Biden Admin. to Cancel $1.2B in Student Debt for 153K Borrowers

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Facts

• The Biden administration on Wednesday announced its plans to forgive $1.2B in student loan debt for nearly 15Kk borrowers under its Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan.¹
• People enrolled in the SAVE plan who borrowed $12K or less and have been paying their loans for at least 10 years qualified for loan forgiveness. Those who had their debts canceled received an email from the administration informing them that they essentially were debt-free.²
• The congratulatory emails come from Biden, who's touting debt cancellation as part of his re-election pitch to younger voters. After SCOTUS blocked his broad loan forgiveness plan, Biden launched SAVE in August to give relief after the COVID-related payment pause ended.³
• The White House says that eligible borrowers will receive debt relief for every $1K they took out above the $12K threshold for every additional year of payments. For example, someone who borrowed $14K will receive full relief if he has been making payments for 12 years.⁴
• Biden initially hoped for a blanket debt cancellation of $10K to $20K per borrower, but his administration has managed to provide debt relief for nearly 3.9M people. Around 7.5M are enrolled in the SAVE plan, which Biden is expected to note in a campaign speech in Los Angeles on Wednesday.⁵
• 30M are eligible for SAVE, and the White House says that debt relief is expected to begin shortly, ahead of the July expectation. The Department of Education will directly contact eligible borrowers who are not enrolled in the SAVE plan.⁶

Sources: ¹CNBC, ²NPR Online News, ³CNN, ⁴The White House, ⁵ABC News and ⁶NBC.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by Yahoo Finance. After the conservative Supreme Court struck down Pres. Joe Biden’s comprehensive loan forgiveness plan, the administration has worked to bring desperately needed relief to as many borrowers as possible. Under the SAVE plan, the Biden administration has provided relief for nearly 4M borrowers, including those who are public servants or are struggling financially. Biden is committed to helping borrowers navigate their student loans, and he will continue to fight for all people looking to repay their debts.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Wire. Joe Biden isn't even trying to hide the fact that he is essentially bribing millions of Americans into voting for him by canceling their student loan debt. Everyone knows that debt doesn't just disappear, and Biden is shamelessly using taxpayer funds to aid his flailing re-election bid. Biden's email on Wednesday gives the game away, and he should be working to help all American workers instead of trying to buy the votes of a certain group who can't pay the loans that they took out.

Predictions