YOU DECIDE: Should Student Debt Be Forgiven?

College is expensive. More than 43 million Americans (one out of every eight people) is responsible for some student loan debt. President Trump paused federal student loan payments during the COVID-19 pandemic, and President Biden has, so far, continued this policy.  

President Biden announced that he is considering some form of student debt forgiveness. Democrats in Congress are hoping for up to $50,000 of student loans cancelled per borrower. Biden said that it will be dependent on a person’s income and ability to pay. Many Congressional Republicans oppose any amount of student debt forgiveness.  

The White House may announce a decision about student debt in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, YOU DECIDE: Should student debt be forgiven? 

NO 

• Forgiving student loan debt will add to the national debt. 
• Cancelling today’s student debt won’t fix the fact that college is still too expensive for most families. Future students will continue to build up debt.  
• This is unfair to people who have already worked hard to pay back their student loans and will not receive compensation.  
• It’s also unfair to people who chose not to go to college because they didn’t want to amass large amounts of debt. 

YES 

• Student loan debt is already forgiven for many public servants under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program. Forgiving student loans would expand the program to benefit more people. 
• Many people with low incomes hope that a college diploma will improve their job opportunities and increase their income. Forgiving student loans would benefit low-income borrowers who needed financial assistance to pay for college.  

• College debt negatively affects a wide range of Americans making it more difficult for them to save money, purchase a home, or use their income for other reasons. 
• College loan debts do not only affect young adults Twenty percent of all outstanding student loan debt in the U.S. is held by people aged fifty and up. Some of this reflects parents taking on the debt to help their children. But it also reflects that some college debt takes decades to pay.