Biden-Harris administration set to extend student loan forgiveness to 30 million Americans

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- President Joe Biden announced a new plan on Monday set to address the mounting student loan debt that millions of Americans are facing.

The program, if successful, would result in a total of 30 million Americans having their student loan forgiven.

Under the plan, borrowers in the Public Service Forgiveness Loan program (PSFL) would have their loans automatically forgiven without having to apply for eligibility consideration.

Additionally, student loan borrowers who attended an institution that either no longer participated in the federal student loan program when they attended or received a "low institutional value" degree would also be included in this latest forgiveness option.

For example, if a student attended a school that lost its accreditation or failed to offer its graduates job prospects that meet the integrity of the degree program the student was enrolled in, the student borrower can have their loans forgiven.

Also, the Biden-Harris Administration is seeking to address borrowers who owe more on their loan because of capitalized interest than the initial amount they borrowed

"You just sign up and (loan servicers) don't tell you if it's going toward a principal, if it's going towards interest," said Raleigh borrower Victoria Bronk. "And I feel like there's not great resources that make it clear. So I really don't know how I'm paying them off. I just know I'm making payments and I hope that one day they're gone."

Bronk graduated college in 2022. Under current proposals, she would not be eligible to have her student loans forgiven at this time.

"When you're graduating from high school you just get taken advantage of. You don't have that same financial literacy and that background," said Larkin Scholla. "And it's assumed that you go to college, you get a loan, and you pay for it. And people aren't really taught to think through it."

Raleigh educator Eric Fitts recently hosted Biden during a recent campaign visit to Raleigh this year. Fitts and his sons enjoyed a meal from Cook Out with the president. Fitts was chosen because he had upward of $100,000 in student loans forgiven last October through the SAVE program announced by Biden.

"I think it is important for parents to have that (student loan) conversation with their kids," Fitts said of the role colleges and universities have to play in ensuring student loan borrowers take out loans responsibly. "I also think that financial aid offices within the universities that students are attending need to really have that conversation with students as well."

Many student loan borrowers, and the White House, agree the complexity of the loan process can be challenging.

Fitts' loan forgiveness has lifted a financial burden off his household.

"It was extremely benefiting for us to just know that that debt had been erased and how we were able to really build for what I wanted to build for generational wealth with my sons and looking forward to trying to take care of their college education," said Fitts. "So that they wouldn't be burdened with this type of loan that I was burdened with."

Nearly 74,000 North Carolinians stand to benefit from the program.