Comparing the candidates’ student loan policies
President Biden has made student loan forgiveness one of his largest domestic policy priorities. In August 2022, he announced a plan to forgive about $430 billion of student loan debt for more than 40 million borrowers, but the Supreme Court blocked that plan in June 2023 for exceeding executive authority. In July 2023, the administration announced a new income-driven repayment plan that would have reduced loan payments for more than 20 million borrowers, at estimated costs ranging from $138 billion to $361 billion, but a federal appeals court blocked that plan in August 2024. In April 2024, the administration proposed a new plan to provide forgiveness to up to 30 million student loan borrowers. However, a Federal court in Georgia blocked that plan earlier this month. Litigation regarding the new income-driven repayment plan and the forgiveness to 30 million borrowers is continuing and those cases are also expected ultimately to reach the Supreme Court. Although all of its broader student loan forgiveness efforts have been blocked by the courts, the Biden administration has used other loan forgiveness programs to forgive about $170 billion of student loan debt for almost five million borrowers. This post summarizes the current state of U.S. student loan borrowing, the candidates’ positions on student loan relief, and public support for those positions.
U.S. student loan facts
In the second quarter of 2024, about $1.77 trillion of outstanding student loan debt was owed by more than 43 million Americans, representing an average balance of about $40,000. Of that $1.77 trillion, about $1.6 trillion were federal loans and only about $0.17 trillion were private loans. Broken down by age, about 6% of that debt was held by borrowers 24 years old or younger, about 30% was held by borrowers 25 to 34 years old, about 39% was held by borrowers 35 to 49 years old, about 18% was held by borrowers 50 to 61 years old, and about 7% was held by borrowers 62 years old or older. Broken down by race, about 56% of that debt was held by White households (with about 20% of those households having an average of $46,000 of debt), about 27% was held by Black households (with about 36% of those households having an average of $53,000 of debt), about 8% was held by Hispanic households (with about 15% of those households having an average of $26,000 of debt), and about 10% was held by households of other races or ethnicities (with about 24% of those households having an average of $52,000 of debt). Finally, the following table breaks down that debt by the outstanding balance:
Although courts have blocked the Biden administration’s attempts to create new loan forgiveness programs, there are several existing federal programs. Existing income-driven repayment programs forgive remaining balances after 20 or 25 years of payments, depending on income and family size. Public service loan forgiveness programs cancel the remaining balance after 120 payments while working full-time in an approved public service position. Teacher loan forgiveness programs forgive up to $17,500 in loans after five years of teaching in low-income schools or educational support agencies. Medical school and nursing student loan forgiveness programs provide loan relief to medical professionals working in underserved areas. Military student loan forgiveness programs provide loan relief to veterans and active military personnel. And the Perkins loan cancellation program cancels up to 100% of Perkins loans after four or five years of qualifying public service work. In addition to these federal programs, there are various state- and employer-sponsored loan forgiveness programs.
The candidates’ positions on student loan relief
Vice President Harris has not proposed a specific student loan platform. She would likely continue to pursue the Biden administration’s broad loan forgiveness programs that have been blocked by the courts. However, if Congress remains at least partly under Republican control, as is expected, her efforts to adopt those programs by executive action are not likely to be any more successful than President Biden’s have been. Vice President Harris also would likely seek to allow more students who attended for-profit colleges to cancel their debts to those colleges, as she sued some for-profit colleges for deceptive advertising while she was the Attorney General of California; those efforts would not require Congressional approval and would likely have greater success.
Therefore, the candidates have very different philosophies about student loan forgiveness, with Vice President Harris likely favoring much more generous relief than under current policies and former President Trump likely supporting somewhat less generous relief. However, because at least the Senate seems likely to be under Republican control, it is unlikely that Vice President Harris would be able to make significant changes to current policies. It is somewhat more likely that former President Trump would be able to do so, but this issue does not seem to be a high priority for him, as he did not pursue significant changes during his first term as President.
Public opinion on student loan relief
Polls have not shown strong support for broad student loan forgiveness. A June 2024 Associated Press/NORC poll found that only 30% of Americans approved of President Biden’s handling of student loan debt, while 40% disapproved. A May 2023 USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 47% of Americans approved of President Biden’s plan to forgive $430 billion of student loan debt, while 41% opposed that plan, but a September 2022 NBC News poll about that same plan found that only 43% of Americans approved of it, while 44% disapproved of it. And a June 2022 NPR/Ipsos poll found that 55% of Americans approved forgiving up to $10,000 of student loan debt, 47% approved forgiving up to $50,000, and 41% approved forgiving all student loan debt; however, that same poll found that 82% of Americans thought it was more important to make college more affordable for current and future students than it was to forgive existing student loans. Similarly, the May 2023 USA Today/Ipsos poll found that 65% of Americans were in favor of making community college free for two years. Therefore, there seems to be majority public support only for limited student loan relief, with college affordability being a much higher priority.
Unsurprisingly, there is a significant partisan divide regarding student loan relief. The June 2024 Associated Press/NORC poll found that 70% of Democrats approved of President Biden’s handling of student loan debt, as compared with only 17% of Republicans and 39% of Independents. And the September 2022 NBC News poll found that 78% of Democrats approved of the plan to provide $430 billion of student loan relief, while only 11% of Republicans and 34% of Independents approved of that plan.
Overall, a majority of Americans and a majority of Independents likely prefer former President Trump’s approach to student loans, providing only limited relief through existing programs. However, Vice President Harris has long supported free two-year college tuition for most students and free four-year college and trade school tuition for students from lower-income families. These positions are much more popular among Americans and would likely have bipartisan support, at least for free community college tuition. Therefore, there is room for both candidates to gain additional public support on this issue by moderating their positions: former President Trump could propose a plan to make college more affordable and Vice President Harris could shift her emphasis from student loan relief for past students to her free college plans for existing and future students.
