Debate Primer: Cancel Student Debt

This week, as Political Union returns from winter break, we’ll be tackling the emergent political priority of student debt. Several candidates for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020 - including President Biden - promised to cancel or ease, in one form or another, at least several thousands of dollars of publicly held student debt. Jen Psaki, on behalf of the Biden administration, reiterated in December that his promise to eliminate $10,000 of student debt per person is still good, and the delays are the fault of an inactive Congress. But just like any other fiscal policy idea, student debt cancelation has become the center of a fraught debate over efficient government spending, the value of a college education, and the social class allegiances of the Democratic party. We’d love for you to join us on Monday, June 10th (virtually, I’m afraid), to discuss various elements of student debt and the policy solutions on the table. Here, as always, we’ve compiled a short list of materials that you might find helpful in advance of the debate.

First, because we love data-driven policy conversations, some figures on student debt in the United States [5 mins]. 

A brief explanation of how currently active Covid relief policies, including the 2020 CARES Act, affect student loan borrowers now and into 2022 [7 mins].

Next, an explainer on the student debt cancellation plan proposed by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in 2020, which has been viewed as a blueprint for progressive student debt policy in the last several years [5 mins].

Also, a quick breakdown of the cost and macro-scale payoffs of student debt cancellation based on various ways to target the most needy recipients [4 mins]. 

If you’re a next-level nerd or want to impress a girl at the debate tomorrow, here’s a treasure trove of raw data from the Department of Education on who holds student debt and how much. It’s literally spreadsheets with numbers - if you cite this, you automatically win.

Now, for some takes! 

An opinion piece in the New York Times which conveniently summarizes arguments both for and against student debt cancellation. If you just have time to read one thing in this primer, I’d say maybe go with this [7 mins].

A video from Al Jazeera, arguing from the premise that student loan debt should be cancelled, about how the US’s student loan policies compare to those of other countries [10 mins]. 

I know you guys have Zoomer attention spans like me, but this somewhat lengthy journal article published in late 2020 has been among the most cited by opponents of student debt cancellation, on the grounds that it is economically regressive [it’s long, but page 13 of the PDF is the most important].

Ok, but now a very influential rebuttal from economists at the progressive Roosevelt Institute, published in summer 2021. Also long, but the first three bullet-pointed pages are the most important.

Here’s a longer paper from several fellows at Brookings on the intersection of race and student debt, arguing for full cancellation [15 mins].

That’s all for this week! We hope to see you at our debate tomorrow night, and that you found this primer helpful.

"Fix the Student Debt Problem" by Overpass Light Brigade is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0