You may not need that student loan after all. Here's the latest college tuition trend.
USA TodayOct 23
Biden Cancels $4.28B in Student Loan Debt for 55K Borrowers
Above: Joe Biden speaks during an event in Madison, Wisconsin, on April 8, 2024. Image copyright: Daniel Steinle/Contributor/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Facts
The Biden administration on Friday announced $4.28B in student loan forgiveness for 54.9K public service workers, including teachers, nurses, and law enforcement officials.
This brings the total loan forgiveness under the Biden administration to approximately $180B for nearly 5M Americans, with $78B specifically through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
The Biden administration has successfully transformed a broken student loan forgiveness system into an effective program that delivers relief to public servants who have dedicated their lives to serving communities. This is a testament to what's possible when leaders like Biden are relentlessly and unapologetically focused on making higher education more accessible to the middle class.
Republican narrative
Forgiving billions of dollars of student loan aid is a crude and inequitable tool for fixing student aid. The loan forgiveness program unfairly transfers the burden to taxpayers who didn't attend college or already repaid their loans, and the administration has overstepped its authority in implementing these extensive debt relief measures — contributing to a massive hit on the federal budget deficit.
Cynical narrative
The cost of college isn't out of control. The entire cost of attending a public college is falling, and borrowing to earn a four-year college degree typically pays off. If at all, colleges and universities should set tuition fees based on the discipline's earning potential so the root cause of the student loan debt crisis is addressed.
