Topline
A majority of federal student loan borrowers will struggle to afford payments when the moratorium on them lifts in June, a new Morning Consult poll reports, as multiple courts prepare to decide whether to continue blocking the relief program.
Student loan borrowers gather near The White House to tell President Biden to cancel student debt on ... [+]
Key Facts
The poll found 59% of federal student loan borrowers believe they might not be able to afford making payments when the moratorium on loan repayment ends.
The moratorium was most recently extended until June, or 60 days after student loan forgiveness goes into effect, if that happens sooner.
Two courts have both blocked the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness from moving forward, and it’s now up to the Supreme Court and 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to decide whether to throw out those rulings and let the program take effect.
Even if student loan forgiveness does take effect, the Morning Consult poll found 48% of borrowers owe more than $20,000 in loans—the maximum amount forgiven under President Joe Biden’s program, specifically for Pell grant recipients, while others receive $10,000—and would thus still have to make payments.
The poll found U.S. adults are most likely to blame conservative judges and Republicans in Congress for student loan forgiveness being on hold—48% of all adults blamed each of those groups—though Republicans were much more likely to blame Biden himself and Democrats in Congress (57% and 50% of Republican respondents, respectively).
Morning Consult’s poll was conducted November 18-21, right after the Biden Administration asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on loan forgiveness, among 4,421 U.S. adults.
Big Number
66%. That’s the share of respondents with federal student loans who said they “have experienced hardship in affording their payments.”
Key Background
The Biden Administration announced in August that it would forgive $10,000 in federal student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000, $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Applications for the program opened in October and 26 million borrowers applied for debt relief before the program was suspended on November 11 amid the court rulings against it, but no funds had yet been disbursed by the time the forgiveness policy was halted. The Biden Administration has justified the loan forgiveness through the federal HEROES Act, which allows the secretary of education to “waive or modify” any student financial assistance programs during national emergencies like the Covid-19 pandemic, but Republicans heavily decried the policy and that justification, and challenged it in court. The administration was first blocked in court from disbursing forgiveness funds in late October by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which then decided to continue keeping the program on hold as litigation from GOP-led states plays out, prompting the White House’s Supreme Court appeal. A federal judge in Texas then issued a separate ruling striking down the loan forgiveness on November 10, which is the ruling that was appealed to the 5th Circuit.
What To Watch For
How student loan forgiveness will play out in court. The Biden Administration has asked the Supreme Court to lift the 8th Circuit’s order blocking the program, or else take up the case for oral arguments if it doesn’t lift the block immediately. It also asked the 5th Circuit to throw out the Texas ruling and reinstate the program in that case, and requested the court issue its ruling by Thursday so it can also go to the Supreme Court with that case if necessary. Both courts would have to rule the program can be reinstated for student loan forgiveness to take effect again. That means the best-case scenario for student loan forgiveness to be reinstated is for both the 5th Circuit and the Supreme Court to rule in the coming days that the lower court orders should be thrown out and the program can take effect, at least while the litigation moves forward. The Supreme Court could also decide to take up the cases for oral arguments, which means a final ruling on the program’s fate would come by June, or just leave the issue to play out in the lower courts, which means it would likely be even longer than that for the cases to be finally resolved.
Further Reading
Public Lays Blame for Student Debt Forgiveness Limbo on Conservative Judges, Republicans in Congress (Morning Consult)
Biden Asks Supreme Court To Reinstate Student Loan Forgiveness — Here’s Where Program Stands Now (Forbes)
