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William Alexander was ecstatic when he read President Joe Biden’s tweet on Wednesday, announcing the administration’s student loan forgiveness plan.
„Literally life-changing,“ he says.
The news means that his wife will have $20,000 of her debt wiped, since she received Pell Grants in school and the couple makes less than $250,000 a year. Alexander, who lives in Jacksonville, FL, also had his own loans forgiven earlier this year under the borrower’s defense rule — which allows borrowers to ask the Department of Education to erase their student debt if a school lied to them about things like job prospects or potential salaries.
„The admissions advisor told me that there was a guaranteed career waiting for me,“ Alexander says of the for-profit college he applied to in 2015. „They told me that my total tuition would be about $8,000, and instead it turned out to be close to $50,000.“
He struggled to make his payments, so he filed a borrower defense claim. This year, he got notice that the entire balance of his loans was being forgiven.
„I was blown away,“ he says, laughing. „I wasn’t expecting this at all. It put a huge smile on my face, of course, when I got it. And, you know, I ran into the house telling everyone, ‚Hey, my student loans are getting canceled, my student loans are getting canceled.‘ So yeah, I’m happy as a pig in mud.“
Alexander says that after years of renting, he and his wife are looking at houses now. And he feels like he’ll have more time to volunteer in his community.
But while families like the Alexanders are rejoicing over some newfound financial freedom, the move has critics on both sides of the issue. Some say it’s not enough, while others say it shouldn’t have happened at all.Not everyone is celebrating
Wednesday’s announcement joins the Biden Administration’s portfolio of policies attempting to ease the burden of student debt. It also stated that monthly loan payments would be paused one final time, until the end of 2022.
But many borrowers are still hoping for more relief. Jayson Douglas, a 29-year-old in Commerce, TX, owes almost $90,000 in student loans. He’s already working several jobs to offset the rising cost of living. So he’s dreading the end of the payment pause.
„My monthly payments are at $835 a month,“ he says. „I really think that our government needs to cancel student loans altogether. Or at least cancel the interest and go back to the original borrowing principal.“
He says while he understands how many families will be thrilled with the latest announcement, it wasn’t what he was hoping for.
And he isn’t alone in his disappointment.
