On Aug. 24, the White House briefing room posted a news release stating that they plan on pushing forward a plan in regards to federal student loan forgiveness.
This historic plan will provide students with “$20,000 in debt cancellation to Pell Grant recipients with loans held by the Department of Education, and up to $10,000 in debt cancellation to non-Pell Grant recipients. Borrowers are eligible for this relief if their individual income is less than $125,000 ($250,000 for married couples).” Students will be able to apply for loan forgiveness starting on Oct. 1.
In addition to the loan forgiveness, President Biden has also announced that he plans to extend a pause on student loan payments until the end of December 2022.
Despite heavy support from students across the country, this plan has been met with reservations from several Republican figures. One outspoken voice has been Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. During her on-air interview with Newsmax, Congresswoman Greene stated, “Taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay off the great big student loan debt for some college student that piled up massive debt going to some Ivy League school. That’s not fair.”
In response to the statement made by Congresswoman Greene, the official White House Twitter page reposted a video of Congresswoman Greene speaking about her dismay of the student loan forgiveness and captioned it with “Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans forgiven.”
The White House Twitter also posted numerous republican figures who also stated their frustrations toward student loan forgiveness and the amount of PPP loans that have been forgiven for them as well.
On Monday, Sep. 13, Florida Gov. Rob DeSantis and 21 other Grand Old Party (GOP) senators released a joint letter asking President Biden to withdraw his student loan plan. “Simply put, your plan rewards the rich and punishes the poor,” They also stated that “College may not be the right decision for every American, but for the students who took out loans, it was their decision: able adults and willing borrowers who knowingly agreed to the terms of the loan and consented to taking on debt in exchange for taking classes.”
This statement comes after news broke that the GOP planned on blocking the student loan forgiveness plan.
Despite pushback from GOP senators, the loan forgiveness plan has been a win for the Biden campaign in the eyes of many Americans, primarily students. UC Merced student David Gutierrez stated, “Loan forgiveness is a step in the right direction. These funds that will be allocated to students will directly help them, and myself, graduate from college debt free.”
There have also been some students who recently took out loans that are worried about whether or not they will be able to receive help as well. CSU East Bay student Gary Alvarado stated, “ I think it should not be limited to previous loans accepted before June 2022. With our current state of the economy, it only puts those borrowers at a disadvantage.”