Student Debt Cancellation Resources Page

Overview

Student debt cancellation has gained attention in recent years as a policy proposal to address rising student debt levels in the United States. President Biden announced a plan to cancel up to $10,000 of debt for federal student loan holders and up to $20,000 of debt for all federal student loan borrowers who have received a Pell Grant. Only households earning less than $250,000 per year (or $125,000 for an individual) will be eligible. We estimate this will cost between $330 billion and $390 billion, with a central estimate of $360 billion. It will cancel about $525 billion of student debt. It is unclear whether the president has the legal authority to cancel debt unilaterally, and the Department of Education is currently studying the question (the Office of the General Counsel produced a memo in the final days of the Trump Administration arguing that it would not be legal).

Below is a list of resources discussing the economic and distributional implications of debt cancellation, the legality of cancellation, Congressional testimony, op-eds, and debt cancellation legislation and proposals.

Economic

• Biden IDR Plan Will Cost More than Advertised - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2023)
• Student Loan Pause Could Cost $275 Billion - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Student Debt Cancellation Is Not Financially Justified - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Ending the Student Debt Pause in January is a Cost, Not an Offset - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Student Debt Changes Would Boost Inflation - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• New Student Debt Changes Will Cost Half a Trillion Dollars - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Latest Student Debt Payment Pause Brings Total Cost to $155 Billion - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Cancelling Student Debt Would Undermine Inflation Reduction Act - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Extending the Student Loan Payment Pause is Bad Policy - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Rumored Student Loan Cancellation Would Cost $230 Billion - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• How Much Student Debt Has Already Been Cancelled - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Time to Wind Down Remaining COVID Relief - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
• Cancelling Student Debt Would Add to Inflation - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• What Does Student Debt Cancellation Mean for Federal Finances? - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• How Long Before Cancelled Student Debt Would Return - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Partial Student Debt Cancellation is Poor Economic Stimulus - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Cancelling Student Loan Debt is Poor Economic Stimulus - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2020)
• It's Time to Wind Down the Student Loan Moratorium - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Canceling Student Debt: Presidential Power of the Purse? - Steve Robinson (2022)
• The Problems With Student Loan Forgiveness - Andrew Gillen (2022)
• What Would Forgiving Student Debt Mean for the Federal Budget? - Sandy Baum and Donald Marron (2020)
• Second Chance: Life Without Student Debt - Marco Di Maggio, Ankit Kalda, and Vincent Yao
• The Macroeconomic Effects of Student Debt Cancellation - Scott Fulwiler, Stephanie Kelton, Catherine Ruetschlin, and Marshall Steinbaum (2018)

Legal

Lawsuits

• Nebraska v. Biden (MOHELA and several states)
• Brown v. Department of Education (Job Creators Network)
• Cato v. Department of Education (Cato Institute/New Civil Liberties Alliance)
• Brnovich v. Biden (Arizona AG)
• Garrison v. U.S. Department of Education (Pacific Legal Foundation)
• Brown Taxpayers Association v. Biden (Brown Taxpayers Association)

Government Memos

• The Secretary’s Legal Authority for Debt Cancellation - US Department of Education Office of General Counsel (2022)
• Use of the HEROES Act of 2003 to Cancel the Principal Amounts of Student Loans - US Department of Justice (2022)
• Memorandum to Betsy DeVos Re: Student Loan Principal Balance Cancellation, Compromise, Discharge, and Forgiveness Authority - US Department of Education Office of General Counsel (2021)

Legal Analysis

• Comments on Proposed IDR Rule - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2023)
• The Legal Challenges to Student Debt Forgiveness - Matt Bruenig (2022)
• Standing and Student Loan Cancellation - Jack V. Hoover (2022)
• Biden's Student-Debt Rescue Plan Is a Legal Mess - Jed Shugerman (2022)
• Student Debt Cancellation Is Not Financially Justified - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• May the Executive Branch Forgive Student Loan Debt Without Further Congressional Action? - Colin Mark (2021)
• Memo to Senator Warren on Legal Authority of Debt Cancellation Through Executive Action - Eileen Connor, Deanne Loonin, and Toby Merril

Distributional

• New Study Finds Student Loan Pause is Regressive - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Is Biden's Student Debt Cancellation Plan Still Regressive? - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Debt Cancellation and SALT Cap Repeal Would Benefit High Earners - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• New Report Shows Student Debt Cancellation is Regressive - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2022)
• Student Loan Forgiveness is Regressive Whether Measured by Income, Education, or Wealth - Adam Looney (2022)
• Who Are the Federal Student Loan Borrowers and Who Benefits from Forgiveness? - Jacob Goss, Daniel Mangrum, Joelle Scally (2022)
• Targeting Student Loan Debt to Public Assistance Beneficiaries - Shelbe Klebs (2021)
• Who owes the most in student loans: New Data from the Fed - Sandy Baum and Adam Looney (2020)
• Why Forgive Student Debt? - Sandy Baum (2020)
• A More Targeted Approach to Student Loan Forgiveness - Erica Blom (2021)
• Understanding the Tax Implications of Student Debt Forgiveness - Erica Blom, Matthew Chingos, Carolyn Vilter (2021)
• What Is The Current Debt Situation - Matt Bruenig (2020)
• Low-Income People Have More Student Debt Than Realized - Matt Bruenig (2019)
• The Distributional Effects of Student Loan Forgiveness - Sylvain Catherine and Constantine Yannelis (2021)
• Can We Design Student Loan Forgiveness to Target Low-Income Families? - Matthew Chingos (2019)
• Executive Actions to Reduce Poverty: A Menu of Options and Estimated Impacts on Poverty – Megan Curran and Christopher Wimer (2021)
• Student Debt Cancellation IS Progressive: Correcting Empirical and Conceptual Errors - Charlie Eaton, Adam Goldstein, Laura Hamilton, Frederick Wherry (2021)
• Who Benefits from Student Debt Cancellation - Fiona Grieg and Daniel Sullivan (2021)
• Putting student loan forgiveness in perspective: How costly is it and who benefits? - Adam Looney (2021)
• Who owes all that student debt, and who’d benefit if it were forgiven? - Adam Looney, David Wessel, and Kadija Yillam (2020)
• How progressive is Senator Elizabeth Warren’s loan forgiveness proposal? - Adam Looney (2019)
• The Continued Student Loan Crisis for Black Borrowers - Ben Miller (2019)
• Addressing the $1.5 Trillion in Federal Student Loan Debt - Ben Miller, Colleen Campbell, Brent Cohen, and Charlotte Hancock (2019)

Opinion

• Biden's Student Loan Plan Will Come at a Steep Cost for the Economy - Maya MacGuineas (2022)
• Student Debt Cancellation a Bad Deal for 85% of Americans - Marc Goldwein (2022)
• Biden's Student Debt 'Cancellation' Defies Sense, Drives Deficit - Michael V. Murphy (2022)
• Biden Should Resist Canceling Student Debt. Here's a Better Policy - Washington Post Editorial Board (2022)
• Biden's Half-Trillion-Dollar Student-Loan Forgiveness Coup - Wall Street Journal Editorial Board (2022)
• Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Makes Reform Urgent - Preston Cooper (2022)
• Who Student-Loan Forgiveness Really Helps - Jerusalem Demsas (2022)
• Democrats Have an Image Problem. Please Don't Make it Worse - Jeff Maurer (2022)
• Student Loan Cancellation Will Backfire Without Additional Reforms - Beth Akers (2022)
• Forgive Student Loans, but Only a Little - Beth Akers (2020)
• What About Tackling the Causes of Student Debt - Kevin Carey (2020)
• The Student Debt Dilemma - Anthony P. Carnevale (2021)
• The Case Against Student Loan Forgiveness - Preston Cooper (2020)
• Is There a College Financing Crisis? - Jason Delisle and Preston Cooper (2021)
• Eliminating All Student Debt Isn’t Progressive - David Leonhardt (2018)
• Biden Shouldn’t Listen to Schumer and Warren on Student Loans - Adam Looney (2020)
• The Right Way to Do Student Debt Relief – Ben Ritz (2021)
• The Oddest Sort of Progressivism - Frederick M. Hess (2020)
• Forgive Student Loans? Worst Idea Ever - Justin Wolfers (2011)

Testimony

• Testimony of Beth Akers to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Alexander Holt to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Adam Looney to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Constantine Yannelis to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)

Legislation and Proposals

• Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces Student Loan Relief for Borrowers Who Need It Most - White House (2022)
• The Biden Emergency Action Plan to Save the Economy - Joe Biden (2020)
• Student Loan Debt Relief Act of 2019 - House: James Clyburn (D-SC), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Al Green (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Joseph P. Kennedy (D-MA), John B. Larson (D-CT), James P. McGovern (D-MA). Senate: Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH). (2019)
• Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019 - House: Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Karen Bass (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Alma S. Adams (D-NC). Senate (part of the College for All Act): Bernard Sanders (I-VT) (2019)
• Income-Driven Student Loan Forgiveness Act - Al Lawsom (D-FL) (2021)
• Student Loan Relief Act - Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX) (2020)