President Joe Biden unveils latest student loan forgiveness plan in Madison

The administration's new proposal, if fully implemented, would provide debt relief to more than 30 million borrowers when combined with Biden's previous efforts to cancel student loan debt.

Biden formally announced the plans in Madison, home to the flagship campus of the Universities of Wisconsin, as well as Madison Area Technical College and Edgewood College. The trip is Biden's third to the state this year and sixth since February 2023 as he campaigns for a second term.

After departing Air Force One shortly after noon on Monday, Biden met briefly and took a selfie with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers; U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth; Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway; Dane County Executive Joe Parisi; and Colonel Bart T. Van Roo with the Wisconsin Air National Guard's 115th Fighter Wing.

Speaking for about 15 minutes in Madison Area Technical College's H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium about an hour later, Biden detailed plans to provide "life-changing" debt relief to give borrowers "the freedom to chase their dreams."

"Too many people feel the strain and stress, wondering if they can get married, have their first child, start a family, because even if they get by, they still have this crushing, crushing debt," Biden said. "That’s not just a drag on them, it’s a drag on our local economies.”

Relief for millions

Biden continued that his administration plans to "deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers and full forgiveness for millions more" starting this fall, leading up to Biden's expected rematch with former President Donald Trump in the November election. Following his speech, Biden departed Wisconsin for a campaign event in Chicago.

Madison resident Seth McClure, who attended Biden's visit, said previous programs launched by the Biden administration forgave roughly $15,000 in student loan debt he had been making payments on since 1997.

The 51-year-old, who works as a manager with Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, described the impact of having his remaining loans forgiven as immensely significant while his oldest child prepares for college.

"Psychologically, it was significant," McClure said. "I had been paying on those loans for a long time, and $15,000 is not an insignificant amount of money. To have that last bit sort of wiped clean felt really great."

According to details provided by White House officials, Biden plans to launch new loan forgiveness programs through the Higher Education Act, expanding on powers the president turned to after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the administration’s first debt cancellation plan, which proposed eliminating up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.

Evers in support

Evers applauded Biden's latest effort, which proposes waiving accrued and capitalized interest for more than 25 million borrowers who owe more than they originally borrowed, among other measures. The proposal would cancel up to $20,000 in borrowers' unpaid interest for single borrowers who earn up to $120,000 and married borrowers who earn $240,000 or less.

"Higher education should be affordable and accessible for every Wisconsinite who chooses it — period," Evers said.

Biden also proposes eliminating student debt for borrowers with undergraduate degrees if they have been in repayment for at least 20 years. Borrowers with graduate school debt would qualify for similar relief if they have been in repayment for at least 25 years. The administration estimates the program to aid more than 2.5 million borrowers.

Other plans within the proposal include automatically eliminating debt for borrowers who are otherwise eligible, but have not applied for, loan forgiveness under programs like the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan; helping borrowers who enrolled in low financial value programs or institutions; and assisting borrowers who are experiencing hardship paying back their loans.

“Student loan forgiveness isn’t only about relief for today’s borrowers, it’s about social mobility, economic prosperity, creating an America that lives up to its highest ideals," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said on Sunday.

White House officials said additional details on the proposal will be available in the coming months.

Overcoming earlier setback

The proposal marks Biden’s second attempt at large-scale loan forgiveness after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the administration’s first debt cancellation plan, which proposed eliminating up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.

The latest plan seeks to expand federal student loan relief to new categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials believe puts it on a stronger legal footing than the sweeping proposal that was killed by a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court majority last year.

The president announced immediately after the Supreme Court decision that Cardona would undertake the process because he would have the power under the Higher Education Act to waive or compromise student loan debt in specific cases.

The latest attempt at cancellation joins other targeted initiatives, including those aimed at public service workers and low-income borrowers. Through those efforts, the Biden administration says it has canceled $146 billion in student loans for close to 4 million Americans.

Like Biden’s previous efforts to cancel student loan debt, the president’s latest proposal was met with fervent criticism from Republicans.

“Transferring the cost of President Biden's student debt forgiveness to hardworking taxpayers who never had the opportunity to go to college, to those who worked their way through college or repaid their loans is fundamentally unfair," Republican Eric Hovde, who is running to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in November, said in a statement.

On a press call Monday, Republican Party of Wisconsin chair Brian Schimming targeted Biden on matters ranging from inflation to the nation's southern border and described the student loan debt proposal as "the Joe Biden bribe."

"He's coming in to try to buy voters that he's been losing out of his base with this whole scheme," Schimming said.

Back in Wisconsin

Biden's trip to Wisconsin's liberal stronghold of Madison comes as the president tries to drum up support heading toward the November election. More than 48,000 voters, or about 8%, cast ballots in last week's Democratic presidential primary for the "uninstructed delegation" option — likely spurred by activists to signify opposition to the Biden administration's stance toward Israel over its handling of the war in Gaza.

Trump, meanwhile, lost more than 110,000 votes in the state's GOP primary to candidates who are no longer in the race, including more than 76,000 votes for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by 20,682 votes, while Trump won the state in 2016 by securing 22,748 more votes than Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

Biden and Trump remain deadlocked in Wisconsin, according to a Marquette Law School Poll released in February.

The poll found both Trump and Biden receiving support from 49% of registered voters, with 2% saying they had not yet decided. Of respondents who are very enthusiastic to vote, Trump holds a 19-point lead over Biden. However, Biden has more support among respondents who said they were somewhat enthusiastic, as well as those who are not very and not at all enthusiastic to vote.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.