After university, many college graduates’ student loan debt weighs down their chance to fully chase their goals. On average, borrowers, who leave university with around $38,000 in debt, take a lengthy 20 years to pay back their college loans. With President Biden’s new and thorough plans, many people have been rightly provided relief, but more needs to be done to alleviate the stress of student loans.

On April 12, Biden canceled $7.4 billion in student loan debt for 277,000 borrowers in his administration’s latest efforts to cancel student loan debt. The Biden Administration’s last cancellation of student debt in March forgave student loans for 77,700 public service workers (including teachers, firefighters, nurses, and social workers) were canceled by Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Now, around 870,000 public service workers have benefited from debt forgiveness, which is 100 times more borrowers who were provided relief prior to the Biden-Harris administration. 

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona commented on Biden’s loan forgiveness plan, saying that the country has allowed our nation’s vital workers to be unable to “access the debt relief they are entitled to under the law” for too long.

On Feb. 21, President Joe Biden announced an early cancelation of approximately $1.2 billion in student debt six months ahead of schedule. The plan will cancel debt for borrowers enrolled in the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) program, who have been in repayment for at least 10 years, and who have $12,000 or less in college loans. 

These actions should have been taken much earlier, as it would have helped millions of students who struggled to earn money due to the burden of needing to pay off their debt. Therefore, Biden’s actions are a great starting point to aid current college students and graduates in their financial journey. 

It is estimated that 153,000 borrowers enrolled in SAVE repayment plans were provided debt forgiveness. Debt cancellations have provided much-needed breathing room for borrowers to afford other expenses, buy homes, start businesses, and pursue other goals. President Biden has vowed to fix the student loan system and guarantee that education is a reliable passageway to success instead of a barrier. 

For those whose debt has been canceled, Biden’s actions are a saving grace. On the other hand, people who have paid back their debt may find it unfair, since they had not received aid. Although the situation is not favorable for those already free of debt, there is a limited amount of action the administration can take. However, for those who have paid back student loans and currently are not in a good economic situation, the government should work to provide something. If Biden’s goal is making the passage into the middle class easier, he should try and help those who are debt-free, but still struggling from the consequences of student loan debt. 

The SAVE plan and other similar programs have done much more than past administrations for canceling student loans. Compared to other former governments, the Biden-Harris administration has approached the problem more efficiently, quickly, and with a clear goal in mind. Through the cancellation of debt, borrowers will hopefully be able to pursue larger goals. 

However, despite the success of their efforts, Biden’s administration has only approved the cancellation of around 9% of the current $1.6 trillion of student loan debt. Additionally, it is only one-third of the debt that had been expected to be forgiven, as $430 billion would have been forgiven if the Supreme Court had not blocked the program from taking effect. 

In January, the Supreme Court rejected Biden’s plans, claiming the Department of Education doesn’t have the authority to cancel such amounts of student loan debt, as Congress had not granted that power. While true, there are no extremely concerning economic consequences for canceling student debt and there are many people who may be in dire need of financial aid. 

The Biden-Harris administration is continuing on towards its goal of canceling up to $430 billion in student debt.  Currently, the Department of Education is recounting past payments to fix errors and bring more people closer to debt relief. Biden is working to deliver relief to a specific group, those who have accumulated high. These proposals are expected to be finalized and go into effect in the fall.  Student debt is an unnecessary burden that affects far too many, and the Biden administration should do all that it can to alleviate its pain.