There is a lot of happiness and anger over the proposed $10,000 student loan forgiveness program, $20,000 for those who have Pell grants.

Those who benefit are ecstatic; in fact, some of them are saying why so little; they want more.

Those who have paid off their loans are calling foul. “What about us?” they are asking. Millions of borrowers worked their tails off to pay off their loans. Many parents did without for years to pay for their children’s college costs.

When our three children were born in the 1960s, I decided that we would sacrifice some of the finer things in life to establish a college fund in the event any or all of them decided to go to college.

As it turned out, all three did - two to traditional four-year schools, and one graduated from medical school. For two of those years, all three were in college at the same time.

When it was time to go to college, we had a good start on the first son’s costs, and we kept plugging away. Seven years later, we were able to pay for all of our children’s college funds from savings. We took one $1,000 government loan, which we paid back immediately after our youngest son’s graduation from medical school.

My wife and I had a major disagreement on whether our children should contribute to the cost of their education. I thought they should; she didn’t. In the end, I won out.

All three of the kids worked - two at fast food places (one at McDonald’s and the other at Burger King). The third was first a busboy, then a server at the former Fernwood Resort near Bushkill in the Poconos.

Obviously, even with the savings discipline we subjected ourselves to as our kids were growing up, others are not as fortunate, especially those families who live paycheck-to-paycheck.

Now, I know a lot of beneficiaries of the student loan forgiveness plan, including several of my grandchildren and other family relatives. This leaves me with ambivalent feelings. What about the fairness factor? Is this program a slap in the face to those who have already paid off their loans or to those, as we did, who scrimped and saved for college as their children were growing up. I wonder whether more will borrow, hoping for another forgiveness program down the road. President Biden said absolutely not.

What about those who chose not to go to college? Why should they be expected to help pick up the bill for this bailout? Let’s face it; college is not for everyone. Too many look down their noses on those who do not go to a four-year college. Many in the trades, especially those affiliated with unions, are finally being paid handsomely for their skills.

It seems to me that we should be taking aim at college costs. Once a year, we see or hear about these breathtaking tuition increases at some of the top colleges and universities. It almost seems like a competition between some rival institutions to see which one will have the highest tuition. This isn’t prestige; this is highway robbery. Some colleges charge $70,000 a year or more. Of course, many students receive scholarship help based on family income or other factors, but, still, these costs are through the roof.

Many fear that this forgiveness program will add to our nation’s inflationary woes. Some economists believe that with this pot of cash now in their pockets consumers will go on a spending frenzy that could push up prices even more than they already risen. Recent inflation reports have been running at between 8% and 9% annually.

Let’s not forget the previous stimulus programs, which certainly have not been equitable in distributing taxpayer dollars, although we didn’t hear many complaints when the government was stuffing money into our wallets with three stimulus payments. Then there were the government’s Payment Protection Plan loans for businesses whose repayments were forgiven. Let’s not forget about last year’s $3,600 child tax credit for each dependent child under 6 and $3,000 for each under age 17.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.