Student loan forgiveness for $300 billion? New Yorkers say no problem

NEW YORK – People in the Big Apple weighed in on whether they were okay with footing hundreds of billions of dollars to bankroll President Biden’s decision to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt for certain borrowers.

“This is a rich nation,” John, of Manhattan, told Fox News. “Why can’t we educate our young? Why can’t we foot that bill?”

But Allen, from Rochester, said: “If you take out a loan, you should pay it off. I don’t rely on the government to pay my debt, so I don’t think the government should pay student loan debts to either.”

Individuals who earn less than $125,000 per year would have $10,000 of student debt canceled, Biden announced Wednesday. At that level, the Penn Wharton Budget Model estimates the move will cost taxpayers $300 billion.

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But the president’s order also cancels $20,000 for Pell grant recipients, which would push the price tag even higher, according to Penn Wharton. The national debt was nearly $31 trillion as of Wednesday evening.

“It’s definitely where I want my tax money to go,” one woman said.

Most people who spoke with Fox News similarly didn’t have an issue with footing the bill.

“We could extend that on the taxpayers and on corporate wealth,” John said. “If we get a little inventive, yeah, we can fund it.”

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“There’s so many people with more money than they will ever spend in their lifetime,” he continued.

Gary, of Pittsburgh, told Fox News: “I think that most Americans would believe that helping in some way, shape or form is the right thing to do.”

He said even more student debt should be canceled.

But Allen felt forgiveness wasn’t appropriate.

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“I got a job and I paid them off,” he said. “Take out a loan, you go to school, you pay it off, just like everybody else did.” 

Hayley, from Pittsburgh, had mixed feelings about Biden’s announcement.

“For us, there’s positive because we have kids,” she told Fox News. “They have student loans that we help them pay.”

“But I do worry about the overall state of the economy,” she added.

One man, who supported Biden’s move, said: “Inflation comes, inflation goes. It’s not abnormal.”

“It’s happened many, many times before, and we’ll get through it,” he told Fox News.

Meanwhile, the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden recently signed into law, is expected to reduce the deficit starting in 2027 by $102 billion – less than one-third of the Penn Wharton’s estimated cost of the president’s student loan forgiveness.