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From the Opinion Section
摘自《觀點》板塊
The Case Against Student Loans: Why Weak Students Should Pay More
反對學生貸款的理由：為什么弱勢學生應該付出更多
By Bryan Caplan
作者：布萊恩·卡普蘭
Total U.S. student debt now stands at $1.5 trillion.
目前，美國學生貸款總額總額達1.5萬億美元。
Without the support of the federal government, most of this debt would never have been possible.
如果么有聯邦政府的支持，那么大部分貸款將不復存在。
Even so-called unsubsidized student loans are, in fact, heavily subsidized, compared with, say, credit card debt.
事實上，與信用卡債務相比，即使所謂的無補助學生貸款也是得到政府大量補助的。
Yet, strangely, almost no one argues that America has gotten its money's worth.
然而，奇怪的是，幾乎沒人認為這筆錢花的值。
Our student loan programs'main payoff is complaints.
我們的學生貸款項目收到的回報皆是抱怨。
Parents, students and activists fret that this crushing debt has to be repaid.
父母、學生和積極分子擔心著沉重的債務必須償還。
Student loan programs have saddled a generation of young people with onerous financial obligations—
學生貸款項目讓年輕一代背負了沉重的財務負擔——
commitments that prevent them from starting a family or moving out of their parents'basement.
這成為他們組建家庭或是搬出父母地下室的絆腳石。
Wouldn't it be better if college were affordable for everyone?
如果人人都負擔得起大學費用，豈不是更好嗎？
Yet many of these same critics also blame student loans for "sending too many kids to college."
而很多批評家也指摘學生貸款“送了太多的學生去上大學”。
Lots of academically weak students, the thinking goes, use cheap credit to gamble on their future.
他們認為，很多學業成績差的學生再利用廉價學生貸款拿自己的未來做賭注。
While this occasionally pans out, weaker students usually fail.
盡管這種情況偶爾才會出現，但是更弱勢的學生通常會賭輸。
One major study found that more than half of high school grads with below-average math scores now start college, but less than a quarter who do so actually cross the finish line.
一項大型研究發現，超過半數的數學成績低于平均水平的-高中畢業生現已開始上大學，但是只有不到四分之一的人的順利大學畢業。
And when weaker students manage to graduate, they rarely have the prestigious majors and high grades required to get the lucrative jobs they need to repay their loans.
更弱勢的學生畢業時很少會符合高薪工作要求的名牌專業和優秀的成績，而高薪工作又是償還貸款所必需的。
Isn't it perverse to dangle cheap credit in front of naive young people and expect them to choose well?
在天真的年輕人面前擺弄廉價信貸，并期望他們做出正確選擇，這難道不是反常的嗎？
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