Student loan debts are one of the most pressing financial issues in the country – this $1.7 trillion issue coalesced due to rising college prices. The cost of college has nearly tripled over the past four decades and previous efforts in Congress to make university education more affordable has been blocked. To jumpstart the process, President Biden announced a three-part plan for relieving the heavy burden of student loans at the end of August.
Biden’s plans have the Department of Education providing up to $20,000 of debt cancellation for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 of debt cancellation for non-Pell Grant recipients. Furthermore, the monthly payments for undergraduate loans are being cut in half and those who work in a nonprofit will have money taken off from their debt. Biden is also pushing to double the maximum Pell Grant and to focus on keeping colleges accountable for making the tuition reasonable.
In addition to the rising college prices and failed efforts of making education more affordable, the Pell Grant, financial support provided by the government to students, hasn’t been increasing in proportion along with the rising costs, further contributing to the financial crisis.
Most college students are immensely grateful for this debt forgiveness, but the general consensus is that it still isn’t enough. Many top schools, ranging from Ivies like Harvard University to state schools like University of Michigan, have tuition of around $50k, going up to around $80k with room and board. Even when looking at in-state tuition, taking the UCs as example, the tuition is around $15k, but with room and board, the tuition is around $40k. Thus, many feel that this plan is not doing enough to solve the issue of student loan debt. Politicians like Senator Elizabeth Warren and advocacy groups are pushing for a $50k debt cancellation, but Biden stated “I am considering dealing with some debt reduction, I am not considering $50,000 debt reduction but I’m in the process of taking a hard look at whether there will be additional debt forgiveness.”
Critics have stated that this one-time plan doesn’t address the issue of the rising tuition costs and overall isn’t impactful enough on this trillion dollar crisis. However, many view this as a good first step and hope to see more advancements in the future.
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