Hofstra students react to Biden’s college loan relief plan
By Rebecca Williams
On Wednesday when the House of Representatives passed President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package, U.S. student debt stood at a nearly equal amount — $1.7 trillion, or roughly $30,000 per borrower, according to educationdata.org.
Biden is seeking to forgive $10,000 in student loans per borrower, but Democrats like U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal are asking for more — up to $50,000 in forgiveness per borrower — leaving many college students wondering if and when they might receive debt relief.
At Hofstra University on Long Island, students went into depth on how forgiving at least part of their loans would affect their financial situations.
Junior Olivia Keena-Ross, a Hofstra drama major, uses student loans to pay for around a third of her tuition. Although it’s only a portion, she would be in “financial trouble” without them.
“I would definitely approve of” $50,000 in loan relief, Keena-Ross said. “That would be extremely helpful, as it would probably take care of most of the loans I will have taken out by the end of college.”
Keena-Ross said she was angry about the current lack of loan relief for students, especially in Biden’s recent stimulus package.
“If there was a chance for student loan relief,” she said, “it makes me question why it wasn’t used, since there’s millions of people that would benefit from it.”
The resolution for a $50,000 student loan relief plan is supported by 60 lawmakers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, both Democrats. Seventeen state attorneys general and more than 325 organizations have also publicly supported the cancelation of student debt, according to Forbes.
Pramila Jayapal, chairwoman of the House of Representatives Progressive Caucus, has publicaly supported a wealth tax, $15 minimum wage and $50,000 of student loan relief per borrower.
Junior Victoria Bell, a Hofstra journalism major, has also voiced her support for forgiving $50,000 in student debt per borrower.
“I’d approve the Democratic legislators’ plans to forgive $50,000 of student loan debt,” Bell said. “Personally, if this were the case, I would no longer have student debt.”
Warren and Schumer have called on Biden to take executive action to push forward loan relief, but he has not yet acted.
New York State alone carries $85.3 billion in student debt. However, those numbers may not be equally distributed among college students. According to educationdata.org, Black college graduates “owe an average of $25,000 more in student loan debt than white college graduates.”
“This doesn’t surprise me,” Bell said, “because, historically, Black people have been given unequal opportunities… including financial opportunities. This has continued to carry into today with student loan debt.”
Soon-to-be Hofstra graduate Stephan Hatchett is also not surprised by this statistic, either. He offered a perspective that is all about unequal access to information.
“Black families have less access to information about what loans to get and the different types of loans than white families,” Hatchett said, “so it’s no surprise that the loans that are taken out are possibly the most financially taxing.”
Hatchett relied on student loans through his time as a college student, amounting to more than $10,000. However, he acknowledges his scholarship covers a majority of attendance costs. While Hatchett still supports forgiving $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, he said he understands why Biden has not done so.
“Because he ran on a bipartisan platform”, he said, “I believe he wanted to at least give Republicans a chance to see the good that could come with it, instead of instantly making it happen.”
Forty-six percent of U.S. adults support the cancelation of $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower, according to a recent Morning Consult survey. The majority of those adults fall into the 18- to 34-year-old age group, who struggle most with paying off their student loans.
Recent Hofstra graduate Tri Nyguen was not eligible for student loans because of his immigration status, but still advocates for student loan relief. “Education should be free,” he said. “Forgive student loans or at least erase some of them.”
Nyguen said he supports $50,000 loan relief per borrower. Despite not being eligible to benefit directly, he said “the more the better.”
According to a recent study done by OneClass, only 13 percent of college students believe the Biden administration will forgive student debt as promised. Biden has, though, extended relief on student loan payments through Sept. 30, suspending monthly payments and not allowing loans to accrue interest.
While students wait for a permanent solution, Hatchett looks at the situation in a positive light while dealing with impending graduation and job prospects.
“Thankfully, the economy is actually looking up,” Hatchett said, “and more jobs are coming back, so I’m not too worried about getting a job during Covid…In the case I do not get a job, I’ll simply do my best to make money and work towards making steady payments” on student loans.
