Regarding Michelle Singletary’s August 29 business column, “Why Students Shouldn’t Expect Loan Debt Forgiveness to Happen Again”:
How wonderful it would be for our country if all children knew in primary school that they have the opportunity to perform at their best. Knowing that if they apply themselves to learning, they can contribute to society and succeed would surely instill in students the will to seize the opportunity of education.
In the United States, higher education is reserved for the wealthy or those willing to borrow. It is unfair and demoralizing for children to realize that they will not have the opportunity to pursue higher education without being burdened with debt.
Children are the future, and we let them down at our peril. It is inconceivable that some members of Congress do not understand that giving all children the opportunity to succeed is the best way for the United States to succeed.
Barbara Adams, Chevy-Chase
The August 26 front-page article “Loan relief sparks battledescribed the personal and financial distress experienced by a 23-year-old graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee. She struggled financially while in college and after graduating. Tuition at Marquette is over $40,000. Per year. In-state tuition at the flagship University of Wisconsin at Madison is about $10,000 per year, less at other campuses. You can do this in a full-time student job in the summer and part-time during the school year. A student who went to the University of Wisconsin and worked wouldn’t need to borrow, wouldn’t need to experience financial hardship while in school, and could graduate debt-free.
Stuart Leven, silver spring