Not all of it. Just that last sentence.
Why am I offended? Well, let me tell you about two incredible people in my life whom I admire greatly. And they graduated from college with debt. But, it turns out not everything in your life is YOUR decision.
My sister. My sister is wicked smart. And dyslexic. Since the schools offered her little to no assistance, she graduated with less than a stellar GPA. It was a good GPA, but she worked at least twice as hard as some of those all A's students and didn't get all A's. But no scholarship. She lived at home during college, went to the state university, worked and biked/rode the bus to school. Then my parents divorced in the middle of her college years. They both moved out of state and were unable to help her. She worked nights, went to school days and lived in a beater car for a while trying to graduate without debt. Being homeless was very difficult and took a toll on her grades. Finally, someone convinced her to take out a student loan to move in with a group of girls so she wasn't homeless anymore. She joined the ROTC and did eventually earn a partial scholarship. She graduated as a distinguished military graduate who had worked hard AND had some debt.
My husband. My husband is wicked smart. His father abandoned them when he was young and never paid a cent of child support. Jason, his mother and four siblings were very poor. Jason almost became a high school dropout, but pulled it together to graduate and be the first in his family to go to college. He worked during college, lived modestly, had no car and little to no financial support from family. He graduated from BYU with some debt, but I consider that a huge achievement under those circumstances.
If you are someone who manages to graduate from college with no debt, like the person who wrote the statement above, I applaud you for your effort. Because it IS hard work and quite an achievement of self-control and hard work. However, you didn't do it alone as the statement above proposes. Your family and life situation most likely contributed greatly. Even if your family wasn't handing you money every semester for tuition, they have contributed to you financially in ways that made it possible for you to live that way once you got to college. Did your parents ever buy you clothes in high school or college? Did they facilitate your studying? Did they encourage you to go to school? Did they pay for your plane tickets so you could attend an inexpensive university in an inexpensive state? Did your family send you boxes at school? Did you get money for your birthday or Christmas for clothes or books? Did your family pay for your health insurance? Did your parents pay for your auto insurance in high school?
Good for you.
Lucky for you.
Because that kind of assistance is ideal without paying directly for your tuition, books or housing.
But, don't tell other people that it is THEIR decision to have debt. That line of thinking means that only people who are able to get really good grades and come from well-off families should get to go to school because they are the ones who have the best chance of graduating debt-free. I agree that there are plenty of people who take out loans for unnecessary expenses and squander their money. However, the purpose of student loans is to even the playing field and allow people the opportunity to get higher education who may not come from an ideal background. That doesn't make debt their fault.
I don't know who the 99% are, but I do think it is unfair to judge those who may have worked as hard as you, sacrificed as much as you (or more) but who didn't have the same opportunities or background as you.
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