There’s an old expression that without freedom of speech we wouldn’t know who the fools are. The guest column (“Student loan relief shifts money to wealthy,” Christine Flowers) opposing student loan relief reminded me of that.

The author paints a terrible picture of who these deadbeats are and says they should not be getting any relief! They just need to get to work!

It might be enlightening for the author to know that unemployment among 25-year-old college grads is 2%. So, apparently, they have heeded that advice. But some are still having a hard time paying off those loans.

The author also claims that this program will shift money to the wealthy. The wealthy go to the best schools, so using Harvard as an example, while 42% of Harvard undergrads receive financial aid, only 2% receive loans. And the loans — as they are in all colleges — are need-based. So no, rich people are not eligible for loans, and so therefore they won’t be getting much tuition loan relief!

I don’t have the time to address all the silly things the author said, but the belittling description of college grads — ‘ecogastronomy major’ — has no connection to reality.

In 2020 there were 2 million bachelor’s degrees. About 1.3 million of those degrees were awarded in business, health professions, social science and history, engineering, biology, biomedical, computer science and psychology. The author can have a good laugh, but 2/3 of the grads are in serious professions that are assets to the nation and to their employer as well as to their families.

There are serious problems with the way we fund college education, and it would be worthwhile to have a substantive conversation about that. Unfortunately, this author adds nothing to the larger debate.

Rol Fessenden,
Brunswick