Editorial -- Sam Graves Attacks on College Grads Not Factual

Congressman Sam Graves is entitled to his opinions about whether President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness, in which he forgave $10,000 from every person making up to $125,000, and $20,000 if they were on Pell grants, has merit or not. However, he is not entitled to his own facts. 

In his column that appeared in the September 1st Nodaway News-Leader, he wrote, “The President has arbitrarily made the determination that truckers and plumbers should foot the bill for lawyers and executives.”

As a Northwest alum, Congressman Graves’ comment is simply not true. Most of us are not lawyers and executives. Some people went on to work in business, but Northwest is one of the top teachers colleges in the area and they offer many different ag programs as well. They supply many of the teachers who teach our kids. Northwest does not offer law degrees, and while they have a high rate of job placement, they do not produce a lot of CEO’s either. They produce people who work hard and play by the rules.

Most of the other schools in Cong. Graves’ district are the same way. Missouri Western offers a strong nursing and criminal justice programs. Truman State is one of the top liberal arts schools in the state and has a broad variety of programs. William Jewell has been cited in US News & World Report, the Princeton Review, Forbes, and Washington Monthly as one of the top colleges in the country. 

All of them offer a wide variety of degrees and programs for their students. Jewell, for instance, offers 40 different programs. Truman offers over 50. Northwest offers over 200. Missouri Western offers 77. Most of them do not involve becoming CEO’s or lawyers like Congressman Graves claims. 

Congressman Graves actually has a point when he raises concerns about increasing the deficit. Like many things in Washington, plans are put forth without any kind of plan on how it is going to get paid. We would have preferred that such a plan, which costs the taxpayer around $300 billion, be paid for somehow. Do we get a return on investment when people who no longer have student loan debt hanging over their heads invest in the economy? Do we raise taxes on the wealthy? Do we cut defense spending, or welfare programs, or find it somewhere else? While the government can print its own money, they still have to worry about inflation, which has slowed down, but is still too high. 

But there was no need for Congressman Graves to attack those of us who graduated from college by stereotyping us as lawyers, execs, or rich people. We have enough division in this country.