Critics — and even some supporters — of the program say its designations are arbitrary, and raise questions about whether the benefit should be rethought, expanded, or even eliminated.
Adding farming to the list could introduce further complexity, since farmers in the U.S. work mainly for for-profit business.
“There are complicated questions about what is a public service,” said Mark Huelsman, a senior policy analyst at left-leaning think tank Demos. “It presents a fundamental question about whether we should be forgiving student debt for a lot more people.”
