Comedian and satirist Hasan Minhaj on September 10 testified before a US Congressional committee on America’s student loan crisis. Inevitably, the address was laced with jokes and witty one-liners, but it also highlighted some troubling statistics.

In his trademark style, Minhaj began his address by condemning Islamic terrorism. “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.

“College tuition fee has seen a 110% increase over a period of time where wages have gone up only 16%,” Minhaj said, supporting his well-researched argument that the members of the committee paid far less for college than students in current batches. “People are not making more money and college is objectively way more expensive – it’s like a paywall for the middle class,” he added.

Minhaj was called in for the testimony after a recent episode of his Netflix show Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj featured the topic, attracting much attention. The apathy of the loan-servicing companies and the fact that the students have no say in picking their lenders were also discussed. “The government has put the financial futures of students into the hands of predatory, for-profit loan servicing companies,” Minhaj said.

You can watch the full episode on the student loan crisis here:

Play