I used to joke with our children by complaining about having to walk to school when I was growing up. They knew the truth. The house where I grew up was one block from the elementary school in one direction and one block from the high school in another direction. Walking to school was never a cause of suffering for me. I worked hard at a variety of part time jobs to help fund my college and graduate school education and I did incur some educational debt, but it was not excessive and it was easy for us to repay it within a few years of our graduation.

I am the product of a specific privilege few people in the world have enjoyed. I was able to obtain a high quality education, including graduating from a private liberal arts college and a specialized graduate education program, at a price that could be afforded by a middle class student. I had help from parents. I earned scholarships and fellowships. We lived frugally and didn’t have any spare funds, but we got our education. Perhaps even more rare is the fact that I was married during my college years and both of us graduated and completed graduate school together. We were both full-time students for the first five years of our married life.

Our combined debt at the point of completing our graduate degrees was $7,500. Our combined income the first year out of school was around $11,000 plus our housing. We lived in a parsonage provided by the church. Our chosen vocation isn’t among the ones that brings in great wealth, but we have always been fairly treated by the congregations we have served and we have lived a middle class lifestyle.

I don’t know about the financial circumstances of others my age, but I find some of the whining about the proposed forgiveness of student debt to be a bit misplaced when it comes from my peers. We obtained our educations when the cost of schools was relatively low. Those of us who did accumulate debt were able to obtain very low interest rates and flexible payment plans. If you are around my age, your circumstances don’t come close to what is faced by students who are younger than us.

In round numbers tuition and mandatory fees at a four year state college or university for in-state students is around $11,000 per year. Room and board is above that amount. Factor in possible expensive decisions such as attending an out of state college or enrolling in a graduate school and it is easy to see how students have become burdened with debt.

I don’t know the answer to this problem. I am sure that there are thoughtful people who disagree with the current plan. Some say it is too little. Some don’t think any debt forgiveness is needed. Some wonder at the legality of cancelling debt without legislative action. I’m sure that the arguments will continue and that there are valid points to be considered from those who oppose debate cancellation.

The argument that isn’t cutting it with me is the one coming from some of the people in my age group that sounds a bit like, “I suffered, and you need to suffer too.” It is a silly argument. Our circumstances were different, and we didn’t really suffer. And even if it had, it is a silly argument coming from people whose parents endured the great depression and World War II. We weren’t required to suffer as the previous generation had. What makes us think that our children and grandchildren need to suffer?

Beneath all of the arguments is a deep and fundamental crisis in our economy and our society. Do we believe that education should be accessible to all regardless of their financial circumstances, or are we committed to making education a luxury that can be afforded by only wealthy elites. It is pretty clear that the current system favors the wealthy. The highly publicized scandals of wealthy persons buying favor for their children to attend prestige colleges is only part of the picture. Higher education has become a luxury in our country that is beyond the means of many of our people.

I don’t expect a single federal debt relief program to solve all of the problems of the American education system.

We are a wealthy nation. The fact that higher education is not available to all of our citizens is because we have made the choice to not invest in education for all. The structure of our higher education system favors those with wealth. We could make different decisions. We have the means to create an educational system that honors education as a good investment for individuals and for our society. We lack the will to solve these problems.

I remain convinced that the majority of Americans believe that education is the great social equalizer. At some level we believe that every person has a right to high quality education. But we have not produced public policy to support that belief. Instead we have created a system of education that rewards the highest bidder. You can find a token middle class student in an elite law school or medical college, but they are the exception. Most of the students in those programs are independently wealthy. They don’t need to calculate the risk of borrowing money against future income projections. If they did, they wouldn’t be making the investment.

College debt comes not from people making calculated choices, but rather from people who can find no other way to obtain the education they seek.

One of the basic biblical financial principals has to do with the forgiveness of debt. Without going into too much detail, debt should not exceed an amount that can be paid back in 7 years. Debt in excess of that amount should be forgiven. It is hard to put biblical principles into public policy, but given the current crisis in our educational system, some form of debt relief seems like a rational investment for our country. Compared with subsidies and tax breaks for huge and wealthy corporations, it comes at a very modest price.