As the saying goes: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.
President Joe Biden seems to have taken that message to heart, and has announced his administration will move forward with plans to ease the nation’s student debt burden despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision to block his past efforts.
Biden traveled to Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday to announce the new debt relief plans, which the White House predicts could affect 26 million more Americans, or more than half of borrowers, who are struggling to manage their student debts.
“From day one, my administration has been committed to fixing the broken student loan system and making sure higher education is a ticket to the middle class, not a barrier. My administration has approved debt cancellation for 4 million Americans through various actions. And today, I’m announcing new plans that will cancel student debt for millions more, ” Biden said in a recorded message released Monday morning.
“In total, these plans would cancel some or all student debt for 30 million Americans,” Biden said.
I said I wouldn't back down from using every tool at our disposal to get student loan borrowers the relief they need.
That's why today we're announcing new plans that, if implemented, would cancel student debt for millions more. pic.twitter.com/rNiCxzzlU3
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 8, 2024
According to the White House, the President’s plans would deliver “some” debt relief to borrowers who owe more than they originally borrowed due to interest and fees, borrowers who would otherwise be eligible for loan forgiveness that haven’t yet applied, and borrowers who entered a repayment plan 20 years or more ago. Those who went to college but “enrolled in low-financial-value programs” and “borrowers experiencing hardship paying back their loans” would also see some relief.
“These plans would fully eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers, cancel the full amount of student debt for over 4 million borrowers, and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief or more,” the White House said in a statement.
Much of the relief will be felt by students from the Black and Latino communities who are disproportionately impacted by student loan debt. According to the Biden administration, “Black and Latino borrowers have higher default rates than white borrowers, undermining their ability to build generational wealth, start businesses, buy homes, and more.”
According to We The 45 Million, a national debt relief advocacy organization working on behalf of the millions of Americans with student loan debt, Monday’s announcement was months in the making, beginning not long after the high court’s 6–3 decision in Biden v. Nebraska blocking Biden’s plan to forgive $10,000 in student debt for all borrowers through the HEROES Act.
“After the entire Republican apparatus worked to kill the first attempt at student loan relief, President Biden kicked off the long negotiated rule-making under the Congressionally passed Higher Education Act where stakeholders including members of the student loan industry and advocates met over the course of five months,” Melissa Byrne, the group’s co-founder and executive director, said in a statement.
“We celebrate President Biden’s steadfastness in tackling the problem of student loan debt. After public comment and the final rule is published, around 30 million Americans and their families will know what it’s like to see government work for working people by getting some or all of their debt canceled through various legal pathways,” she said.
U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley said the president’s plans are “a powerful testament to the borrowers across the nation who fought for economic justice and continued to make the case for student debt despite obstruction from the Supreme Court and Republicans.”
“Thank you to President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary Cardona for listening to our movement and responding. While we will continue to press for continued action that meets the scale of the crisis, this is a historic day and today’s announcement sets us on a path for over 30 million borrowers and their families to receive life-changing student debt relief this year,” she said.
According to the Education Data Initiative, student borrowers owed a combined $1.7 trillion as of March. Almost 93% of it, or $1.6 trillion, is debt owned by the federal government.
