‘Predatory’: Hasan Minhaj Testifies at US Congress on Student Debt

Minhaj’s blistering testimony, laced with satirical quips, was consistent with his persona on the The Patriot Act.

Screengrab of the footage of Hasan Minhaj testifying on the US student loan crisis.

(Photo Courtesy: Hasan Minhaj/Twitter)

Comedian and political commentator, Hasan Minhaj, delivered a rather unusual testimony on America's student loan crisis in front of the United States Congress on Tuesday, 10 September.

Minhaj’s blistering testimony, laced with satirical quips, was consistent with his persona on the hit Netflix show, The Patriot Act.

He began by saying, "My name is Hasan Minhaj, I am a Muslim and I condemn radical Islamic terrorism – that has nothing to do with anything, I just want it on the record."

"It's good to get ahead of these things," he said.

Addressing the loan crisis, Minhaj said that 44 million Americans owe more than 1.6 trillion dollars in student loans. He emphasised on the fact that students can’t simply forego these loans as, for many, a college education is indispensable in the modern job market.

“Two-thirds of all jobs in the US require some form of college”.

Hasan Minhaj, addressing the US Congressional committee

To drive home the point, Minhaj revealed that he had compared the college fees for the members on the committee from the time when they were students to the fees today.

“On average, this entire committee graduated from college 33 years ago and paid an inflation adjusted tuition of 11,690 dollars a year. Today, the average tuition at all of your same schools is almost 25,000 dollars.”

Hasan Minhaj, addressing the US Congressional committee

“That’s a 110% increase over a period of time when wages have gone up only 16 percent,” he said.

Minhaj also alleged that the borrowers were treated unfairly because their futures were in the hands of “predatory, for-profit, loan-servicing companies”.

He added that since the government was responsible for allocating these companies to borrowers, there was no competition to encourage better services.

Rounding up his argument with a call for the government’s intervention, he asked, "Why can’t we treat our student borrowers like we treat our banks?”