Biden announces new student loan forgiveness plan ahead of 2024 election

President Joe Biden announced a new plan for student loan forgiveness in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, April 8. The White House stated that millions of Americans could start seeing debt relief by this fall, if the proposal goes through.

In front of an estimated crowd of 150,000 people, Biden announced the plans in a key swing state ahead of the November election.

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“Today, I’m proud to announce five major actions that will continue to relieve student debt for more than 30 million Americans since I started my administration,” Biden said. “First, my administration will propose a new rule to cancel up to $20,000 in runaway interest for any borrower that owes more money now than when they started paying the loan.”

Under the plan nearly 70% of all federal student loan borrowers would see their debt reduced or fully cancelled. This is the Biden administration’s second attempt at broad student loan forgiveness. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Biden’s first effort on student loan forgiveness in last summer.

The current plan targets accrued and capitalized interest on student loans for specific borrowers.

However, the process will likely take months and must hold up to legal challenges. Despite likely opposition from Republicans and legal obstacles, a senior administration official expressed confidence in the legal basis of the plan.

Even with setbacks, the Biden administration has canceled more student debt than any other administration. Four million people have seen their federal student loan debt cancelled since he took office. In total, $146 billion in student debt has been forgiven.

Biden’s trip to Madison also comes after primary voting in the state showed weakness for Biden and former President Donald Trump, the GOP candidate for president.

In Wisconsin’s primary elections on April 2, 119,000 Republican voters chose a GOP candidate other than Trump. In addition, 48,000 Democratic voters chose “uninstructed” instead of Biden.

The latest cancellation attempt comes amid other efforts aimed at public service workers and low-income borrowers.

Some have speculated that the student loan forgiveness announcement could be an important issue for younger voters, and could energize part of Biden’s base who have become disillusioned with U.S. support of Israel’s war in Gaza.