17 - Student Loans (History)

Poll

Would you expect to have any part of your student loan debt cancelled at any point in your lifetime?

• Yes

• No

Historical Prices

Why Did College Become Less Affordable?

• Many link the rising costs of colleges to protests during the 1960s and 1970s

• Ronald Reagan (Governor of California) sent the National Guard to quell Vietnam and government protests at Berkeley, CA

• Other states followed suit in sending the National Guard to college campuses (Kent State (OH) Massacre of 1970)

• Reagan campaigned and spoke on the issues of pulling state and federal funding from colleges

• Reagan becomes President (1980), funding dramatically decreases as government and states pull more and more funding from public campuses, putting more financial burdens on the students

​Recent News: August, 2022

Joe Biden's Proposal

• $10,000 forgiveness for most borrowers

• $20,000 forgiveness for those with Pell Grants while in school

  • Pell Grants - loans for students with low income

• Borrowers must earn less than $125,000 per year to qualify

• Loans must have been secured before June 30, 2022

​September, 2022

• Lawsuits filed against Biden's proposal

• Reasons:

  • Canceled student debt would be taxed and counted as income in some states

  • Loss of revenue from loan companies

​September, 2022

• Biden backtracks on part of proposal

• FFEL program borrowers could only have debt cancelled if they rolled loans over into the Direct Loan program

  • If borrowers did not do this before September 29, they would miss out on having some loans forgiven

October 14, 2022

• First day borrowers could apply for student loan forgiveness

• Only asked for seven items on application

  • First Name

  • Last Name

  • Social Security Number

  • Date of Birth

  • Phone Number

  • Email Address

  • Current Income

November, 2022

• On November 10, U.S. District Court of Texas judge decided Biden's plan could no longer be in affect based on the fact that Biden did not have the authority to institute the plan to begin with

• November 11, borrowers could no longer apply for forgiveness

December 2022, and Beyond

• Biden vowed to continue the fight for Student Loan Forgiveness with future court hearings

• Biden extends the forgiveness "pause" to July 1, 2023

• December 2022, Supreme Court Agrees to hear the case

  • Based on whether the Department of Education has the power to write off student loans

  • And, do states have a necessary challenge to the proposal

The House & Senate

• March 2023, Government Accountability Offices states that Biden's plan must first be submitted to Congress

• April 2023, Republicans use debt forgiveness as leverage in debt ceiling negotiations, did not initially get through

• May 2023, passed a resolution to block debt forgiveness passes through the House (218-203), 2 democrats voted in favor of the block

• June 2023, Republican led senate also passed the resolution (52-46), 2 democrats also voted in favor of the block

Supreme Court

• June 2023, Supreme Court ruled against student loan forgiveness (6-3)

A New Proposal

• Biden proposes an alternative

• It was proposed through the negotiated rule-making process, and said the Department of Education has the authority to enact debt forgiveness through the Higher Education Act

More Negotiations and Campaigning

• 2024: Biden develops the SAVE plan, which would help over 30 million borrowers

• This was an income driven repayment plan which lowers payments for borrowers based on income and family size. It also adjusts interest so costs don’t grow as much, and gives forgiveness for those who originally borrowed $12,000 or less forgiveness after ten years or more.

• January 2025: SAVE plan was halted at the start of Trump's presidency.

2007 (George W. Bush) PLSF

• The Act (with bipartisan support) created two programs that were designed to ease the ongoing cost to borrowers and to help them eliminate their loans if they were working in public service. Although the White House did little to advertise these programs, Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) have remained integral parts of the federal student loan system and are regular news items in the ongoing student debt crisis.

• New rules will go in effect on July 1, 2026, to benefit public service workers (teachers, first responders, and civil servants

• The act is still in effect today (2025)

November 2025 (President Trump)

• A new list of classes was released that are no longer considered "professional"

• What does this mean? You will not be able to borrow as much as others in the past who were enrolled in these programs at a higher education institution. The list:

  • Healthcare: Nursing, Physician Assistant, Physical Therapy, Audiology

  • Design: Architecture

  • Business and Finance: Accounting

  • Education: Teaching

  • Other Fields: Social Work, Public Health, Engineering, Counseling and Therapy, Speech-language Pathology

• Borrowers under the IDR or PAYE plan received letters that they could still be eligible for student loan forgiveness

  • This program will end (Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill) in 2028

  • Article

From Newsweek:

Possible Implications based on the delisting of "professional" classifications:

• Fewer people will seek out these degrees, and could result in a shortage of these professions

• More money could be filtered to private lenders (banking/lending institutions) so students could pay for college with private loans (higher interest rate)

• Federal student loan debt numbers will likely decrease annually, as fewer dollars will be handed out to students

Poll

Would you expect to have any part of your student loan debt cancelled at any point in your lifetime?

• Yes

• No

Poll

How much debt do you think should be forgiven when it comes to student loans?

• $0

• A small amount (maybe $10,000 or less)

• A large amount (maybe $50,000 or less)

• 100% forgiven

Poll

Political figures such as Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar have advocated for about 2 years of free community college classes for students. Details of funding this program varied from taxing the rich, to taxing stock trades, to funneling money from current tax loopholes.

Do you think, at the very least, that community college classes should be free to the public?

• Yes

• No

If you answered "No", then why are you enrolled in this class through the College Credit Plus program?

• Do you think you should have paid for this class?

• Current RSC tuition for 3 credits is: $1,170

• Is $0 dollars in tuition similar to a debt forgiveness plan?

• Has this class (and other CCP courses) helped save you money on college tuition, and helped your (or your parents') financial position?

• How is this class funded?

• Share your thoughts...