It’s time to forget about student loan forgiveness, according to six experts we spoke to recently.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, federal student loan borrowers have hoped the government might eventually forgive a portion of their debt. Some Democrats in Congress have pushed for up to $50,000 forgiveness per borrower, while most Republicans have fervently opposed it. President Joe Biden has repeatedly said he supports the idea of canceling $10,000 per borrower.
But now? It’s nothing more than a “pipe dream,” says Andrew Crowell, vice chairman of wealth management at financial services firm D.A. Davidson & Co., which recently conducted research on student loans and borrowers.
The Biden administration has approved over $11.5 billion of student loan relief for nearly 600,000 borrowers since he took office — a notable but small percentage of the $1.6 trillion worth of student loans that Americans still collectively owe.
We’re almost to the end of 2021, and there is no legislative or executive plan to broadly forgive federal student loan debt. The most recent update was at the end of October from Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who said the Biden administration continues to examine broad-based loan forgiveness.
Federal student loan payments will resume in less than two months, and experts say you shouldn’t set your strategy based on the perceived likelihood that student loan forgiveness is coming. The latest extension of the forbearance period is the “final” one, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Education.
Here’s what we know so far about wide-scale student loan forgiveness — and what you can do right now to take control of your student debt.
