New Yorker: 91-year-old owes $329,306 in student debt after taking out $29,000 in federal loans

When President Joe Biden announced $10,000 of debt cancellation for those making less than $125,000 a year, his advisors probably told him he was buying the votes of young, college-educated voters. What that overlooks, as the New Yorker tells us, is those aging student debtors of America who still have student loan debt dogging them after decades. Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle recently posted a thread on how she was able to pay off $100,000 in student loans while working on a journalist’s salary, and if she could do it, others could as well.

Way back during the Democratic primary debates when candidates were all campaigning on forgiving student loans, CNBC did a sympathetic piece on a woman with $500,000 in student loans for her master’s in acupuncture and doctorate degree in naturopathic medicine. (You can get a doctorate in “naturopathic medicine?”) Candidate Bernie Sanders’ senior policy advisor, an associate professor of sociology, tweeted that she had $180,000 in student debt. How does one rack up a half-million dollars in student loans?

The New Yorker is now coming to the rescue of those older debtors, profiling a woman who at 91 still owes $329,309.69 on a $29,000 loan. She went back to school because she was frustrated by the inequity in her public school classrooms, so you’re supposed to feel extra bad for her.

In 1983, at the age of 52, a public-school teacher, frustrated by the inequity in her classrooms, enrolled in law school. She borrowed $29,000 in federal loans. Today she owes $329,309.69 in student debt. She is 91 years old. https://t.co/0HQLL0DBb1

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) August 28, 2022

She better hurry up, then

— 703Kyle (@703Kyle) August 28, 2022

I'd like to see the math

— Paul M. (@ArizonaPaul) August 29, 2022

I feel for Betty Ann, I do. But she was already educated when she decided to pursue a law degree which she could not afford and would ultimately never use. What was her plan for repayment?I am not against helping people but we need to be judicious in cancelling debt.

— Jill R. Powers (@powersjill) August 28, 2022