Can Joe Biden find a student loan forgiveness plan that will make everyone happy?
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When President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, one of the first questions he will face is how to help the millions of Americans struggling to pay off student debt. His answer to that question could prove one of the touchiest ones of his presidency, as there are Americans who will likely be upset with him no matter what he does. And as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer recently told reporter Anand Giridharadas, he is hoping that Biden will forgive the first $50,000 of student loan debt through an executive order, a measure far more ambitious than what Biden himself proposed during the 2020 campaign.
Although the U.S. Department of Education has provided student loan borrowers with temporary deferments, that period will end on Dec. 31 and there is no immediate plan to replace it, according to CNBC. During the 2020 presidential election, Biden promised to forgive the first $10,000 of student debt for all borrowers, as well as provide total forgiveness for individuals who earn less than $125,000 annually and attended either a public or historically Black university. Schumer, by contrast, is urging Biden to follow a path shaped by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., namely “a proposal. that the first $50,000 of debt be vanquished.” Schumer also argued that “we believe that Joe Biden can do that with the pen as opposed to legislation.” Even if Biden goes with his original plan, he would still eliminate student debt for roughly 10 million borrowers and reduce America’s $1.7 trillion outstanding student loan tab by roughly one-third. Read more
