Challenging The Unfair Outrage Around Biden’s Student Loan Debt Forgiveness Plan
The Republicans are not the only ones criticizing President Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan. A lot of economists and democrats also have been at the forefront of criticizing the plan. The plan unfolded with propositions like forgiveness of $10,000 of student loan debt for individuals having annual income less than $125,000 and couples making less than $250,000. Similarly, a $20,000 forgiveness is announced for Pell Grant holders.
According to the White House, the program will benefit around 43 million low- and middle-income Americans. Despite the promising prospects of the plan, it has received a lot of unfair criticism from different sides. Here are some of the points raised by critics and what we know to debunk the false accusations:
The Inflation Rate Will Go High With Even Higher Tuition Fees
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy criticized the plan by calling it a debt transfer scam to worsen inflation. Critics point out the program as inflation-triggering as people with loan forgiveness will be spending more and heating the economy.
However, there is no solid backing to the criticism as many higher education experts think such loans are always forgiven after 20 years. However, Biden’s plan will forgive the borrowers after they have repaid the amount for 10 years. As stated by Gourley that the project is not going to increase inflation due to increased spending, as only 31% of the borrowers will get a 100% waiver of their student loans after the plan rolls out.
Another very absurd argument made by many Republicans is that the plan is blessing the riches. Mitch McConnel, Senate Minority Leader, commented that the median American with student loans has a higher income, which will bail out the riches.
In reality, the plan is to facilitate low and middle-income Americans. Why? Even if the Americans taking student loans might have earned a high-paying degree and job, the maximum income limit clarifies everything. The loan forgiveness is only for those having an annual income of less than $125,000.
The Plan Doesn’t Address Black Americans
The right wing has not raised this one, but NAACP President Derrick Johnson was found criticizing the President. He thinks the student loan will still leave borrowers of color with disproportionately more debt.
So the fact check is that the Black Americans with student loans are 40% compared to 29% of White students, 18% of Asian students, and 23% of Hispanic students. As highlighted by PBS Newshour, Black Americans have $30,000 or more in debt when leaving college.
And when it comes to the argument by Derrick, there is not much Biden could do to eliminate disparity, but the studies have found that 72% of Black full-time undergraduates are Pell Grant recipients. It is needless to say that Pell Grant recipients will be given forgiveness of $20,000.
The Higher Cost of College Education Not Addressed
Another criticism many have raised is that the root cause has been ignored, as college education has been very high in the last few years. Biden administration has not taken any steps to address the issue of always-rising college education fees. According to the stats, higher education costs have risen more than any other good or service in the last 2 decades.
But the fact check is that not much can be done to address the problem of high fees in the short term. However, the income-based repayment plan by Biden’s administration has been welcomed by higher education circles. And if any policy to institute price control on college tuition fees will need to be passed out of Congress, that is quite difficult in the current scenario.
In A Nutshell
Some critics might be raising points in true spirit to bring the administration’s attention to the real problems. However, a lot of outrage is seemingly unjustified and without any logic. We have tried to debunk the criticism and hope the plan will bring relief to the Americans who need it!
By Sana Mubashar
I am Sana, a fulltime freelance content writer. With 4+ years’ experience and 600+ international clients I am working on different freelancing platforms. My areas of expertise are Website landing page, Copy writing, Blog post writing, Affiliate Writing, Product review, Press release and other type of writing.
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