Vice President Kamala Harris lauded President Joe Biden‘s new plan to reduce or cancel student loan debt for roughly 30 million people, calling it a game changer for borrowers and especially those eligible for public service loan forgiveness programs.
“We don’t pay our teachers nearly what they deserve in terms of the value that they give to our society as a whole,” Harris said Monday during a roundtable discussion in Philadelphia. “Many are silently struggling with student loan debt.”
Biden announced earlier in the day a new plan to transfer partial or full student loan balances from borrowers to taxpayers.
To qualify, debt holders must be in one of five groups, those whose balances are greater than what they originally borrowed, those with loans that were taken out decades ago, those whose loans were used to enroll in “low-financial-value programs,” those who are eligible for relief programs but have not applied, and those who are experiencing “hardship paying back their loans.”
Harris led a roundtable discussion with workers who have individually benefitted from student loan programs, including a teacher, a nurse, and a social worker. One of them, social worker Kelli Gray, said she had a balance of more than $300,000 eliminated in February.
“My student debt story is like everyone else’s,” she said. “I knew I wanted a better life for myself and twin daughters.”
“We want you to stay in these jobs, doing this work,” Harris said, adding that many public school employees could make more money in the private sector. “We need you in these jobs doing this work.”
Public servants received an average of $70,000 in debt relief in the administration’s initial effort, according to the White House.
However, the plan, which involves billions of dollars worth of student loans on the backs of taxpayers, is not without controversy. Republican attorneys general are likely to file lawsuits challenging its legality, and budget hawks say it is counterproductive.
“You can’t solve a very real debt problem by issuing more debt,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “The president’s previous student loan cancellation plan was expensive, inflationary, poorly targeted, and would have boosted rather than reduced tuitions. This plan similarly misses the mark.”
That previous plan was estimated to cost at least $400 billion but was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court.
“The president and his administration should abandon these efforts and instead work with Congress on reforms that actually fix the student loan program and address the high cost of higher education,” MacGuineas said.
But attendees of the Harris roundtable touted the plan as a way for loanees to buy a house or start a family, saying, “You shouldn’t have to make a decision whether you serve or be able to pay your bills.”
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New plans announced today would fully eliminate accrued interest for 23 million borrowers, would cancel the full amount of student debt for over 4 million borrowers, and provide more than 10 million borrowers with at least $5,000 in debt relief or more, according to a White House statement.
“Your country needs you,” Harris said during the roundtable discussion, “and we are benefitting in profound ways because of the sacrifice and the work you all do every day.”
