By Hugh T. Ferguson, NASFAA Managing Editor
A new analysis from the White House provides details on how the administration’s student debt relief plans will impact borrowers on a state-by-state basis, with more than 40 million borrowers identified as eligible for cancellation.
The fact sheet, according to the Department of Education (ED), is based on Census data used to estimate borrower income, and thus their eligibility for student loan cancellation.
The White House is currently in the process of rolling out up to $20,000 for borrowers who received a Pell Grant and up to $10,000 in cancellation for borrowers who meet the specified income thresholds. In order to be eligible for cancellation, single borrowers must be making less than $125,000, and households must be earning less than $250,000.
According to the White House, the cancellation will potentially result in up to 20 million borrowers seeing their entire remaining balance discharged.
“Nearly 90% of relief dollars will go to those earning less than $75,000 per year – and no relief will go to any individual or household in the top 5% of incomes in the United States,” the White House also noted.
The state-by-state breakdown details the estimated number of individuals eligible for student debt relief, and the estimated number of Pell Grant borrowers eligible for relief. Per the data, nearly every state is either at or above 50% of their borrowers being eligible for up to $20,000 in cancellation because they received a Pell Grant.
Today, @WhiteHouse released a state-by-state-breakdown of borrowers who will benefit from student debt relief & the numbers are historic.
— Secretary Miguel Cardona (@SecCardona) September 20, 2022
🌴 FL: 2.4M
🍎 WA: 697K
🤠 TX: 3.3M
⛷️ CO: 698K
🐮 WI: 685K
See how many borrowers in your state will benefit here: https://t.co/bUbjE0T6VN
ED and the White House also noted that more details would be forthcoming in the coming weeks to highlight how specific borrowers would benefit from these estimates.
Publication Date: 9/22/2022
Sarah F | 9/22/2022 11:18:07 AM
Daren C, from what I have been reading, the third element of this proposal is about simplifying repayment, which includes forgiving any debt that's leftover after making on-time payments for 10 years. I think that's a step in addressing that issue, but I definitely see your point.
Jeff A, I agree they could be giving us more useful information. My students and I have so many questions that we just don't have answers to.
Amy Stone H, I'm sorry that this proposal has had such a negative impact on you. Hopefully they provide more info soon, so people in the situation you described can know what they are up against.
Amy Stone H | 9/22/2022 11:8:50 AM
100% AGREE WITH DARREN C!! My neighbors who are ECSTATIC that their loans are going away (who make WAY more than I do!) THINK IT IS BEING ERASED AND NO ONE WILL PAY FOR IT. I will be paying for THEIR mismanagement. I chose to be RESPONSIBLE. I did not GET get a loan BECAUSE I COULD NOT AFFORD IT. Now I won't be able to afford paying FOR THEIR LOANS. Unbelievable.
Darren C | 9/22/2022 8:59:36 AM
I along with many other tax payers I think would be interested in seeing how this will likely impact the economy, taxes and inflation in each state. You can't just make debt generated by tax payer money disappear without some sort of impact. However the discussion lately is always about forgiving and erasing debt and not actually addressing the problem that caused it in the first place.
Jeff A | 9/22/2022 8:32:41 AM
Guesses based on census data. This seems like really uninteresting propaganda. .
More useful information ED could be giving us.
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