Should there be a cap on total student loans to one person? Is $257,000 too low?

Photo above - Dr Rodney Coates, professor of critical race theory, at Miami University, warns that capping total student loans at $257,000 per person will deprive America of needed lawyers and PhDs.

How much student debt is too much? And will the $2 trillion already racked up ever be repaid? (spoiler alert – probably not).

My uncle was a firefighter. He ran into a burning building once, to turn off the natural gas. Because if that kept fueling the flames, there would be no hope of containing it. The problem with student loans is similar. There’s an inferno of past due and fully defaulted loans. Someone needs to stop pouring gasoline on the fire.

On July 1, 2026, a partial measure will take place. Lifetime borrowing for US college students will be capped at $257,000. That blew my mind. I thought it was too high, that there's no way it will help fix the problem. Then I read the complaint below (“new federal loan limits”) where students and professors are saying the actual cost of an undergraduate degree is $224,000. If you want to to become a lawyer or take a shot at medical school, tack on another $390,000. Total education expense: more than half a million.

So student borrowing will be limited to half the sticker cost. Students eyeing graduate school and law degrees are outraged. Apparently, they fear America is facing a shortage of lawyers and out of work PhDs.

We should also note 90% of all student loans are government granted or guaranteed. Apparently this $2 trillion student debt problem is fully baked into the $38 trillion national debt. Yes, let’s close the spigot a little, please. America is drowning student debt.

30% of all student loans are in arrears. Another 5.3 million borrowers are in full default – legal proceedings have commenced to attach real estate, wages, etc.

There is no data on how much of this student debt was approved for foreign students, or how much of the amount outstanding is owed by people who have returned to their motherland. I’m betting this is a number greater than zero. But it’s not as big a problem as America’s own public school graduates - the ones with mediocre grades and SAT scores, who are being enrolled even though the university knows their odds of completion are poor.

Approximately 20 million students are enrolled in undergrad college right now. About 3 million came out the back end with bachelors or associate degrees in 2024. That’s an astonishing product default rate. There’s a link to the stats below.

I'm sorry Rodney Coates, Professor of Intercultural studies at Miami University, if capping student loans at $257,000 seems like an existential threat to your tenure and paycheck. But America cannot afford to continue the path we’re on. No other nation does this, in fact.

And stop telling everyone that “rich corporations” should get tapped to pay for all this stuff. They can't afford to hire all the PhDs colleges are already churning out.

I’m just sayin’ . . .



New federal loan limits threaten graduate school access for millions of students | News | ktbs.com

Average Student Loan Debt Statistics – Forbes Advisor

More than 5 million student loan borrowers are in default. Education Department says they will be referred to debt collection | PBS News

Federal Student Loans: Preliminary Observations on Borrower Repayment Practices after the Payment Pause | U.S. GAO

how many undergrad degrees were granted in 2024 - Search