scorecard
  1. Home
  2. policy
  3. economy
  4. news
  5. Student-loan borrowers getting debt cancellation don't think Biden's relief is unfair or burdens taxpayers — they just wish he would've done more

Student-loan borrowers getting debt cancellation don't think Biden's relief is unfair or burdens taxpayers — they just wish he would've done more

Juliana Kaplan,Ayelet Sheffey   

Student-loan borrowers getting debt cancellation don't think Biden's relief is unfair or burdens taxpayers — they just wish he would've done more
Policy4 min read
  • President Joe Biden is canceling up to $10,000 or $20,000 in student loan debt for some borrowers.
  • Republicans immediately fired back that the policy was unfair and costly for taxpayers.

Around 20 million student loan borrowers are set to see all of their loans forgiven.

It's one byproduct of President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which will cancel up to $10,000 for some federal borrowers, and up to $20,000 for those who received Pell Grants. The response to Biden's declaration was swift, with Democrats praising the move and calling for even more relief.

Republicans immediately fired back, complaining that forgiveness would unduly burden other taxpayers and is unfair to those who didn't take out loans or already paid them off. Biden rebuked that critique, noting that taxpayers already subsidize tax breaks for billion-dollar businesses — and the White House was quick to point out that many of the conservatives decrying forgiveness had gotten PPP loans forgiven.

Matthew, a Republican who's set to get all of his loans forgiven, told Insider that he thinks the program is unfair, especially to people who saved and worked to put themselves through school.

Some of the borrowers getting their debt wiped out say that those arguments are disingenuous.

"I think some people feel like these are being paid for by the taxpayer, and that it's being taken from them," Jaymie Horak, a 31-year-old in Portland who will have all of their debt wiped out, told Insider. "I'm also a taxpayer, and you have to be a taxpayer to get this."

Not every program is for every person, Horak said. Horak's relief is coming because they took out Pell Grants. Growing up in a lower-income home, Horak's only option to fill the gap between the grants they received and the cost of school was to take out loans.

"We have social security, we have food stamps. We have so many programs that exist — and not to mention what they do for businesses — I feel like the concepts with this are trying to make things a little bit more of an equity situation," Horak said.

Nick Garcia, 42, is also benefiting from Biden's student-loan relief. He finds the Republican argument attacking the forgiveness because it will go to people who earned liberal arts degrees as "incredibly insulting." Lawmakers like GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn have said that canceling "student loan debt for degrees like gender studies, while in the middle of a recession, is a bad idea."

"I work in a liberal arts college and it's important to me that students do explore the arts in addition to statistics, and I feel like this backlash to education as a whole is just damaging," Garcia said. "It's a bad sign when the backlash is to the idea of an education as a whole, and it's also incredibly insulting because it's not like the framers of the Constitution or the founding fathers didn't advocate for liberal arts education."

Republicans like Sen. Roy Blunt have also said that the forgiveness is unfair to those who have already paid off their debt, or didn't attend college because they feared the cost of loans. Some of those borrowers who paid off all of their loans bemoan the things they didn't get to do — and the stress they wouldn't have had to carry — if they had gotten relief.

Borrowers getting loans forgiven empathize with that. Horak said that it's "awesome" some people were previously able to pay off all of their debt.

"In my world, you get all of that paid back too. I'm not saying that I think this is the only thing that should happen," Horak said. "I'm saying I want there to be more change. I'm just thankful for this first step."

People getting their loans forgiven think more should be done

For Horak, the cancellation will mean not having to worry about choosing between paying for their home and paying off their loans.

"People who are getting their loans forgiven don't necessarily all think like, okay, yay. This is cool. Screw everyone else. I, and a lot of people I know are like, this is amazing. I'm so thankful. I still want change," Horak said.

Garcia is seeing his student-loan balance decrease from $39,000 to $29,000 — but he's still looking at 217 more payments on his remaining balance through an income-driven repayment plan. While he's grateful for that relief and acknowledges the significant impact it'll have on those who are getting their entire balances wiped out, he's disappointed Biden didn't choose to go further with his authority.

"I feel disheartened because it shows that more can be done at the executive level," Garcia told Insider. "And it's sad to know that we stopped at this arbitrary number of $20,000 that doesn't really meet the needs of the moment."

As a college professor, Garcia is also seeing his students disappointed with the relief. With the prevalence of private student loans and rising tuition costs, he said his students "feel hopeless about whether an undergraduate degree can provide the foundation for a job capable of meeting debt obligations and rising costs of living."

"I hope executive action on the student loan crisis doesn't end here," Garcia said. "The push to cancel debt is one that is a boon to our economy and improves the lives of millions. We know that some debt cancellation will help some. We know that debt can be canceled. It is a decision not to cancel more to help more people. I don't know where this tolerance for lifelong debt comes from, but we should not settle."


Advertisement

Advertisement