Father’s Day Op-Ed: A Degree We Earned Together

By: Sabrina McGee

My dad worked hard for his success. In his 20s, he became part owner of a local business – a down-home, Southern restaurant serving hot waffles and hotter coffee everyday ‘till 2pm. He built a business and a community on long days, early mornings, and hard shifts. When hurricanes hit our community, my dad would drive to work through the rain to make sure the lineworkers had a full breakfast to keep them going. When his building was damaged by a fire, he made sure none of his employees went without a paycheck.

Growing up, both my parents worked hard to make sure that my brother and I had everything we needed and more. We had a warm home, hearty meals, and always had new shoes at the beginning of the school year. They built us an American dream, even if it didn’t start that way for either of them. “You will go to college,” wasn’t a suggestion in our family, but a promise they made to themselves as much as they did to me. They were going to make sure I didn’t have to make the hard decisions that they did.

They kept their promise to me – I attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a first-generation college student. I graduated with a good GPA, I served in a community service fraternity, and I worked to make sure I walked right into full-time employment.

At the pinning ceremony hosted for first generation college students, my dad cried tears of pride. That day, I understood that there is no resentment in his sacrifices, just joy that his hard work has opened the doors he knows I deserve to walk through. I’ve built a beautiful life thanks to those opportunities – I worked my way through graduate school, I’ve built a career I am proud of, and my husband and I own our home at 30.

But one thing keeps me up at night. My parents, now approaching their 60s, are planning their retirement around the debt they took on for my education. My dad got up at 3am every day to give me opportunities he never had. And he’s still getting up early to pay for them.

In order for me to go to college, my parents had to take out high-interest, low-flexibility federal Parent PLUS Loans. So this means that I pay my student loan payment every month, and so do they. This is the hidden cost of our current system – not just my debt, but a family debt that spans generations.

My family’s story isn’t unique. In 2025, talented young people and their families still face the same impossible choices my parents did. Families are supposed to be committed to working toward better for their kids, but are those sacrifices really supposed to cost this much? Not all families are as lucky as mine, even if they worked just as hard. Some families have to choose between education and survival.

My parents built a wonderful life for me without degrees. But they are still paying the cost for making sure I had every option. No parent should have to trade the financial security of their golden years to pay the cost of their child’s education. And no young person should have to carry the emotional and financial weight of generational sacrifice simply for pursuing knowledge.

My Southern family values have taught me that nothing is more important than your people. Parents in our communities work so hard because the reward of their children’s bright futures is worth any cost. Our parents and our communities are willing to do whatever it takes.

So it’s time that our policies reflect the values my dad taught me: Hard work should be rewarded, not punished. Opportunity should not be limited by where or who you come from. And families should be able to stick together without a cost they can never overcome.