- DOE data shows canceling $50,000 in student debt per person would erase debt for 84% of federal borrowers.
- It shows that canceling $10,000 per person would erase debt for 35% of them, Yahoo Finance reports.
- The DOE and DOJ are reviewing Biden's authority to cancel $50,000 in student debt.
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Democratic lawmakers are continuing to push for President Joe Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person, and new data from the Department of Education may have helped them make their case to the president.
A DOE analysis obtained by Yahoo Finance on Monday found that $50,000 in student-loan forgiveness per person would erase the entire debt for 36 million – or 84% – of the roughly 43 million borrowers in the US with federal loans, while $10,000 in forgiveness would erase the entire debt for 15 million – or 35% – of those borrowers.
The data also showed that 9.4 million of the 36 million borrowers who would benefit from a $50,000 loan cancelation are at risk of default, meaning they could fail to repay the loans. Also, 4.4 million borrowers, each holding an average of $48,000 in student debt, have had loans for more than two decades since graduation. Another 10.7 million borrowers have held their loans for over a decade.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have led efforts in calling on Biden to cancel $50,000 in student debt per person using executive powers, but the president has argued he does not have the authority to cancel $50,000, and he said he would welcome legislation to cancel $10,000 per person.
In response to Biden's comments, Warren said in a press call last month: "We have a lot on our plate, including moving to infrastructure and all kinds of other things. I have legislation to do it, but to me, that's just not a reason to hold off. The president can do this, and I very much hope that he will."
Biden has since asked the Justice Department and the Education Department to review his authority to use executive action to cancel student debt, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in early April that the $50,000 cancelation figure hasn't been ruled out.
The DOE data comes ahead of Warren's Senate Banking hearing on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the burden of student debt.
-Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 12, 2021
"I graduated from a state school that cost $50 a semester," Warren said on Twitter on Monday. "That opportunity is simply not out there today. Two out of every three people who go to a state school today have to borrow money to graduate. That is not how we build a future. #CancelStudentDebt."