President-Elect Joe Biden has made several ambitious proposals for student loan forgiveness that may be stymied by legislator opposition, according to an analysis from Forbes. Nevertheless, there may be a few ways he can implement at least part of his student loan forgiveness agenda. Student loan debt has grown to record levels, spurring calls for loan forgiveness. According to the Federal Reserve Board’s G.19 report, there’s a total of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt outstanding as of September 30, 2020. This includes both federal and private student loans. During the campaign, Biden made several proposals for student loan forgiveness, such as forgive $10,000 in federal student loan debt per borrower; forgive all tuition-related undergraduate federal student loan debt for borrowers who attended public colleges and universities; switch Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) from a back-end loan forgiveness program to an up-front loan forgiveness program; and restore bankruptcy rights to student loans, thereby allowing borrowers in extreme financial distress to discharge their student loans in bankruptcy. These proposals are expensive, but not as expensive as calls to forgive all student loan debt because the proposals are more narrowly targeted.
