In reality, this country would have been better off forgiving the $1.48 trillion in student loan debt held by more than 44 million Americans, rather than going through with the $1.5 trillion tax cut for corporations, where the benefits are concentrated at the very top. According to Student Loan Hero’s website, the average student who graduated college with the class of 2017 has close to $40,000 in student-loan debt, up 6 percent from the year before. There’s tremendous evidence this collective debt is holding back not just one generation, but the entire nation.