The deadline to release a memo on student loan forgiveness is approaching. President Joe Biden has the authority to cancel all student debt, but will he take action?
Progressive lawmakers recently published an open letter urging the Biden administration to reveal its stance on the issue. They pointed out that taking administrative action on student loan forgiveness would align with President Biden’s campaign promise to (at least partially) cancel student debt, writing that it can be done “with the ‘flick of your pen.’”
Sweeping debt cancellations would initiate transformative change for an estimated 42 million borrowers. These cancellations would boost Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and add jobs to the national economy if they forgive at least $50,000 in loans per borrower.
The fiscal pressures of the pandemic have had a significant impact on student borrowers’ personal economic security. In fact, the ultra-wealthy have seen their earnings skyrocket over this past year.
“Forty-five million student debtors collectively owe $1.8 trillion of student debt, a sum almost equivalent to the $1.9 trillion the world’s billionaires made in 2020 alone.”
The Department of Education placed a temporary pause on student debt repayment until January 2022 in response to the pandemic, According to Truthout, the Education Department has also been working to revamp “the student loan forgiveness program for public workers, which has long been plagued by bureaucracy and red tape.”
“Student loan cancellation would also address deep racial inequities, as the communities hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic also face disproportionate amounts of student debt,” The Nation reported.
The Biden administration has an opportunity to advance racial justice and alleviate student debtors’ fiscal obligations through student loan forgiveness. Perhaps with pressure from progressive lawmakers, President Biden will release a memo that outlines what action his administration is willing and ready to take with regard to student debt nationwide.
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