1. Progressives get understandably annoyed when ppl arguing that ordinary Americans are really well-off use mean income numbers rather than the median, since rich people's incomes skew the mean upward. But when it comes to college debt, many do the exact same thing in reverse.

2. This New York piece, for instance, says the "average amount of debt is $32,731," which is true - if you use the mean. The median, according to the Federal Reserve, is somewhere between $20K-$25K - about ten thousand dollars less. https://www.thecut.com/2021/02/bidens-cowardly-answer-on-student-debt-cancellation.html#_ga=2.135076785.1810436652.1613741013-1405656638.1593050994

3. Obviously the bigger number is more eye-catching and politically powerful. But just as with income, the "average" is skewed upward by ppl who have piles of debt. The median offers a more accurate picture of what the student-loan burden looks like. So we should use it.