What do we know about student loan forgiveness? When will it happen and how much will it be?
Plans are afoot to alleviate student debt, but Biden has remained tight lipped in recent months to the chagrin of many students and members of his party.
Despite being a central pledge of his election campaign in 2020, Joe Biden has done little to cut the trillion dollar debt students in the US are under. He campaigned on forgiveness for all, around $50,000 per student, but there has yet to be an announcement of these plans.
In April, the administration said an announcement was “weeks away,” but it is now believed that it will not be until August that plans would be discussed with the public. This would coincide with the ending of the debt repayment pause which is scheduled to end at the same time.
According to three people familiar with the situation, Biden is now considering canceling up to $10,000 but limit access to the relief. Only single borrowers earning less than $150,000 a year, or less than $300,000 for married couples filing jointly would be eligible for the federal loan debt forgiveness. This is far less than what was promised during the election cycle and is not likely to be popular with his young voters, particularly vital with midterm elections fast approaching.
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Why not the full $50,000 debt reduction?
It has been argued by supporters of the full reduction that Biden hsa the power to do so using an executive order. So far, however, he has been unwilling to use it, nor discuss it publicly while members of his party support it.
“With the flick of a pen, President Biden could cancel $50,000 in student loan debt and provide millions upon millions of student loan borrowers a new lease on life,” Senate Majority Leader Schumer, one of the biggest supports of the full forgiveness, said in October.
Progressive Democrats have also come out against the $10,000 plan. New York Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “$10k means tested forgiveness is just enough to anger the people against it *and* the people who need forgiveness the most.”
“$10k relieves most the people who owe the least. What relief is there for the most desperate? For them, interest will undo that 10k fast. We can do better.”
However, six months later and Biden has made no secret that it is no longer his plan to deduct $50,000.
“I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction, but I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness,” Biden told reporters in late April.