If we decide to make college tuition-free, we should also forgive student debt.

You can call it the "sunk cost" fallacy if you want, but doing the former without doing the latter would result in an entire generation of people spending decades in debt and falling behind the group just a year younger than them who are no longer straddled.

It is basically like a really mild version of making pot legal without releasing prisoners with pot-related sentences. A black man spending life in prison for simply having pot, while his neighbor makes bank selling it just because he waited an extra year.

I have my own debt nearly paid off, so neither of these would affect me too much. But an added benefit is that since higher earners have paid off their debts more, the benefits would naturally be more directed towards those who actually need it.

Student loan debt is a contentious issue, especially in the US, where it makes up the [second-biggest] (https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2021/02/20/student-loan-debt-statistics-in-2021-a-record-17-trillion/?sh=3344814d1431) household debt. Unlike the UK, US graduates are expected to begin repayments of nearly $400 per month soon after they finish their degree, regardless of their financial situation.

The case against eliminating student debt:

• Some people argue that student debt forgiveness would be unfair to those who have already nearly or fully paid off their loans - potentially resulting in complicated reparation payments.
• Eliminating student debt is obviously beneficial to those who have completed a college education. But if the government makes them a priority, then those who have not been to college will receive no benefits - despite being, on average, [worse-off in the job market] (https://www.northeastern.edu/bachelors-completion/news/is-a-bachelors-degree-worth-it/).
• There are suggestions that rather than opt for complete elimination of student debt, the US should [alter the existing system] (https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/rising-student-debt-harming-us-economy). Maybe by adopting a tied-to-income strategy similar to the UK's or by focusing on making college educations more affordable. (In the States, there is no set price for either college courses or loan amounts).

The case for eliminating student debt:

• A common justification for eliminating student debt is that higher education is important and should therefore be a public service - if not free, then at least affordable to the majority. As it is, many borrowers are [behind] (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/may/30/us-student-loan-payments-pandemic) on their payments which holds them back financially.
• The ['economic injustice' argument] (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/learning/should-we-cancel-student-debt.html) makes the case that university educations have long been advertised as tickets to financial/job security. But in recent years, [tuition has rocketed] (https://www.businessinsider.com/why-is-college-so-expensive-2018-4?r=US&IR=T) while working wages have not - meaning people have to pay more to be qualified for jobs where they are not making enough to afford repayments.
• Two US professors recently [made the case] (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/17/opinion/letters/student-debt.html) that black Americans are more likely to take on student debt, and in higher quantities, in order to make the same amount as their white (less qualified) peers. This means that eliminating student debt could help to close the racial wealth gap.