Americans React To Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
Since announcing a plan for student loan forgiveness, American's have had strong, mixed reactions to the Feds plan.
Yesterday The Biden Administration announced its student loan forgiveness plan. It covers up to $20,000 in post-pell grant debt and $10,000 for those who did not receive the pell grant. Americans making less than $125,000 are eligible and will have their loan payments paused through the end of the year until this forgiveness policy takes effect. Now, millions of those affected are expressing their reaction to the political move.
Student loan forgiveness has been a hot topic for years. Americans are buried in college debt and struggling to survive through a failing economy. Yet this news is gaining mixed reviews. From former college students who worked to pay off their debt, to those who were preyed upon by predatory lenders, and even new college students facing inflated tuition fees, various opinions are being expressed in wake of the announcement.
Those Who Support Student Loan Debt Forgiveness
In 2019 the Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General reported on the state of the federal student loan program. Although this was originally created to “pay for itself” and even generate revenue for the federal government, the findings listed serious issues within federal lending practices. The companies hired to oversee this trillion-dollar operation abused their power and preyed on unsuspecting borrowers. So many young adults were coerced into taking on debt they could not afford that federal student loan forgiveness is believed to be the only way to remedy the situation.
For years now, lawmakers and political figures like Dr. Ron Paul, have attempted to end these federal student loan programs, yet they are still in practice. Despite harming American students and draining taxpayers of $197 billion, this failing system has not been shut down. Instead, The Biden Administration is working to “fix” the ongoing problem by sending aid to those demanding student loan forgiveness without ending the main cause of the issue altogether.
Those Who Oppose
It is because the federal government refuses to end its predatory student loan programs, and so many students have paid loans without forgiveness, that many Americans oppose further increasing the national debt. While the idea of loan forgiveness instills the idea that the debt magically disappears, the truth of the matter is that it remains. Instead of remaining attached to the students who signed up for school loans, of their own free will, student loan forgiveness pushes that debt onto every American taxpayer.
This means that even adults who worked hard to pay off their own college loans will now have to bear the added burden of helping to pay off the remaining debt of the student loans which receive forgiveness. Many feel that this punishes hard-working people and rewards those who will not take responsibility for their actions. Meanwhile, the federal government has yet to publicly prosecute anyone involved in the predatory federal student loan programs and has yet to apologize for allowing that system to take advantage of young adults.
Regardless, student loan forgiveness is here. Those who were falsely approved for loans they could not afford will receive relief, while students who paid off their debts on their own will experience the economic impact of this new policy. How this will affect inflation, college tuition, and college enrollment is uncertain, but for now, student loans are paused through the end of the year until the transfer is instated.
