US President Joe Biden has decided to cancel billions of dollars of federal student loans. The US Department of Education now has a plan to forgive up to $10,000 of student debt for those making less than $125,000 or couples making less than $250,000.
In addition, borrowers who received Pell Grants to pay for college may be eligible for up to $20,000 forgiven. The nonpartisan Center for a Responsible Federal Budget has estimated that the price tag of President Joe Biden’s student loan program will be between $440 billion and $600 billion over the next ten years.
The group said the “central estimate” for the cost of the package of reforms announced by Biden Wednesday is roughly $500 billion. That is a substantial increase from the $329 billion estimate of the Penn Wharton Budget Model issued prior to the release of the details of the plan.
The news, political analysts have suggested, was announced to drum up support ahead of the November midterm elections, and increase young voter turnout.
However, the concept of fairness has also come up repeatedly among some citizens and republicans of student debt forgiveness. A common sentiment has been: What about those who already paid off their loans? Or didn’t take out loans at all? How is this fair to them?
