality and unfairness, not helping those who need the money to pay off their student loans.
Ultimately, the $1.7 trillion student loan debt issue has been increasing for decades, largely driven by
the cost of higher education. Considering all of this, though, a student loan debt forgiveness program would
undermine the nature of our educational system while directly harming our economy, worsening the student
loan debt issue, and creating a deep level of forced unfairness and inequality within our society. Therefore,
considering the unparalleled damage that blanket student loan debt forgiveness would cause and the failure of
the policy to address the root cause of the issue, student loan debt should not be forgiven. However, in order to
impair this policy from becoming law in our society, you should peacefully protest against it in order for action
to be taken against it. For example, you could gather with fellow students, or join an activist or school
organization in order to make action happen against student loan debt forgiveness and, since the issue is
drastically widespread nowadays, for more awareness to be raised to the root cause of the issue in order for it
to one day be truly solved. Moreover, help spread the message you heard today to as many people as possible,
either online, to your friends, or to people you know who may be thinking about forgiving student loan debt-
our education and future depend on it.

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English | Graded Assignment | Write a Persuasive Speech Graded Assignment Write a Persuasive Speech Total score: ____ of 50 points During the next several lessons you will be writing a persuasive speech and taking a stance on a topic that can be debated. To begin, save this document to your computer with your name at the end of the filename (e.g., NG_ELA910_W_11_GA_Alice_Jones.docx). You will write the first draft of your speech in this document, and you will continue to use the document throughout the assignment. When you complete your speech, you will submit this document to your teacher for grading. Refer to the Write a Persuasive Speech Assignment document and follow the steps to complete the assignment. Your teacher will score your assignment using the Write a Persuasive Speech Grading Rubric. Look at the rubric yourself so that you know how your assignment will be scored. Check wi ...
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