Joe Biden Wants to Cancel Existing Student Debt, At Least Partially

According to the latest data published by the US Department of Education, the federal student loan debt in the country has exceeded the amount of $1.54 trillion, meaning it is more than double compared to the amount that was in 2010.

Among the issues highlighted during the Democratic presidential primary 2020 was to cancel or forgive the whole or even a portion of student loan debt, Erudera reports.

The election campaigns of two senators, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders included student debt cancellation, a proposal that was welcomed by student borrowers.

According to Senator Warren, the amount of student debt which could be eliminated based on the income of student borrowers could be as high as $50,000. Whereas, Sanders proposed one-time cancellation of all federal student debt. However, the plan introduced by Sanders did not address the debt that would appear as a result of graduate school and living expenses.

After becoming the Democratic nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden has supported the proposal of Warren regarding the cancellation of at least $10,000 debt per student. He stated that cancellation should be made for every student borrower as a COVID-19 relief.

Among other things, Biden has urged to fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. He said he would implement the plan from Senators Kristen Gellibrand and Tim Kaine for the current borrowers as well as work towards improving the plan in order to move it forward.

Regarding the college tuition fees, the former Vice President Joe Biden has proposed the following:

1. For those who attend a public college or university, the tuition fee would be free for four years in case the family receives an annual income lower than $125,000.
2. For those who attend a private minority-serving institution, funding is planned to cover the tuition fee for two years at a private Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), tribal colleges and universities and additional MSIs.
3. For those attending a community college, tuition would be free for two years in case the student did not pursue a post-secondary degree earlier.

Moreover, according to Biden, the cancellation of federal student debt would be made in the following cases:

• If the student has attended a public college or university.
• If the student used the loans for undergraduate tuition.
• If the student earns less than $125,000.

An online poll conducted by Erudera with 430 participants of different nationalities, has shown that 71.1 per cent of international students in the US prefer Biden over Trump. The latter has received the support of only 28, 9 per cent among the international students.