Topline
According to a recent poll, a slim majority of Americans support President Joe Biden’s announced plan to forgive $10,000 of federal student loan debt for most borrowers – though that support is widely split across parties and demographic criteria.
George Washington University students wear their gowns outside the White House in … [+]
Highlights
A trio of surveys all found similar results: a morning consultation /Policy A June poll of 2,006 registered voters found 51% supported the $10,000 pardon, an NPR/Ipsos survey last month of 1,022 adults found 55% of respondents supported the cancellation of the $10,000 pardon. a maximum of $10,000 and a Economist/ The YouGov survey of 1,500 adults in July found that 51% of Americans support this threshold.
An overwhelming majority of support comes from the left, with 72% of Democratic respondents in the Economist/YouGov polled 71% of registered Democratic respondents in the morning poll/Policy the survey supported a $10,000 pardon, compared to 28% and 31% among Republican respondents to the respective polls.
Support for the measure is also divided by age: 65% of respondents to the Morning Consult/Policy survey of 18 to 34 year olds and 61% of 35 to 44 year olds want Biden to forgive $10,000 per borrower, compared to just 45% of 45 to 64 year olds and 39% of those over 65.
A CNN/SSRS poll of 1,007 adults conducted in April and May also found that support for student loan forgiveness depends largely on age and political party.
Some 56% of Democrats told CNN the government was generally doing too little to address the problem, compared to 33% of Republican respondents, while 61% of respondents under 45 said the government was not doing enough. , compared to 38% of respondents. 45 years and over.
Key context
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that Biden is considering $10,000 in federal student loan relief per person, likely for those with annual salaries below a ceiling between $125,000 and $150,000. Many believe the timing of Biden’s decision is designed to rally support for Democrats ahead of November’s midterm elections, especially among younger voters. The moratorium on federal student loan debt repayment is set to expire Aug. 31, jeopardizing a pause in place since the early days of the pandemic. Biden told reporters last month that he expected to make a decision on student loans by the end of August, although it was unclear whether he was referring to extending the moratorium or announcing of a policy of forgiveness.
Large number
$1.75 trillion. That’s how much Americans owed in student loans at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve.
Further reading
Student Loan Decision Coming From Biden This Month – Here’s What We Know (Forbes)