Is Biden Canceling Student Loans? What the President Has Said

Democrats have been pushing for President Joe Biden to forgive student debt both to relieve the financial burdens on borrowers and as a way to give the party a boost ahead of the upcoming midterm elections. Federal student loan payments have been paused since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and the federal student loan moratorium is currently set to expire on August 31 this year.

While Biden has yet to announce a final decision on any potential debt forgiveness, he and several other officials have hinted in recent weeks that he could soon take executive action to forgive at least some student debt. Here's what the president has recently said about canceling student loan debt:

Biden met on April 25 with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and signaled during the visit that he would be open to relieving some debt for borrowers who attended private or public institutions, California Democratic Representative Tony Cardenas told CBS News.

Cardenas said that when he asked Biden about extending the current pause on federal student loan repayments, the president noted that he has extended the moratorium in the past and said, "You're going to like what I do next."

When Cardenas asked him about forgiving $10,000 in debt per borrower, Biden said that he was "exploring doing something on that front" and told the congressman, "You're going to like what I do on that as well," according to the Associated Press.

Cardenas said that Biden indicated he would take action "soon." Biden did not mention a specific amount or say that he would cancel all student debt, the lawmaker told CBS.

Biden also supported the prospect of canceling at least $10,000 in debt per borrower while he was campaigning for the White House.

"Additionally, we should forgive a minimum of $10,000/person of federal student loans, as proposed by Senator [Elizabeth] Warren and colleagues. Young people and other student debt holders bore the brunt of the last crisis. It shouldn't happen again," he said in a March 22, 2020, Twitter thread.

Biden gave one of his most definitive indications on canceling student debt during an April 28 news conference at the White House when he announced his proposed $33 billion aid package for Ukraine. He briefly mentioned that he's considering "some debt reduction" and that he'll "have an answer on that in the next couple weeks."

Biden said that he is not considering forgiving $50,000 in debt per borrower, a move some Democrats are pushing for, but added that he's "in the process of taking a hard look at whether or not there will be additional debt forgiveness."

Any debt forgiveness would be "additional" because his administration announced a new plan earlier this month that would result in immediate debt forgiveness for about 40,000 borrowers due to revisions to aspects of the Department of Education's income-driven repayment programs.

But Democrats have called on Biden since the move to do more for student loan forgiveness. At least tens of thousands can benefit from his administration's recently announced plan, but according to the Education Data Initiative, more than 43 million borrowers in the U.S. have federal student loan debt.

Biden's comments to the members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the assertion that he is not mulling canceling $50,000 in debt per borrower indicate that a likely move could be to cancel $10,000 in debt per borrower, though the White House has refrained from confirming any potential amount. Further details on who may qualify for any level of potential debt forgiveness were not immediately available.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki has also recently hinted that potential action on student debt forgiveness could be in the works. She appeared as a guest on an episode of the Pod Save America podcast that aired earlier this month and said that canceling student loan debt was still on the table for the Biden administration.

She added that between then and August 31, when the federal student loan moratorium is scheduled to expire, the moratorium will either be extended again or "we're going to make a decision" about canceling student debt, Newsweek previously reported.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.