According to Bloomberg, the Biden administration intends to pause federal student loan payments (and keep interest rates at 0%) through Aug. 31, 2022, as an extension of the existing moratorium on payments. Donald Trump technically first put a pause on federal student loan payments in place early in the COVID-19 pandemic, and President Joe Biden has continued renewing it. The latest pause was set to expire on May 1, but it seems the White House is willing to give borrowers a few more months to prepare.
An extension of the pause is a win for borrowers who are struggling to get by in general, and especially because the pandemic is far from over. It’s difficult to celebrate, however, because Biden has not yet acted on his campaign promise to forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower. Many of his progressive peers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer, have continued to push Biden to act via an executive order to forgive a more significant amount of student debt, to the tune of $50,000 per borrower. And of course, some progressives still want to see all of the debt erased.
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What will the White House actually do? It’s honestly unclear. Though reporters have continued to ask White House press secretary Jen Psaki when Biden will forgive the debt, her responses have been vague at best. It seems the Biden administration is looking to toss accountability to Congress and say that Biden will sign legislation when it lands on his desk, but as countless debt relief advocates have pointed out, this isn’t the only option. Biden can forgive debt by executive order.
Debt relief is truly needed. Though folks against federal student loan forgiveness argue it is unfair to offer relief to people now when others have had to pay theirs off, spite is not a good basis for governing. We don’t ignore cures to diseases, for example, because others have perished before findings or treatments were made available, right? There’s no real reason people should be burdened by outrageous student debt—including outrageous interest rates they (often) signed on to when they weren’t yet old enough to buy alcohol.
We also know forgiveness is a race equality issue. Borrowers of color, for example, report holding more student debt than white borrowers. This trend is especially true when we look at women of color, and in particular, Black women. Couple higher loan balances with lower wages and systemic barriers to education and employment, and it’s clear that forgiving debt would give marginalized borrowers a better chance at actually saving and investing the money instead of tossing it out the window.
Forgiving debt is also a win for borrowers who did not actually finish a degree for whatever reason. This could be particularly helpful for people who were first-generation college students, for example, or folks who attended school while raising children, living with medical issues, or were non-traditional enrollees for any number of reasons.
We tell people education will help them get ahead in life; there’s no fairness in punishing people for pursuing a degree they can’t pay for upfront, especially considering, again, that even the cost of an education from a public college or university is astronomical. (I have a degree from a state university I attended with in-state tuition and scholarships, and grants, and still have debt, for example.)
As of now, it’s unclear whether this will be the last extension of the pause or not. If payments resume as of Sept. 1, it’s extremely worrisome when we consider midterm elections. But if the pause is extended until the end of the year, that would be a considerable relief both in terms of voter turnout and people’s financial survival.
But if Biden really wants to secure some midterm wins, he can always, you know, deliver on his promise and cancel some debt.
Will you sign the petition and ask President Biden to cancel student loans?