Thursday, March 28, 2024

President Biden Intends to Cancel $10,000 in Student Loan Debt

President Biden Oval Office
President Biden in the Oval Office (Source: White House)

*President Joe Biden intends to announce on Wednesday that his administration will forgive $10,000 in student loan debt for borrowers who earn below $125,000.

Biden campaigned on canceling $10,000 in student debt, and he is also expected to extend until January of the current pause on federal student loan payments, USA Today reports. 

The NAACP called the Biden administration’s plan inadequate, Fox News reports. 

“If the rumors are true, we’ve got a problem. And tragically, we’ve experienced this so many times before,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday. “This is not how you treat Black voters who turned out in record numbers and provided 90% of their vote to once again save democracy in 2020.”

READ MORE: Biden to Cancel Over $6 Billion in Student Loan Debt for 100,000 Borrowers

One Twitter user reacted to the news, “NO student debt should be cancelled, PERIOD! All that does is shift the burden from those who willingly and knowingly TOOK OUT the loans and benefitted from them, onto the shoulders of TAXPAYERS who had nothing to do with the loans. Quit expecting a FREE RIDE!“.

Another commenter noted, “If we can cancel over $748,000,000,000 in PPP loans, there’s no reason why Biden can’t cancel student debt.

Activist Nina Turner added, “Canceling $10,000 in student debt when the average white borrower is $12,000 in debt, while Black women hold on average over $52,000 isn’t just unacceptable, it’s structural racism.”

Meanwhile, Biden continues to face pressure from progressive Democrats to cancel at least $50,000 for all borrowers.

Here’s more via USA Today:

What the president is considering

  • The White House has zeroed in on a plan that would cancel $10,000 in student loan debt per eligible borrower, according to sources, matching a figure Biden campaigned on. The White House has also discussed expanding relief beyond $10,000 for borrowers who meet certain criteria and Pell Grant recipients, according to one source. 
  • The debt cancellation would be limited to borrowers with family incomes of $125,000 or less, and would apply only to people with federal loans, not private ones.
  • More than 43 million people have federal student loan debt in the U.S., and the average borrower has about $37,000, according to data compiled by the Education Data Initiative. The outstanding federal loan balance is about $1.6 trillion. 

Late last year, Biden extended the pause on student loan debt payments until at least May 2022.

“Given these considerations, today my Administration is extending the pause on federal student loan repayments for an additional 90 days—through May 1, 2022—as we manage the ongoing pandemic and further strengthen our economic recovery,” the president wrote at the time, as reported by Complex. “Meanwhile, the Department of Education will continue working with borrowers to ensure they have the support they need to transition smoothly back into repayment and advance economic stability for their own households and for our nation.”

We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!

YOU MAY LIKE

SEARCH

- Advertisement -

TRENDING