The Biden Administration plans to implement a student loan forgiveness plan in the president’s coming four-year term. 

The plan on President Joseph Biden’s website details many drastic changes, such as “a new, simple program that offers $10,000 of undergraduate or graduate student debt relief for every year of national or community service, up to five years” for public servants, as well as complete loan forgiveness for those who “pay 5% of their discretionary income (income minus taxes and essential spending like house and food) over $25,000 towards their loans” over the course of 20 years.

The agenda is in order to “ensure education and training beyond high school is a reliable pathway to the middle class,” said Biden.

Currently, the student-loan debt epidemic is 2.5 times larger than the nation’s credit card debts. According to the Federal Reserve, the United States’ 4.5 million borrowers owed a staggering $1.7 trillion in student loan debt in 2015, and the number only continues to grow. The Federal Reserve shows that since 1990, the amount of student-loan debt has increased almost sixfold.

Biden’s plan aims to relieve this debt from public servants, including teachers, health-care workers, and law enforcement, as well as good-paying working-class borrowers, especially benefiting the education system for lower-class students, specifically students of color. 

The National Center for Education Statistics found that 77.7% of black students borrow federal student loans to pay for college, with nearly half of them defaulting on their loans.

Statistically, high student debt goes hand in hand with low income, since many borrowers are unable to escape their debt and loans. Unemployment rates also stand higher for people of color than whites, making it harder to repay loans.

In wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden’s plan would provide relief for the growing number of individuals who have become unemployed or find themselves tighter on money. 

Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan would allow many borrowers to be free of their debts, permitting them to tackle other debts or save for future investments.

His plan would also allow low-income people and people of color to prosper more after schooling. In general, the plan would give them a broader path in post-high school education.

Biden’s plan fairly encourages those who have given back to their community in forms of education, health care, law enforcement, and community service to receive back, specifically in a relief program of $10,000 yearly for five years.

Overall, Biden’s agenda targets the less economically fortunate and public servants, which encourages education and community service. The plan would benefit large portions and demographics of people across the United States, aiding in their desperate need to move forward in these hard times.