NAACP slams Biden over reported student loan debt cancellation plan
The Biden administration is reportedly leaning toward canceling $10,000 in student loan debt for each borrower
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The NAACP slammed reports that the Biden administration is planning to cancel $10,000 in student loan debt, calling the plan inadequate to address the $1.75 trillion in student debt held by Americans.
"If the rumors are true, we've got a problem. And tragically, we’ve experienced this so many times before," NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement on Tuesday. "This is not how you treat Black voters who turned out in record numbers and provided 90% of their vote to once again save democracy in 2020."
The Biden administration has been discussing several different plans, including eliminating $10,000 per borrower making less than $125,000 a year, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Such a plan could cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars on top of the trillions the Biden administration has already spent, as the national debt has soared more than $30 trillion. An announcement could come as soon as Wednesday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Activists demonstrate outside an entrance to the White House as they call for the cancellation of student debt on April 27, 2022. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
The president campaigned on canceling $10,000 in student debt, but the progressive flank of the Democratic Party has been calling for Biden to wipe out at least $50,000 for all borrowers.
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The NAACP has also been pushing for Biden to cancel a "minimum" of $50,000.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"The student debt crisis has a disproportionate impact on Black borrowers and their families," the NAACP said as part of its "$50K & Beyond" campaign. "Across all racial groups, Black borrowers hold the most student loan debt despite also being consistently underserved by postsecondary institutions."
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., joins activists in a demonstration outside an entrance to the White House as they call for the cancellation of student debt on April 27, 2022. (Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein)
A study by the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a nonpartisan group at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, estimated that canceling $10,000 per borrower would cost about $300 billion if the policy is limited to individuals with incomes less than $125,000.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}If the president goes the route that progressives and the NAACP want him to and cancels $50,000 per borrower, it would cost the federal government roughly $980 billion, according to the analysis.
Biden is also expected to announce an extension of the federal student loan payment pause before it expires at the end of this month.