The average 2019 graduate of a private or public university holds $28,950 in debt, according to the Institute for College Access and Success. (fotolia)
President Joe Biden has asked the U.S. Secretary of Education to look into the authority of a presidential executive order to cancel student loan debt, indicating he is open to the topic, White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain said.
Some critics of student loan debt cancellation argue that it would unfairly benefit college-educated, high-income individuals, and that individuals who receive loans are responsible for paying them off in any case.
On his first day as president, Biden signed more than a dozen executive orders, including one extending the suspension of student federal loan payments enacted by the previous administration as part of the COVID-19 relief. Some activists and radical lawmakers have urged the president to take greater action to cancel student loan debt. Biden has said he does not believe he has the authority to do so under the executive order.
But since the day he ran for office, Biden has acknowledged the need for reform of student loans that “drive students deeper into debt.
“I understand the impact of debt,” he said in a CNN interview in February.
Biden’s policy maintains 0 percent interest on student loans while freezing student repayments until September; expands student loan forgiveness for public sector workers and eliminates debt for students who are defrauded by for-profit schools.
Biden, however, is reluctant to cancel loan debt for those who attend top-tier schools. He said the federal government should not forgive debt for students who attend prestigious schools such as “Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania.
USA Today reported that White House Chief of Staff John Kline said Thursday (April 1) that Biden asked Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to prepare a memo on the president’s administration’s efforts to cancel student loan debt. However, the president has not yet decided what he will do.
In an interview with Politico Playbook, Kline said, “He will look at that legal basis and the policy issues associated with it and then make a decision.”
The cost of college has been steadily rising in recent decades.
A US News and World Report analysis of the highest-ranked national universities shows that over the past 20 years, average tuition at private universities has risen 144 percent; at public universities for out-of-state students, 165 percent; and at public universities for in-state students, 212 percent.
Data collected by the University Board shows that over the past 20 years, the average tuition and fees have increased by more than $5,000 per year at public four-year colleges and more than $13,000 per year at private colleges and universities, after adjusting for inflation.
The University Board found this academic year that first-time, full-time students at four-year public universities must pay $14,850 in tuition and fees and housing costs after receiving a grant. The average student at a private university must cover $29,110 after receiving a grant. This does not include additional costs such as books, student supplies and transportation.
Americans currently hold about $1.7 trillion in student loan debt, according to the Federal Reserve, and the average 2019 graduate of a private or public college holds $28,950 in debt, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.
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