Will Biden Cancel Student Loans?

Joe Biden’s election as the next president has many student loan borrowers wondering whether Biden will cancel student loans. The latest student loan debt statistics show that 45 million borrowers collectively owe more than $1.6 trillion. Among other policy priorities to stimulate the economy, Biden may consider student loan forgiveness.

In this article, we will address Biden’s plan for your student loans, including the following:

• Biden plan to cancel student loans
• Biden plan for tuition-free college
• Biden plan for student loan forgiveness
• 3 ways to cancel student loan debt
• Plan to cancel $50,000 of student loans

Biden Plan to Cancel Student Loans

During his presidential campaign, Biden committed to cancel up to $10,000 of student loan debt for every student loan borrower. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) were the first candidates to propose student loan forgiveness on the campaign trail. They both support plans to cancel student loans in greater magnitude, however. For example, Sanders wants to cancel all $1.6 trillion of student loan debt, including federal and private student loans. Warren wants to cancel student loans for 95% of student loan borrowers. Biden, who is more politically moderate than Sanders or Warren, previously didn’t support outright student loan forgiveness for all student loan borrowers. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden supports up to $10,000 of student loan forgiveness for each student borrower.

Biden Plan For Tuition-Free College

In addition to his plan to cancel student loans, Biden also supports “free college.” Specifically, Biden would make college “tuition-free.” This too would be a form of student loan forgiveness because students could borrow fewer student loans if their college was tuition-free. Here’s how his plan would work:

• 4-Year Public Colleges: If you attend a four-year public college or university, your tuition would be free.
• 2-Year Public Colleges: If you attend a two-year community college, your tuition would be free. You may also qualify for free tuition at a trade school or similar career program.
• HBCU’s and MSI’s: You could receive up to two years of free tuition at HBCU’s and MSI’s as well as tribal colleges.

Tuition-free college would not be available to every student. Your family must earn less than $125,000 annually to qualify. Remember, tuition-free college only covers tuition and related fees. However, other college expenses such as room and board would not be free.

Biden Plan for Student Loan Forgiveness

Biden also has plans to revamp student loan forgiveness, and these plans are related to his plans to cancel student loans and offer tuition-free college. For example, Biden would forgive your student loan debt if you meet these qualifications:

• Public colleges: If you have federal student loans from a public college or university, you could receive student loan forgiveness.
• HBCUs and MSIs: If you have student loan debt from a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) or a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI), then you also could receive student loan forgiveness.

Like tuition-free college, your family must earn less than $125,000 to qualify. Plus, this student loan forgiveness only applies to undergraduate tuition. So, if you have graduate student loans, this student loan forgiveness wouldn’t be available to you.

Separately, Biden also wants to simplify the existing Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and help borrowers get student loan forgiveness after five years. Currently, borrowers must make 120 monthly payments, or 10 years, before they receive any student loan forgiveness.

3 Ways to Cancel Student Loan Debt

There are several ways that Biden could cancel student loans. Here are three potential ways:

1. Cancel student loans through Congress
2. Cancel student loans through a stimulus package
3. Cancel student loans through an executive action

The first two avenues to cancel student loan debt would occur through Congress. First, Congress could pass legislation encompassing Biden’s plan to cancel $10,000 of student loans for every borrower. Alternatively, Congress could agree to a stimulus package to help spur economy recovery. Within that stimulus deal, Congress could include second stimulus checks, unemployment benefits and student loan forgiveness, for example. Third, Biden could bypass Congress and try to cancel student loans through executive action. Some legal scholars believe that a president can cancel student loans through executive order. Others say that only Congress, not the president, can cancel student loans under the Separation of Powers clause in the U.S. Constitution.

Plan to Cancel $50,000 of Student Loans

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) proposed a Senate resolution that empowers the president to cancel up to $50,000 of student loans through an executive order. A resolution is non-binding and express the sentiments of a member or members of the Senate. Therefore, this proposal is not law. If Congress grants the president the authority to cancel student loans, then Biden conceivably could cancel student loans through executive order. Absent congressional approval, it’s likely that if Biden cancels student loans through executive action, it could result in litigation to prevent the effort.