Student Debt Cancellation Resources Page

Overview

Student debt cancellation has gained attention in recent years as a policy proposal to address rising student debt levels in the United States. President Joe Biden has proposed that Congress pass a law that would cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for every borrower, while leading members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have urged President Biden to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt for every borrower using executive authority. It is unclear whether the president has the legal authority to cancel debt unilaterally, and the Department of Education is currently studying the question (the Office of the General Counsel produced a memo in the final days of the Trump Administration arguing that it would not be legal). Congress has the authority to cancel some or all debt through legislation, though no form of cancellation has been included in any version of the Build Back Better Act. The Biden Administration has remained quiet on cancellation and instead focused on prolonging the student loan repayment moratorium and making changes to income-driven repayment programs.

Below is a list of resources discussing the economic and distributional implications of debt cancellation, the legality of cancellation, Congressional testimony, op-eds, and debt cancellation legislation and proposals.

Economic

• How Long Before Cancelled Student Debt Would Return - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Partial Student Debt Cancellation is Poor Economic Stimulus - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Cancelling Student Loan Debt is Poor Economic Stimulus - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2020)
• It's Time to Wind Down the Student Loan Moratorium - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• What Would Forgiving Student Debt Mean for the Federal Budget? - Sandy Baum and Donald Marron (2020)
• Second Chance: Life Without Student Debt - Marco Di Maggio, Ankit Kalda, and Vincent Yao
• The Macroeconomic Effects of Student Debt Cancellation - Scott Fulwiler, Stephanie Kelton, Catherine Ruetschlin, and Marshall Steinbaum (2018)

Legal

• May the Executive Branch Forgive Student Loan Debt Without Further Congressional Action? - Colin Mark (2021)
• Memorandum to Betsy DeVos Re: Student Loan Principal Balance Cancellation, Compromise, Discharge, and Forgiveness Authority - US Department of Education Office of General Counsel (2021)
• Memo to Senator Warren on Legal Authority of Debt Cancellation Through Executive Action - Eileen Connor, Deanne Loonin, and Toby Merril

Distributional

• Debt Cancellation and SALT Cap Repeal Would Benefit High Earners - Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (2021)
• Student Loan Forgiveness is Regressive Whether Measured by Income, Education, or Wealth - Adam Looney (2022)
• Who owes the most in student loans: New Data from the Fed - Sandy Baum and Adam Looney (2020)
• Why Forgive Student Debt? - Sandy Baum (2020)
• A More Targeted Approach to Student Loan Forgiveness - Erica Blom (2021)
• Understanding the Tax Implications of Student Debt Forgiveness - Erica Blom, Matthew Chingos, Carolyn Vilter (2021)
• What Is The Current Debt Situation - Matt Bruenig (2020)
• Low-Income People Have More Student Debt Than Realized - Matt Bruenig (2019)
• The Distributional Effects of Student Loan Forgiveness - Sylvain Catherine and Constantine Yannelis (2021)
• Can We Design Student Loan Forgiveness to Target Low-Income Families? - Matthew Chingos (2019)
• Executive Actions to Reduce Poverty: A Menu of Options and Estimated Impacts on Poverty – Megan Curran and Christopher Wimer (2021)
• Student Debt Cancellation IS Progressive: Correcting Empirical and Conceptual Errors - Charlie Eaton, Adam Goldstein, Laura Hamilton, Frederick Wherry (2021)
• Who Benefits from Student Debt Cancellation - Fiona Grieg and Daniel Sullivan (2021)
• Putting student loan forgiveness in perspective: How costly is it and who benefits? - Adam Looney (2021)
• Who owes all that student debt, and who’d benefit if it were forgiven? - Adam Looney, David Wessel, and Kadija Yillam (2020)
• How progressive is Senator Elizabeth Warren’s loan forgiveness proposal? - Adam Looney (2019)
• The Continued Student Loan Crisis for Black Borrowers - Ben Miller (2019)
• Addressing the $1.5 Trillion in Federal Student Loan Debt - Ben Miller, Colleen Campbell, Brent Cohen, and Charlotte Hancock (2019)

Opinion

• Forgive Student Loans, but Only a Little - Beth Akers (2020)
• What About Tackling the Causes of Student Debt - Kevin Carey (2020)
• The Case Against Student Loan Forgiveness - Preston Cooper (2020)
• Is There a College Financing Crisis? - Jason Delisle and Preston Cooper (2021)
• Eliminating All Student Debt Isn’t Progressive - David Leonhardt (2018)
• Biden Shouldn’t Listen to Schumer and Warren on Student Loans - Adam Looney (2020)
• The Right Way to Do Student Debt Relief – Ben Ritz (2021)
• Forgive Student Loans? Worst Idea Ever - Justin Wolfers (2011)

Testimony

• Testimony of Beth Akers to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Alexander Holt to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Adam Looney to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)
• Testimony of Constantine Yannelis to the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs’ Subcommittee on Economic Policy (2021)

Legislation and Proposals

• The Biden Emergency Action Plan to Save the Economy - Joe Biden (2020)

• Student Loan Debt Relief Act of 2019 - House: James Clyburn (D-SC), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jahana Hayes (D-CT), Al Green (D-TX), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Joseph P. Kennedy (D-MA), John B. Larson (D-CT), James P. McGovern (D-MA). Senate: Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH). (2019)
• Student Debt Cancellation Act of 2019 - House: Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jesus G. “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Robin L. Kelly (D-IL), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Karen Bass (D-CA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Alma S. Adams (D-NC). Senate (part of the College for All Act): Bernard Sanders (I-VT) (2019)
• Income-Driven Student Loan Forgiveness Act - Al Lawsom (D-FL) (2021)
• Student Loan Relief Act - Vincente Gonzalez (D-TX) (2020)