Background
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget explained:
The Biden Administration announced a plan to cancel up to $10,000 of debt for federal student loan holders and up to $20,000 of debt for all federal student loan borrowers who have received a Pell Grant. Only households earning less than $250,000 per year (or $125,000 for an individual) will be eligible. We estimate this will cost between $330 billion and $390 billion, with a central estimate of $360 billion. It will cancel about $525 billion of student debt. The cost of this cancellation is lower than the amount of debt itself because some of that debt was already projected to be forgiven through other forgiveness programs or not paid back in full. Roughly 20 million borrowers are eligible to have their entire debt wiped out, while another roughly 21 million borrowers are eligible to have part of their debt erased.
Yes
*Student debt is slowing the national economy
*Student loan debt is hurting Black and low income students disproportionately
*Student loan debt is holding young people back from buying homes or saving for retirement
*Cancellation is targeted and helps those who need it most
*Institutional failures and private for profit universities have exploited young people
*Student loan debt is vastly different from other types of debt – mortgages or credit card
Ten reasons to cancel debt – The Center for Law and Policy 2021
There us public support for student debt relief – as opposed to other debts May 2022
Is student debt relief fair? Examining three arguments
No
*The cost of this program dwarfs the cost of many anti-poverty programs
*Targeting specific populations through anti-poverty programs guarantees the ones in need get the help
*Forgiving student debt is a band aid – we need to reform the cost of college in the US
*Forgiving student loans usually targets “The winners” in life – they are already in college!
*People should live up to their commitments
*This will add fuel to our already out of control inflation
*New student debt changes will cost half a trillion dollars