President Joe Biden (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Getty Images
No, President Joe Biden didn’t promise to cancel everyone’s student loans.
Here’s what you need to know.
Student Loans
Did Biden promise to cancel everyone’s student loans? That’s a popular claim espoused by advocates for wide-scale student loan cancellation. The argument goes like this: Biden, as a presidential candidate, campaigned on student loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 for every borrower. If elected president, some claim that Biden promised to enact wide-scale student loan cancellation. However, one year into the president’s term, there has been no wide-scale student loan forgiveness. Therefore, the claim is that Biden did not keep his campaign promise. Now, some advocates and student loan borrowers want Biden to enact wide-scale student loan cancellation by executive order because they claim he promised to do so. Is this true? Not exactly.
Student loan forgiveness: what Biden actually said
As a presidential candidate, Biden expressed his support for wide-scale student loan cancellation. Other presidential candidates, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and now Vice President Kamala also supported various forms of student loan forgiveness. For example, Sanders proposed student loan cancellation for all $1.7 trillion of private and federal student loans. Warren proposed cancelling 95% of student loans. As senators, both Sanders and Warren proposed legislation in Congress to support their student loan proposals. Biden championed student loan forgiveness on the campaign trail and on social media. However, Biden wasn’t a U.S. senator when he ran for president in 2020, and therefore did not sponsor legislation in Congress. That said, other legislators proposed a comparable plan to cancel up to $10,000 of student loans for borrowers. Here is one example (among others) of Biden tweeting about student loan forgiveness before the 2020 election:
“Additionally, we should forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans, as proposed by Senator Warren and colleagues. Young people and other student debt holders bore the brunt of the last crisis. It shouldn’t happen again.”
President Joe Biden tweets support for student loan forgiveness.
President Joe Biden on Twitter
In this tweet, Biden is supporting a proposal from Warren. If elected president, Biden is indicating that he would support, and sign, legislation that cancelled $10,000 of student loans for student loan borrowers. This is different than explicitly stating he would use executive authority, if he has such authority, to cancel student loans. As a former senator, Biden understands that Congress passes laws and the president can sign them. Notably, the leading proposal in Congress for student loan cancellation also wouldn’t cancel student loans for every student loan borrower. (Here’s who won’t get student loan forgiveness).
Student loan cancellation: Biden has cancelled $15 billion of student loans
Since becoming president, Biden has cancelled $15 billion of student loans. He has also extended temporary student loan relief three times for a total of 15 months. Biden’s extensions of student loan relief collectively will have saved student loan borrowers approximately $75 billion in student loan interest. (How federal student loans will change this year). Biden has cancelled student loans through targeted student loan cancellation based on existing federal student loan programs. You may disagree with Biden’s position on student loan forgiveness. You may think there should be more student loan cancellation, less student loan cancellation or no student loan cancellation. You may believe student loans cancellation should happen more quickly or slowly. However, Biden has consistently supported $10,000 of student loan forgiveness for borrowers since he was a presidential candidate. (Here are 7 ways to get a lower student loan payment).
Biden has supported student loan forgiveness
Stating his support for a policy during a presidential campaign doesn’t mean he will unilaterally implement that policy as president. There are other factors that determine whether the president’s agenda can be implemented, including, among others, the composition of Congress. Has there been wide-scale student loan cancellation? No. (Student loan forgiveness could be the reason that Democrats lose the midterm elections). Biden said he’s ready to cancel student loans for millions of borrowers, but Congress hasn’t passed any wide-scale student loan forgiveness. Congress likely won’t either. Biden has said he would sign any student loan cancellation legislation that Congress sends him. Biden has also said he doesn’t believe he has executive authority to enact wide-scale student loan cancellation without further authorization from Congress. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has said the president doesn’t have authority to cancel student loans unilaterally without Congress. More than 80 members of Congress say the president should release a memo from the U.S. Department of Education that may indicate whether the president has such legal authority. However, that memo on student loan forgiveness has remained redacted.
Student loans: next steps
The next steps for your student loans are to prepare for the restart of federal student loan payments. Student loan relief is scheduled to end soon, and there’s no guarantee that Congress or the president will cancel student loans. The White House confirmed yesterday that student loan payments will restart on May 1, 2022. This means you should understand all your options for student loan repayment now. Don’t wait until the last minute.
Here are some popular ways to save money and pay off student loans faster:
