In the newly passed $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus relief package, Democrats included a provision that empowers President Biden to forgive student loan debt, tax-free, until the year 2025. Student loan forgiveness has been a pressing issue and hot topic at the onset of the Biden administration. According to educationdata.org, in 2020, student loan debt totaled $1.57 trillion, and 68.6% of borrowers are between the ages of 25-50 years old. On average 63% of bachelor recipients have $31,790 in student loan debt, recipients of master’s degrees owe an average of $70,070, and 52% of borrowers have shared that it wasn’t worth it to assume so much debt.
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, and other top Democratic Senators and progressives share in the idea that the current Biden administration can use executive powers to cancel out $50,000 in student loan debt. Senator Schumer in a call with college students last Wednesday, stated, “Millions of young Americans, including so many New Yorkers—and their families—have been crushed by student loan debt, greatly impeding their ability to begin careers and build the financial resources needed to rent apartments, buy homes, start families or just simply build their futures.”
Currently, borrowers can apply for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and New York residents can apply for NYS Get On Your Feet Loan Forgiveness Program. Senator Schumer, in his statement, included that the Biden administration can fix America’s wealth gap, “The Biden-Harris administration can right this wrong. They can close the Black-white wealth gap by 25 percentage points, and close the Latinx-white wealth gap by 27 percentage points, giving Black and brown families across the country a far better shot at building financial security.”
Recently the U.S. Department of Education wiped out $1 billion in student loans for borrowers that attended institutions that participated in fraudulent and illegal methods.
