Biden Forgives Student Loans [For Government Workers]

Biden Quietly Forgives Student Loans for Thousands of Government Workers While Millions of Others Remain Crushed by Debt.

By The Heartland Institute:

Throughout Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, he pledged to tackle America’s student debt crisis by reducing the cost of attending college and canceling up to $10,000 of debt per borrower.

More than a year into his presidency, Mr. Biden has come up short on both counts. Not only have he and Democrats in Congress failed to pass legislation forgiving student loan debt, data compiled by U.S. News & World Report indicate that “tuition rates at both private and public National Universities have increased by at least 2%” from the 2020-2021 school year to the 2021-2022 year.

However, despite these failures, one group has benefited substantially from the Biden administration’s student loan policies: nonprofit workers, the largest group of which is those employed by federal, state, or local governments.

While tens of millions of other Americans remain burdened with massive student loan debts, government and other nonprofit workers have enjoyed substantial amounts of student debt forgiveness, and at a rate we’ve never seen before, thanks to a combination of policies most voters know very little about.

Under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which was created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007, federal student loan borrowers who work full-time for a nonprofit organization, including a government, can have their entire student debt balance discharged after making 120 qualifying monthly payments, a requirement that takes at least 10 years to complete, but could take longer.

Prior to receiving forgiveness, many of these borrowers enroll in a federal income-based repayment plan, which ties student loan payment amounts to income, allowing borrowers to “pay” as little as $0 per month without penalties, and as much as 15% of a borrower’s monthly discretionary income. more