Not a fan of this and I have quite the loan from UM.
There are two parts to this for me.
You have kids who are sold bullshit dreams and never given a reality check on degrees that have no jobs even close to the income range required to pay off the debt they are accepting.
However, they are ACCEPTING that debt and ignorance is not bliss. No one forces anyone to do this.
Federally subsidized loans have a fixed interest rate of 7.5%. If you are using auto pay it drops to 7.25%. You cannot declare bankruptcy on these loans.
That is your problem if you are taking out loans in excess of 100k. Why so high? The Department of Education is the 4th largest bank in America. That is crazy. Anyone pretending the arms race on college campuses isn't based around this is smoking crack rocks.
I have been fortunate enough to be able to utilize the no interest rate to wipe out a good portion of my loan. Frankly it is life changing. Biden did not discuss how much. I highly highly doubt he wipes it all out.
The national debt is my biggest national security risk. If I am expected to balance my budget I expect my government to as well. Wishful thinking no doubt.
I'll start off with my loan situation for the sake of a full disclosure... After the compound interest kicked in, my student loans 6-months post-graduation were just about $90K (and I was fortunate get a full ride to UM and only took out loans for my graduate studies). A few months from the 10-year mark, and I'm down to about $2.5K left to pay (freezing the interest rate over the last couple years was helpful). So I do get offended when I see people "gaming" the student loan system or otherwise just acknowledging some future default. But I agree with everything you posted above.
I will also add that 30 years ago, when not attending college and still having a successful career was sold as a possibility in guidance counselor's offices across the country, today you won't hear it. HS funding depends on standardized test results and public high schools are ranked based on college admission percentages. So the high schools try their best to push the vast majority of students towards college (even the ones who would have been much better off learning a trade).
Simultaneously, the quality of our public school education system continues to take hits (in particular in states like Florida, but more or less throughout the country), combined with the additional supply of college graduates, results in employers upping their job requirements to a minimum 2-year or 4-year degree for jobs that 30 years ago only required a HS diploma.
This all makes a college degree appear that much more of a necessary step for HS students, increases the costs associated with obtaining a college degree, while also making the college degree marginally less valuable. (So more students think they need one, it costs more to get one, and the benefit derived from it is less).
The result is a ton of student loan debt.
For future generations... Increase the quality of public education K-12. Push trade schools and reputable technical institutions to marginal HS students (or even the smart kids that just want to work, frankly). Regulate on some of these BS unaccredited colleges and fly-by-night technical schools and hold them financially accountable. And provide meaningful opportunities for loan forgiveness in exchange for public service/work (the current system needs a serious overhaul).
For the current situation... I don't have a clue. It's totally FUBAR.
