The Battle for Student-Debt Forgiveness by Young Farmers Goes Local

Alexander Holt was quoted by MarketWatch in an article about how the fight to forgive student loans has now shifted to cover young farmers as well:

Though these obstacles may be real, student loan help probably isn’t the best way to address them, said Alexander Holt, a policy analyst in the Education Policy Program at New America, a think tank. Lawmakers really concerned about the plight of young farmers should instead look for a more targeted approach, like easing credit standards for young farmers looking to invest in equipment, he said.

“Why are you tackling this problem through loan forgiveness? Why don’t you do it in a more direct way?” Holt said.

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What’s more, letting another profession into the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program potentially opens the floodgates for all sorts of sectors to lobby for inclusion, Holt argues. If farmers are let in on the basis that their work is in the public interest, he says, what’s to stop the companies that transport their food or the lenders they work with from making the same argument?