Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are praising President Joe Biden after he announced his latest plan to cancel some student loan debt on Wednesday.
“With the flick of a pen, President Biden has taken a giant step forward in addressing the student debt crisis by cancelling significant amounts of student debt for millions of borrowers,” Schumer and Warren said in a joint statement to Blavity. “The positive impacts of this move will be felt by families across the country, particularly in minority communities, and is the single most effective action that the President can take on his own to help working families and the economy.”
NEW: Biden announces $10,000 federal student loan cancellation per student making $125K or less per year.
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) August 24, 2022
– 4-month extension of the student loan pause
– This pause will be the final one
– Repayments to restart in Jan
– Additional $10K canceled for Pell grant recipients pic.twitter.com/1LR17w3x2Z
According to the Biden administration’s Student Loan Debt Plan, people who “earn less than $125,000 per year or households earning less than $250,000 are eligible for debt cancellation.”
The loan forgiveness plan is expected to provide significant relief for Black Americans in particular.
“The typical Black borrower will see their balance cut nearly in half, and more than one in four Black borrowers will see their balance forgiven altogether,” the Biden administration announced, according to a press release.
According to the White House, about one in four Black Americans have negative net worth, meaning their total debt exceeds their total assets.
“The first $10,000 of debt relief would move over half a million Black Americans from negative to positive net worth,” the release states.
The president plans to provide up to $20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. The federal student loan will also be paused for a final time until Dec. 31.
Schumer and Warren said the plan “will improve borrowers’ economic security, allowing them to invest in their families, save for emergencies, and pay down other debt.”
“In addition, we are pleased to see the President’s proposed work towards greatly simplifying and expanding access to student loan relief programs, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, and look forward to additional improvements to other programs like Income Driven Repayment, which will also allow millions more student loan borrowers to better access existing programs to reduce their student loan debts,” the pair stated.
The Democratic leaders also said, “no president or Congress has done more to relieve the burden of student debt and help millions of Americans make ends meet.”
“Make no mistake, the work — our work — will continue as we pursue every available path to address the student debt crisis, help close the racial wealth gap for borrowers, and keep our economy growing,” Schumer and Warren said.
