A majority of Americans are in favor of blanket student loan forgiveness, according to the result of a nationwide survey released last week. The debate over forgiving student loans has been ramping up again in recent weeks, especially following last week’s announcement by the Department of Education that it was canceling $500 million in unpaid loans for 18,000 students who used to attend ITT Technical Institute.
The survey was taken in April and May — before the Education Department made its announcement — but it is yet another survey that reveals a plurality of Americans support forgiving some or all of the outstanding student loan debt in the country.
Fifty-two percent of respondents were in favor of “blanket” student loan debt forgiveness, while 12% supported forgiving student loan debts for individuals with low income and high amounts of debt, 11% said it was ok to forgive the student loan debt for individuals working in public service, and 4% supported temporary forgiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Interestingly enough, fewer older Americans — those above 65 years old — supported student loan debt forgiveness, even though data indicates that it is that cohort who will benefit the most. More than 20% of outstanding student loan debts are held by individuals who are older than 50 years old. Individuals over the age of 62 owe an average of $38,000 in unpaid student loan debts, according to one report.
Many consumer advocates and Democrats have been calling on President Biden to cancel some or all of outstanding student loan debt to help boost consumer spending, but critics of the movement say it will not help the economy
