If we are going to forgive student loan debt, we should include all student loan debt

The following is an open letter to President-elect Joe Biden.

Dear President-elect Biden:

As we all know the progressive left wing of the Democratic Party is pressuring you to forgive student loan debt with a stroke of your pen … if and when you take office.

Surely you will succumb to the pressure.

However, you know that moving forward with any initiative in this area will mean navigating a very slippery slope with respect to who would be included and to what extent.

There is a real possibility that you will consider capitulating completely to the demands of this radical element and just slide all the way to the bottom of the slippery slope by forgiving any and all current outstanding student loan debt.

In the spirit of fairness, however, the debt cancellation should extend to ALL former college students and provide for the reimbursement of their college costs, including loans that have been retired as well as documented expenses that were paid in cash.

This would be viewed by many as an effective economic stimulus to combat the damage done by the pandemic. In the event that you move in this direction, consider me “all in.”

I enrolled in Clemson University in August 1966 to pursue a Bachelor of Architecture degree. At the time that degree required the completion of a highly-structured five-year curriculum.

I graduated in August 1971 and in doing so I incurred considerable expenses, all of which I paid out-of-pocket thanks to my summer employment and some help from my parents.

I retained a copy of the Clemson University Record – 1966, which included pricing for many of the costs I incurred.

As a non-resident student from Maryland, my tuition was $200 per semester … $400 per year.

The matriculation fee was $5 per semester … $10 per year.

The maintenance and activities fee was $261 per semester … $522 per year.

The medical fee was $15. per semester … $30 per year.

The library fee was $12 per semester … $24 per year.

My total costs for 1966/1967 were $986 (versus $486 for an in-state student); today, a non-resident student would pay $37,128.

Seriously!

When it came to room and board, I had to be thrifty and live in a dorm without air conditioning at just $120 per semester … $240 per school year.

I also added the dining hall food service for $210 per semester … $420 per year.

(The food wasn’t terribly good … but there was all you could eat!)

I was fortunate when it came to textbooks since most of my design classes didn’t require them because the architecture library met our needs. Rarely did I have to spend more than $10 per book, so maybe $50 per semester … $100 per year.

But what I didn’t spend for textbooks I made up for in equipment and supplies like a scale, a slide rule, a Texas Instrument calculator, foam core board, tons of mat board, rubber cement, acrylic paint, etc.

I spent about $150 per semester … $300 per year.

My travel costs consisted of a $25 round-trip flight home flying “military stand-by” twice a semester … $100 per year.

And while clothing was an expense, since I once wore the same jeans for 63 straight days, I’ll claim just $100 per year.

So my first year at Clemson cost $1,746.

According to the website www.dollartimes.com, if you apply the inflation rate for each of the next four years and adjust for inflation since then, my college expenses equate to $72,553 in 2020 dollars.

If, indeed, you take office on or about Jan. 20, 2021, please forward to me a check for $72,553 no later than Jan. 31, 2021.

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert lives in Batesburg.

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 3:49 PM.