LOCALIZE IT: Borrowers respond to ruling against Biden's student loan forgiveness plan

Supreme Court Student Loans (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected President Joe Biden's plan to cancel or reduce student loan debts for millions of borrowers.

Biden sought to fulfill a campaign promise when he announced in August a plan to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 or households with less than $250,000 in income. Pell Grant recipients, who typically demonstrate more financial need, would have had an additional $10,000 in debt forgiven.

Supporters said the relief would boost the economy and narrow the racial wealth gap, but conservative opponents objected to the cost and called it an insult to Americans who repaid their debt or didn’t go to college.

The court ruled the Biden administration overstepped its authority with the plan. That leaves borrowers on the hook for repayments that are expected to resume in the fall.

Under Biden's plan, 43 million borrowers would have been eligible for some debt forgiveness, with 20 million who expected their debt to be erased entirely, according to the administration. Almost a third of borrowers owe less than $10,000 and more than half owe less than $20,000, according to the Education Department.

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FIND AP’S COVERAGE HERE:

The Supreme Court rejects Biden’s plan to wipe away $400 billion in student loan debt

How the Supreme Court student loan decision affects you

Student loan payments start again soon. Supreme Court’s ruling means higher bills for many

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VIEW DATA ON BORROWERS IN YOUR AREA

Data released in February by the U.S. Education Department broke down how many borrowers applied for the relief in each of the nation’s congressional districts.

To find the data for your district, visit https://www.ed.gov/coronavirus and scroll to the “Postsecondary Education” category. The second link should be “Student Debt Relief Application Data by Congressional District,” which downloads a spreadsheet with the data.

The data in column C shows the estimated number of borrowers in each district who would have been eligible for debt forgiveness. Column D shows the number of borrowers who applied for forgiveness or were deemed automatically eligible for relief before a legal challenge put the program on hold. And while less relevant now because of the Supreme Court decision, Column E shows the number of applications for forgiveness that had been slated for approval – up until the cancellation program was put on hold because of legal challenges.

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FINDING BORROWERS

Who are these borrowers? There are several organizations that could help you find people with student debt in your area to ask what the ruling on Biden’s plan could mean for them and their financial planning.

— The National Association for College Admission Counseling is a membership group for college counselors. The group has a directory of college access organizations in each state. Those groups often work individually with students and can help find people who are still in college or who have graduated with debt. https://casp.nacacnet.org/search?title=&field_city_tid=All&field_state_tid=80

— Veterans Education Success is an advocacy group that helps military veterans pursue higher education and avoid unmanageable student debt. Press contact: Jake Fisher, jake.fisher@wardcirclestrategies.com

— The Student Borrower Protection Center is a consumer advocacy group that supports debt cancellation and works with governments, advocacy groups and individuals to protect borrowers. Press contact: Jackie Filson, jackie@protectborrowers.com

— Young Invincibles is a student-founded nonprofit that advocated for debt cancellation. Press contact: Juan Ramiro Sarmiento JuanRamiro.Sarmiento@younginvincibles.org.

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.