To access extended pro and con arguments, sources, and discussion questions about whether student loan debt should be eliminated via forgiveness or bankruptcy, go to ProCon.org.
Student loan debt is frequently in the news as politicians debate solutions to the rising costs of college that lead to sometimes crippling amounts of debt. For those with outstanding student loans, such debt can be discharged in two ways: forgiveness and bankruptcy.
Americans owed a collective $1.71 trillion in student loan debt as of Dec. 2020, according to the Federal Reserve. By comparison, in Dec. 2010, Americans owed about $845 billion in student loan debt, which means student loan debt has increased by about 102% over the last ten years.
According to the US Department of Education, 42.9 million Americans held outstanding student loan debt at the end of 2020, or about 17% of the US adult population. 75% of students with school-loan debt went to 2- or 4-year colleges, and the remaining 25% also borrowed for graduate school. About 6% of people with school loan debt owe more than $100,000–this group accounts for about a third of all outstanding student loan debt and usually encompasses both college as well as graduate school expenses. Approximately 40% leave college with between $20,000 and $100,000 in outstanding student loans. About 25% leave college with less than $20,000 in debt, and 30% leave with no student loan debt.
The New York Federal Reserve reported that about 11% of student loan debt payments were either late or in default (270 or more days late) at the beginning of 2020. By all indications, this debt, and the late payments and defaults as well, will continue to rise as college costs outpace average incomes.
By Nov. 2021, the Education Data Initiative estimated 43.2 million student borrowers owed an average of $39,351 each.
Some have proposed that the US federal government forgive some or all existing student loan debt in order to relieve the financial pressure on individuals and the country. Student debt forgiveness proposals range from a discharge of $10,000 per borrower (which would forgive the entire debt bills held by about 15 million borrowers) to $50,000 per borrower (which would forgive the entire debt bills held by about 36 million borrowers) to plans that would forgive all outstanding student loan debt. Each plan would include forgiveness for those with late or in-default accounts, as well as partial debt forgiveness for many more borrowers.
Others have proposed making student loan debt easier to discharge through bankruptcy. Credit card debt, medical bills, auto loans, and even gambling debt can be canceled by declaring bankruptcy, but due to a 1976 federal law, discharging student loan debt is much more difficult. Private student loans have also been protected from discharge in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. According to the US Department of Education, people who declare Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can have student loan debt canceled but only if a court finds there is evidence of “undue hardship.” Getting student loans discharged is so difficult and rare, however, that many lawyers advise clients not to try: less than 0.5% of students clear their debts through bankruptcy.
Pro
- Student loan debt is slowing the national economy. Forgiveness would boost the economy, benefiting everyone.
- Student loan debt has disproportionately hurt black students. Forgiveness could help rectify racial inequity.
- Student loan debt has infantilized a generation or more of Americans, preventing them from achieving milestones such as getting married, buying a house, or saving for retirement. Discharging such debt would help foster a healthier, most productive, more socially constructive citizenry.
- Denying student loan debtors the benefits of bankruptcy—benefits that all other debtors have access to—is unfair.
Con
- Student loan forgiveness is an abuse of the loan system. People must be held responsible for their personal economic choices.
- Student loan debt forgiveness would disproportionately help rich or more financially secure college graduates.
- Discharging student loan debt would only be a temporary bandage for the much larger problem of inflated college costs.
- Student loan discharge via bankruptcy would allow borrowers to abuse the loan system and encourage colleges to increase tuition.
This article was published on January 21, 2022, at Britannica’s ProCon.org, a nonpartisan issue-information source.