The federal government is the primary lender for students who borrow money for college and graduate school, and the Education Department directly holds more than $1.4 trillion in student debt. President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s administration will have the ability to make changes that can directly affect millions of borrowers’ monthly bills, the New York Times reported. Nearly 22 million borrowers of federal student loans have had their monthly payments temporarily paused and interest waived through the end of the year because of the pandemic — a suspension of payments on debt totaling more than $900 billion — and they’re anxious to learn if the relief will continue into 2021. President Trump, through an executive action, already extended the so-called administrative forbearance through Dec. 31. (It had been scheduled to expire on Sept. 30 under an emergency legislative package.) But it’s unclear whether he plans to provide another extension before Mr. Biden takes office in late January. Congress may feel pressure to act before the year ends, policy experts said, and it could include an extension in a new stimulus package or other legislation. The higher-education platform Biden campaigned on was noticeably silent about a proposal that progressives say is ripe for executive action: outright cancellation of some student debt. The Higher Education Act of 1965, which created the federal student loan program, authorizes the education secretary to “compromise, waive or release” federal student loan debts. Some legal scholars and key lawmakers believe that language gives the president the power to use an executive order to direct the Education Department to broadly discharge debts for any or all student borrowers. Others disagree and believe such an action would face legal challenges. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) of Massachusetts and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) have called for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 in debt per borrower. But Biden has never publicly endorsed the idea, and two people involved in his transition-planning discussions said that his views had not changed. Without legislative action by Congress — which is unlikely if Republicans retain control of the Senate — broad student debt cancellation seems improbable. Roughly 8.5 million federal loan borrowers are enrolled in income-driven repayment plans, which try to help struggling debtors by linking their monthly loan payment to how much they earn. There are four plans to choose from, but advocates say they’re not always affordable for the most vulnerable borrowers. Biden proposed a more generous option: Individuals earning $25,000 or less annually will not owe any payments on their undergraduate federal loans, nor will they accrue interest. All other borrowers will pay 5 percent of their discretionary income — what remains of their paychecks after accounting for basics like food and housing — over $25,000. That’s compared with the 10 to 15 percent of discretionary income required by plans now. (One plan demands 20 percent.) Under Biden’s plan, any remaining balance would be forgiven.
