Let’s face it: the U.S. has a student debt crisis. For the last few decades, students have graduated with student loans totaling $1.5 trillion as of 2018. This Mt. Everest of debt is more than just a financial inconvenience for the student borrowers. It’s limiting financial mobility for entire generations of post-grads. Student debt is making it impossible for millennials and Gen-Z to buy homes, pay for insurance and even get married. In light of this growing crisis, the candidates vying for the presidency have a range of plans for how to deal with it. Some want to cancel or reduce student debt for everyone while others want to make public universities free. Some think that other issues should take precedence. Keep reading for a full breakdown of the 2020 candidates (by that, I mean President Trump and the Democratic candidates that have qualified for the February debate) and their plans for the student debt crisis.
Donald Trump
Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, is unlikely to support significant measures in reducing student loan debt. His own position is fairly unclear, but his administration touts measures such as allowing students to borrow federal loans for non-traditional schools and increasing the transparency of the cost of college as part of their plan for student loan debt. DeVos’ Education Department has previously gotten into legal trouble for refusing to stop collecting loan payments from victims of a for-profit college scheme. While Trump has privately suggested to aides that he would support a debt relief program, this seems unlikely based on the policies he has thus far pursued.
Andrew Yang
Yang, known for his creative economic plans, would offer relief for student debt by removing interest from federal student loans. He would then issue a blanket “bailout” or debt cancellation for recent graduates and for those who graduated several years ago and are still struggling with debt. He would later try to pass legislation allowing debt-burdened graduates to offer 10% of their post-grad salaries for 10 years, after which all debts would be forgiven. He goes into significant detail about aspects of the plan, all of which centers around easing the burden on graduates and non-graduates with an intention of one day getting rid of student debt altogether.
Joe Biden
Known as a center-left candidate, Biden’s plan for student debt focuses first on relief for those living close to the poverty line. For those making under $25,000 a year, all debts would simply be forgiven. For those making more than $25,000, you would pay 5% of the amount over $25,000 towards your loans. Basically, if you make $40,000 a year, you would pay 5% of $15,000 every year towards your debt. After 20 years, all debts regardless of income would be forgiven. Enrollment in this plan would be automatic, with an opt-out option. This plan is not nearly as far-reaching as some more expansive plans, but would provide relief and long-term stability to many struggling college grads.
Elizabeth Warren
Warren has made student loan debt relief a central component of her campaign. Her background in consumer protection law, especially during the 2008 recession, has made her an expert in predatory lending and the broken student loan system. She would outright cancel $50,000 of debt for borrowers making less than $100,000 a year using a financial maneuver within the executive branch, without approval from Congress. Warren would also begin investing in debt-free two and four-year colleges and universities to reduce future debt, and she would order her Education Department to stop collecting student debt payments. She also has a famed “student debt calculator,” meant to give grads an idea of how much they would owe after her plan is implemented, on her website. This plan is unique for its lack of need for congressional approval, which is unlikely given the partisan makeup of the Senate.
Bernie Sanders
Sanders’ plan is pretty simple: no more student debt. Known for his appeal to younger voters, student debt relief is one of Sanders’ key issues. His plan to relieve student debt would to simply forgive all loans from the federal government via the Department of Education. This would provide immediate relief for borrowers regardless of income. For debts from private loan companies, the federal government would purchase the debts, pay them off and forgive them for the original student borrower. This plan is the most far-reaching proposal, and it would essentially eliminate student debt if passed into law.
Tom Steyer
Steyer, known for his focus on less-discussed issues such as housing access, would focus on the restructuring of debts to allow easier and less burdensome repayment. Steyer also proposed an expansion to the current service-based relief program, which would allow borrowers to trade community service work for decreased or cancelled debt.
Pete Buttigieg
Buttigieg shares Steyer’s affinity for service-based payment plans, which allow borrowers to trade time and service work for the federal government for debt relief. Other lesser-known programs, like forgiveness of student loan debt for school teachers, would be part of his plan as well. Overall, this plan would assist those making less money (like public school teachers) more than those making higher salaries.
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar, a center-left candidate like Biden, wants to focus on debt restructuring, loan forgiveness for certain occupations and offering free technical schools and two-year colleges. Borrowers would likely see reduced interest payments and less demanding payment plans. This plan is far less expansive than some of her opponents’ and would focus on decreasing the amount of future loans taken out by students rather than alleviating the current debt.
No plan is without its downsides; the more expansive plans would offer immediate relief but would require tax hikes on the wealthy to cover the costs. The more modest plans would help some borrowers and cost less for the federal government, but are unlikely to stimulate the economy as significantly as total relief would. At the end of the day, America’s students need a comprehensive, thoughtful policy to help them escape from the pile of debt and emerge more financially secure. For more information, visit each candidate’s websites, where they offer a full comprehensive explanation of each of their plans.