Should President Biden cancel student debt?

ovp test

mLife Diagnostics LLC: Oral Fluid Drug Testing

Male shot by female at Shreveport apartment

Class to create biodiverse backyard

Rules for outbursts at Caddo School Board Meeting

(NewsNation Now) — President Joe Biden announced in late December that he would extend the pause on student loan debt repayments once again through May 1.

The vast majority of Americans supported the extension to the pause. However, as that date looms, many progressives and students (past and present) are now calling on Biden to cancel student debt altogether.

Braxton Brewington, press secretary for the Debt Collective, told NewsNation’s Joe Donlon that Biden should move forward with canceling student debt because promising to do so was part of what got him elected.

“This is a campaign promise that Joe Biden ran on, canceling at least a minimum immediately of $10,000 for every single borrower and canceling all student debt (for those who) went to a public college or HBCU and make under $125,000 per year,” Brewington said.

According to the Department of Education, the pause on student loan payments will help 41 million borrowers save a total of $5 billion per month. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who joined NewsNation’s Rush Hour on Wednesday, said close to $13 billion in student loan forgiveness and relief has been provided so far.

“In the last six months, over 600,000 borrowers received emails that they’re either closer to being debt-free or are totally debt-free,” Cardona said. “We’re continuing to put our students first and that’s not going to stop.”

But not everyone is in agreement. Emily Jashinsky, culture editor at The Federalist, believes that the extension will only make matters worse when it comes to rebuilding the education system.

“This creates less incentive for our system of higher education to be reformed, and to actually provide a good product to students at a reasonable price,” Jashinsky said. “And it’s going to continue if you forgive debt now to drive students deeper and deeper into holes for generations to come, because there’s no incentive to fix it.”

The Trump administration initially suspended federal student loan payments in March 2020 and later extended the suspension through January 2021. Biden has now moved to continue it twice, and the Education Department raised concerns about the effects of suddenly restarting payments, both for students and administratively within the department.

Brewington said mass forgiveness of debt should be for everyone, not just the rich.

“Rich people do not have student debt because they’re rich. The truth is, the people who have student debt are disproportionately Black Americans, Black women in particular, they’re borrowers of color,” Brewington said. And he noted that seniors are also dealing with debt. He said the bottom line is, “rather than, you know, being burdened with student loan debt, they’re making tough decisions, like, ‘Should I pay my rent, or should I pay my student debt?'”

While Jashinsky agreed with Brewington, she argued that those who are taking out higher loans typically obtain higher degrees and they should be able to afford it.

“I think it also ultimately is a transfer from people who in the net, in the aggregate, have less to people who have more potential to earn that down the road and took out a lot of money because they were going to be doctors, lawyers. I don’t think that’s particularly beneficial or particularly fair.”

Biden said student loan borrowers should take full advantage of Education Department resources as they prepare for payments to resume. He said borrowers should also look at options to lower payments through income-based repayment plans and explore public service loan forgiveness.