Loan Forgiveness Plan Flawed

A job at any tax-exempt organization qualifies for the federal government's student loan forgiveness program. The implicit theory here: that such jobs are relatively poorly paid and that taxpayers have an interest in having well-qualified college graduates take them. But public employment offers a combination of job security and retirement benefits that are actually the envy of those in the private economy. The larger problem with the program—one that includes its provisions for non-profits as well as government—has to do with the concept of government seeking to influence the career choices of college graduates in the belief that some jobs do more than others to serve the public interest.