Most Americans support student loan forgiveness, poll finds

Joseph Guzman
·3 min read
32

Story at a glance

  • A recent national poll conducted by progressive think tank Data for Progress found 60 percent of 1,425 respondents agreed the federal government should eliminate all or some student loan debt for every borrower.

  • The poll found more than half of past student loan borrowers and voters who never borrowed student loans believed some or all student debt should be eliminated.

  • Previous polling, however, showed a much narrower majority of Americans that support the Biden administration’s plans.

Recent polling suggests the majority of American voters may be in favor of the Biden administration’s decision to forgive billions of dollars of student loan debt for low- to middle-income borrowers.

President Biden on Wednesday announced his administration is forgiving up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 annually and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. The unprecedented decision will provide some financial relief to tens of millions of borrowers while about 15 million borrowers could see their entire balances eliminated.

A recent national poll conducted by progressive think tank Data for Progress just before Biden’s announcement found 60 percent of 1,425 respondents agreed the federal government should eliminate all or some student loan debt for every borrower, compared to 34 percent who said the government should not forgive the loans and 6 percent who said they didn’t know. The poll was conducted Aug. 19-21 online and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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Along party lines, 81 percent of Democrats were in favor of canceling at least some student loan debt compared to 45 percent of Republicans who said the same. The poll found more than half of past student loan borrowers and voters who never borrowed student loans believed some or all student debt should be eliminated.

The Biden administration is also extending the pandemic-related pause on student loan payments that was scheduled to expire at the end of August. The federal moratorium will be extended for a sixth and final time. Payments will resume January 2023 after more than two years.

When asked about the pause, 63 percent of respondents said they supported it compared to 32 percent who were opposed. Of those who never took out student loans, 58 percent supported the moratorium while 35 percent opposed.

Previous polling, however, showed a much narrower majority of Americans support the Biden administration’s plans. An NPR-Ipsos poll in June of 1,022 Americans found 55 percent of Americans support up to $10,000 of relief per borrower, but support dropped as financial relief increased. A YouGov poll and a Morning Consult-Politico poll found 51 percent of respondents were in favor of $10,000 in forgiveness.

A CNBC poll released this week also found 59 percent of Americans worried forgiving student loan debt could make inflation worse.

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