Biden Will Cancel $6.2 Billion Of Student Loans

[AZProgressive]

President Joe Biden will cancel $6.2 billion in student loans through changes to student loan forgiveness.

Here’s what you need to know.

Student Loans

There’s more good news for student loan borrowers who are seeking student loan forgiveness. The U.S. Department of Education has identified 100,000 student loan borrowers who are now eligible for student loan cancellation due to the changes the Biden administration made to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program in October. In aggregate, these student loan borrowers will get $6.2 billion in student loan cancellation. The Education Department is notifying these student loan borrowers of their eligibility for student loan forgiveness, as CNN reported. Ultimately, the Education Department says that 550,000 student loan borrowers will get student loan forgiveness sooner due to these changes.

Student loan forgiveness: who is eligible

Who is eligible for this student loan cancellation? Based on the major changes to student loan forgiveness, the Biden administration relaxed the requirements regarding which student loan payments count toward student loan forgiveness; which types of student loans count for student loan forgiveness; which employers qualify for student loan forgiveness; and when student loan payments start counting for student loan forgiveness. (6 major changes to student loan forgiveness).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/zackfriedman/2022/03/09/biden-will-cancel-62-billion-in-student-loans-through-changes-to-student-loan-forgiveness/?utm_campaign=socialflowForbesMainTwitter&utm_source=ForbesMainTwitter&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie&sh=298fa14a93f4

[Carlitos Brigante]

1. Good! nt

[SheltieLover]

2. Excellent! 👏👏👏👏

[LaMouffette]

3. Just think how inconceivable it is to imagine a Republican president doing anything like this!

Thank you, President Biden! You prove your humanity and your determination to help ordinary Americans daily.

[rso]

4. Excellent

Apart from being the right thing to do, it’s also politically very wise. Next, to get much of the youth-middle age vote, he should legalize marijuana on the federal level.

[Orrex]

5. This is excellent, but...

What I'd really like is for student loan interest, fees, and penalties to be made subject to bankruptcy.

Let victims of student loans remain on the hook for the loans themselves, but give them a chance to escape the usurious interest accrual and mob-style penalties.

Still, this round of forgiveness is a great step in the right direction.

[SmittyWerben]

9. I am currently on an interest only repayment schedule.

That payment is $528 a month. Drop the interest to 0% and I will eventually get this paid off. I would be happy making payments of $528 if it actually reduced my debt...

[Orrex]

11. You have my full sympathy

I hear similar horror stories from many friends who surrender a large chunk of their paychecks to their student loans, scarcely denting the principal. It is by design an exercise in futility.

Every so often there's talk of a "pending student loan bubble" that's portrayed as similar to the housing bubble, but really they're very different. There's little real incentive to reform student loans because if every victim of student loans suddenly went into default, the lender-predators would simply directly garnish the victims' wages, and the lender-predators would get paid.

When I was went into default on my student loans a decade ago, the lender generously gave me a choice:

Me: I'm the sole earner for a family of four. I can't afford to pay that each month.
Them: Ok, if you can't afford to pay it, then we'll just take it directly from your paycheck.

Problem solved!

[Luciferous]

22. Yep, I was on an income based repayment schedule for a long time and I still owed more than

I started with even after making payments for over a decade. I think it would be more useful if they stopped charging interest on the loans for everyone.

[Imallin4Joe]

6. Joe has a heart of gold!!

[Joinfortmill]

7. 👍

[spanone]

8. Thanks JOE!!!

[OnlinePoker]

10. Average of $62,000 per student

That could be enough to clear off all the debt from many of them.

[betsuni]

12. If the changes were made last October, why has there been pressure for Biden to do an EO?

What was all that about?

[SergeStorms]

13. Well, I'm a sucker.

I just paid off my daughters student loans for her Masters Degree. I didn't want her to have that debt hanging over her head.

Color me stupid.

[Celerity]

14. Would she have qualified for this very narrowly targeted forgiveness?

The student loan debt in the United States totals $1.749 trillion.

[SergeStorms]

21. Yes, she would have qualified.

She works for a non-profit agency which buys vacant buildings and transforms them into low income residences. She's worked there for four years now and writes and applies for government and corporate grants to continue their work.

I'm very happy that we raised her to have a social conscience and she isn't pursuing the money monster, but I wish this had come out sooner. There's always someone who's going to be the last person who gets caught in the injustice of an old system, and that's us!

C'est la vie.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. You'll be rewarded in heaven. That's what my grandmother used to say.

[AnrothElf]

16. Trolley

[SergeStorms]

23. Explain, please.

Trolley? Subway.

[kcr]

35. It's accurate n/t

[Sympthsical]

18. I paid off my loans and support forgiveness

I don't use food stamps either, but I'm good with others getting it.

Kind what being a Democrat is about. When people are having a hard time or getting shafted by a predatory economy, we help.

At least, that's what I was told when I joined. Others seem to have more . . . idiosyncratic views.

[Luciferous]

24. Exactly! I have most of my student loans paid off but I'm not mad other people are getting their

loans forgiven. It's damn near impossible for some people to pay these off.

[SergeStorms]

25. Not all get helped.

There's always someone who gets the door closed in their face. Just tough luck for them, right?

So take your "idiosyncratic view" and put it someplace dark, OK?

[Sympthsical]

27. Maybe appreciate the fact you could do it

I didn't get help from my parents in school. I had to do it all on my own. I have worked for everything I have without their financial input. Your child is incredibly lucky to have a parent with that ability and to move into adulthood without the stress and financial difficulty that millions of other people face, just for the audacity of trying to get an education.

Resentment of others receiving a needed benefit is a Republican thing. It should have no place being traded in liberalism.

[SergeStorms]

31. Where did I say I resented anyone?

You're putting words in my mouth. It's human nature to complain, so I complained. I certainly didn't badmouth anyone who's lucky enough to get loan forgiveness. But like I said, there's always someone who gets the door closed in their face.

As for having the money to do this for my daughter, it's pure love. There are a lot of things I won't be able to do in my retirement now, but she's the future. I'm the past.

Peace. No more hinting that I'm a republican, OK?

P.S. Why don't you donate a few dollars to DU and become a star member? That's a very Democratic thing to do. You would've want to be mistaken for a republican.

[Bettie]

30. YES! I want others to have a better and

easier time than I did.

It isn't a competition.

I want a more level playing field, where everyone has a shot at getting ahead. Most people don't want to be rich, they just want to have a life where they can pay the bills, have some creature comforts, and occasionally some fun.

It isn't about me, it is about "we", as a society. This forgiveness helps move toward that. No, it doesn't help everyone, but it is something, a step.

[USALiberal]

26. Yep, no help for people who paid there's!

[Carlitos Brigante]

28. There's what? nt

[LetMyPeopleVote]

17. Yeah for Joe Biden

[Sympthsical]

19. I was told there's nothing he could do!

Always happy for better policies. So kudos to President Biden.

The, "He doesn't have the power, never promised, stop asking for DADDY!!!!" types will not miss a beat, I wager.

Things just change magically. Funny universe we live in.

[maxsolomon]

38. This is an existing program. They just "relaxed" the rules.

Of course, some asshole will sue saying that the Admin doesn't have the power to change the rules.

This is not nearly everyone. The EO that Millenials and Sen. Warren think is so easy to do is to eliminate all Student Debt. Across the board. That level of relief is what can't be done by EO.

[uponit7771]

20. K&R,

[peppertree]

29. Biden - unlike certain past presidents, can definitely walk and chew gum at the same time

[budkin]

32. YES!

GO JOE!

[live love laugh]

33. Not a peep on the "news".

[Carlitos Brigante]

36. It's totally understandable due to the border cris.... oh wait. That's not a

thing anymore.... OK then it's because of Afghani.... ooops. I also forgot. It's all good over there now. So nothing to see. It's almost as if the US corporate media had an attention span deficit, combined with a sensationalistic bend. Which they use to clobber Democrats in the WH, since they're not afraid of them.... Nah! Couldn't be that....

[maxsolomon]

39. The expectation of Student Debt relief is a big component of Biden's "Disapproval" ratings.

Even if this program were publicized adequately, it wouldn't be enough. People expect the free money now. "Biden promised!"

Except he didn't. The campaign clarified the next day.

[betsuni]

40. +1

[Aristus]

34. I paid off the last of my student loans a little over a year ago.

And I'm thrilled for the people who will benefit from this. I'm happy for you all!

[demtenjeep]

37. oh that would be awesome. Have been paying for 20 years and still owe almost as much as I started

and we didn't really need it. It just made life easier during college with our children