Survey shows opportunity for Biden’s 2024 campaign on student debt relief

A new survey shows wide support, particularly on the left but among younger Americans broadly across the spectrum, for student debt relief.

The questions for Joe Biden are: Can he sell them on what his administration has already done? And can he convince those voters that more is on the table?

The survey data released Tuesday by Protect Borrowers Action highlighted several dynamics underpinning the student debt debate, which has largely taken a back seat to issues like immigration and Ukraine in recent months as Congress has battled over spending bills.

First, the facts: The Biden administration sought to wipe clean more than $400bn in student loan debt, but last year the Supreme Court halted that plan and struck down the Department of Education’s debt forgiveness measure. Had the plan survived the Supreme Court’s scrutiny, Mr Biden’s administration would have been responsible for cancelling a little under a third of all federally-held student debt in America.

But undeterred, the Department of Education has sought other means to cancel parts of the $1.6 trillion total federal student debt in America. Through the end of last year and into 2024, the Biden administration has still managed to cancel a little over $143bn of that debt; more action is purportedly on the drawing board as the November election approaches. One recent action came in January when another nearly $5bn was added to that total.

Last week, the president upped the total again. A White House announcement declared that $6bn in loans for public service workers would be forgiven, shoring up an existing program that allows Americans who complete years of work in specific professions including the medical field to see some of their debt burdens cleared.

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