Biden to Potentially Forgive up to $10,000 in Student Loans
By Justin Cole
Staff Writer
With the Biden Administration aiming to pass a stimulus bill including federal student loan forgiveness, current and former students share their thoughts about what it would mean for them.
Maya Greene, a sophomore at Illinois State University is in favor of the potential resolution, noting its helpfulness and potential ability to make college more enjoyable with less financial strain.
“I think it’s great, especially because most people struggle to pay off loans. A lot of people I know work while in school because it’s hard to keep up with [student loan] payments,” Greene said. “I don’t think people getting their loan forgiven will affect anyone negatively.”
Other students feel differently about the fairness of the bill.
“I’m not necessarily against student loan forgiveness, but what about people that already worked hard to pay off our loans?” said Lawrence Tate, a 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri. With tuition costs at record highs, Tate says the bill wouldn’t be needed if tuition costs were lower. “It’s just crazy that you have to basically prepare to go into debt just to get a decent education. I’m just mad that I had to go through that.”
Students like Michael Pierce, a former Illinois State student, consider how student loan forgiveness could help students like him return to complete their education.
“This is kind of motivating for me because financial constraints are the only reason I left school, so getting some of that [money owed] cleared might actually be what gets me to go back to get my degree,” Pierce said. “I hear people sometimes say stuff like, ‘I had to pay, why can’t they?’ and I just think that’s selfish.”
Kenya Smith, a sophomore at Harold Washington College, agrees that the bill could ease financial stress.
“This can go a long way to making life easier for people financially that have debt and even people that haven’t had debt yet might be more willing to continue college knowing that some of it will get cancelled,” said Smith.
Others think the bill may be a step in the direction towards tuition-free universities.
“I think this could be a step towards tuition-free college education because people have always needed extra help paying for college education. It's just too bad that it took a pandemic for our government to see that,'' said Mika Carter, a sophomore at Lewis University.
