Pitt, CMU students react to possible reversal of plan to cancel student loan debt
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On Friday, a federal appeals court put President Joe Biden’s plan on pause to dismiss up to $10,000 in student loan debt for eligible applicants or up to $20,000 for Pell grant recipients. The court is considering a legal challenge from six Republican-led states.
On the eve of when student loan debt was supposed to start dwindling, Channel 11 went to Oakland to hear the reactions. Some people still hope that their debt will be canceled, but others we spoke to said they hope the court’s decision sticks.
“It kind of seemed like it was too good to be true,” said Elizabeth Ronolder, a student at the University of Pittsburgh. “I’m kind of upset about it, but also it wasn’t that big of a shock.”
“A lot of people have student loans that they have a hard time paying off later, especially if they have a job that doesn’t pay a ton,” said Joan Lee, a student at Carnegie Mellon University. “I know that was the reason a lot of people I know voted for [Biden] in the first place too.”
But not everyone thought the plan was a good idea in the first place.
“We just don’t have the money to be giving out,” said Daniel McCall, who works in Oakland. “How are we going to pay back that money? If we forgive them, aren’t they just going to end up paying it back in taxes later in the future? It’s gotta come out of somewhere.”
Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, and South Carolina requested a preliminary injunction, saying the president didn’t have the legal authority to wipe out the debt. More than 20 million applications are now in a holding pattern, but the White House is still encouraging people to apply for relief at studentaid.gov.
The Biden administration has until Monday to respond, with the Republican party set to issue a response by Tuesday.
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