Should Wall Street pay off student debt

[Dill]

(06-28-2019, 11:45 PM)Aquapod770 Wrote: Is college an investment that pays for itself in the long run?

Yes: there is no case for having tax payers cover college graduates debts.

No: Tax payers shouldn't be on the hook for someones bad investments.

Pays for itself for whom, exactly? The student? Eventual employers? The US government? US society as a whole?

Just curious Aqua. What do you think of the Morrill Land Grand Acts of 1862 and 1890?

Why would the federal gov. give away hundreds of thousands of acres of taxpayer-owned land to states for the sole purpose of establishing state universities? I can't find any record of the legislators debating this matter arguing that it would help students "get jobs," though could certainly argue that was a by product of the act. The southern states were against it, and the first act didn't pass until they seceded from the union. 

Also, do you think that investment paid off, and if so for whom?  

https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=33&page=transcript

The answer to that question should establish a baseline for assessing taxpayer investment in higher ed. in the current era.