Chapel Hill, N.C. – President Joe Biden canceled up to $20,000 in student loans for millions of Americans two weeks ago, leading to both celebration and scrutiny among students.
Maya Slate is a freshman pre-med student. She said that the changes to federal student loan repayment could make higher education accessible to more people.
“I think it’s a good policy. I think it will help a lot of people and like make college more accessible to them,” Slate said.
Other students criticized the economic soundness of the decision and said that the move is likely politically motivated.
“I think it’s a political tool by the Biden administration to motivate younger voters to turn out in the midterms,” said Thomas Altmann, a senior political science student. He continued to say that unlike older generations, millennial and gen-z voters were less likely to show up on polling day.
While opinions about the federal action vary, the decision certainly has a widespread effect across the university campus and community.
According to the Institute for College Access and Success, one-third of students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be in debt on graduation day. Further, their average loan total, including those who have not taken out a loan for school expenses, is over $20,000.
As for who qualifies for federal student loan forgiveness, it depends on several factors including income.
Pell Grant recipients qualify for $20,000 in student loan forgiveness. Otherwise, eligibility rides on personal or household income in 2020 or 2021. Current students are eligible for $10,000 in forgiveness if their family earns less than $250,000 annually. Former students qualify for the same sum if they personally earn less than $125,000 annually.
Those who are already enrolled in an income-based loan repayment place may have their forgiveness applied automatically. However, to be safe it is best to sign up for the U.S. Department of Education email list in waiting for the application for federal student loan forgiveness to be sent out.
The Federal Student Aid website says that the application will be available the first week of October, and students will have until Dec. 31 to complete it.