A philosopher, attorney general, sociologist, and religious thought expert discuss the reasons behind the anger sparked by student loan forgiveness.

• The issue of student loan forgiveness generates intense emotions regarding fairness, personal accountability, and financial sustainability.
• What are the experts' thoughts on why the subject is so complex? CNBC posed this question to a variety of experts.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin took 30 years to pay off his $100,000 student loan balance. He believes that borrowers should not have their debt wiped away and has opposed President Joe Biden's efforts to cancel student loans.

The Biden administration's latest student loan forgiveness plan has sparked intense debate about fairness, personal responsibility, and economic soundness, with over 148,000 people weighing in with their opinions.

Some vacationers anticipate having summer travel debt.

Last year, Marlon Fox, a chiropractor in North Charleston, South Carolina, received $119,500 in student debt forgiveness. Despite living in a mostly Republican area where there is significant skepticism towards forgiving debt for those who have benefited from higher education, he kept his story largely to himself.

CNBC reported last year that Fox said, "Hey, you got your school loans paid off? That's unfair."

What are the thoughts of various experts on the contentious issue of student loan forgiveness? CNBC posed this question.

'A common-sense fairness question'

Griffin posed a common-sense fairness question regarding erasing student debt in an email to CNBC. He was previously Arkansas' lieutenant governor and later served as attorney general in 2023.

Griffin stated that the issue is not that the debt is not paid, but rather that it is paid using existing resources, which come from taxpayers. In the spring, he and attorneys general from six other states filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration's new repayment plan, known as the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, which leads to a faster path to debt forgiveness.

"Is it fair for individuals who have paid off their student loans or did not attend college to have their tax dollars cover the personal debts of others?" he questioned.

'A narrative of personal responsibility'

To comprehend our current perspectives on debt, we must examine our historical views, according to Kate Padgett Walsh, an Iowa State University philosophy professor who specializes in the ethics of borrowing.

"Human beings have been indebted to one another for care and support in families and small communities long before the invention of money. Similarly, children are indebted to parents and friends become indebted to one another when we help each other out. Repaying these debts is an essential part of building and maintaining communities. Debts are a fundamental aspect of human life with one another."

She stated that someone who enjoys the advantages of family, friends, and community without contributing their fair share is not being a responsible member of the group.

Many people today believe that not paying off debts is irresponsible because they have been constantly bombarded with this message from profit-driven entities.

""Lenders and businesses profit from people taking out debt and feeling obligated to pay it back, especially now when our consumption is heavily reliant on debt. As a result, they encourage us to take out as much debt as possible and insist that it is morally wrong not to repay it," she stated."

Padgett Walsh stated that we support this message because it aligns with our inherent sense of duty to repay debts to family, friends, and community that existed prior to the invention of money.

""However, focusing solely on personal responsibility can obscure the true dangers of financial debt, which we should prioritize addressing and reducing, particularly in the context of student loans," she stated."

'Different relationships to the education system'

"The reason why loan forgiveness is a contentious issue among parties is due to their varying connections to the education system, according to Devin Singh, an associate professor of religion at Dartmouth College and author of the upcoming book "Sacred Debt.""

"According to statistics, Democrats are more likely to have graduated from a four-year college and attended graduate school. Therefore, student loan forgiveness may indirectly impact more Democrats than Republicans."

Singh, whose research has focused on the intersection of religion with politics and economics, stated that the majority of Americans not having a college degree may contribute to their resistance to loan forgiveness because they do not see student debt as a personal issue and therefore do not perceive forgiveness as benefiting them directly.

He stated that the various groups have varying interpretations of the function of higher education.

"Some Democrats believe that education is crucial for the public good and an active citizenry, while others argue that it is a personal investment that benefits the individual who purchases it."

'A generational gap'

Charlie Eaton, an associate professor of sociology at the University of California, Merced, stated that there are many misconceptions about fairness.

"Many individuals struggle to understand the perspective of a student loan borrower because they haven't experienced it firsthand," he stated. "There is a generational divide. Many older Americans did not need to borrow money to attend college."

"Eaton stated that many people misunderstand student loan borrowers who have not been able to pay off their debts, as they are making payments, but the interest on the debt is so high that the size of the debt still increases even with payments."

Since 1988, the chiropractor who had his debt forgiven last year had been paying off his student debt.

Over the years, he repaid approximately $200,000 of the $60,000 he had originally borrowed.