"I Won't Lose My House!": People Are Sharing How Biden's Student Loan Plan Would Affect Them, And For Some It's Life-Changing

This week, the Biden administration announced that they're moving ahead with plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for other federal borrowers making less than $125,000 a year.

I wanted to know how people are feeling about this plan, so I asked members of the BuzzFeed Community who have federal student loans to share what this relief would mean for them. Here are their stories:

1."It's obviously not enough. But when you think about it, it would still take years for me to pay off even $10,000 of debt, so for that I am thankful. It would give me time back, time that could be spent saving for a house or starting a family — which all seemed like things I wouldn't be able to do because of my loans."

a woman thinking and looking at her phone with her laptop and a piece of paper near her
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2."It's a drop in the bucket for me, but I'm glad it's wiping out the debt for so many people. What gives me hope is the proposed 5% monthly income cap. Any reform at this point would be great. I've been paying for eight years and still owe more than my original loan. The payments have been higher than my mortgage."

maekess

3."I'm a teacher. I was able to graduate from undergrad debt-free through several work-off-your-loan programs. But to be able to even survive on a teacher's salary, I had to get my master's degree, which meant taking out student loans. I've been paying on them for over seven years, but I'm barely making a dent in them. The pay raise I get with my master's is just a bit more than my monthly loan payments. The loan forgiveness will finally allow me to make ends meet with my teacher's salary!"

—Anonymous, 36

4."Due to undergrad and a lengthy PhD, this doesn't really make a dent for me. However, I've been dreading having the (very large) remaining balance due after public service forgiveness be counted as taxable income — thus trading my student loan debt for a very large tax debt. Now that federal taxes will not be owed on that balance, I feel like my future is looking a little less hopeless."

a man in a lab
Ladanifer / Getty Images/iStockphoto

5."I'm currently halfway through my undergraduate program. This will wipe out most of my student loans. Since I have two more years to go, I will definitely graduate with student loans. But wiping out half of it before interest starts to accumulate feels incredibly relieving, especially with the current state of the economy 😅. Still stressed because I will probably graduate during a recession, but this will make a huge (hopefully positive) difference in my future."

—Anonymous, 20

6."I have about $50K in student loan debt. I worked through college, went to community college, went to a public university, all that. I also am using my degree and working in my field (although I started my own business after jobs wouldn’t stop offering me $40K for a position that required a degree). But the fact is I was a single mom, and the cost of school has increased 169% in the past 40 years while wages have only increased 19%. Interest rates are a problem, and so is the cost of college. I hope they address that next."

sarahs402d05f80

7."I attended a predatory school (rhymes with University of Kleenex) that promised me that once I obtained my associate's degree I’d be super desirable to healthcare clinics immediately. This was a lie. It didn’t matter if I had my associate's degree in healthcare administration — I didn’t have any actual experience in the healthcare field. No one wanted to hire me. I’ve been paying on my student loan since 2010, and the balance is probably only about $5K less (gotta love those interest rates). This forgiveness plan would be LIFE CHANGING for me. I could put my money toward actual beneficial things, such as my home, starting a family, helping my father, etc."

young woman looking at her finances
Fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto

8."Having received a Pell Grant, it appears this will wipe out all of my student loan debt. However, my husband will still owe around $150K. So, yay for me, but didn’t really change much for our family. What really would have made a difference for us is lowering the interest rates."

getupkitten

9."This would change my life. My partner and I have wanted to start a family, but the thought of taking on more debt has stopped us from even trying."

—Kendall, 31

10."Look, I appreciate how much this will help other people. I really do. But due to interest, my student loan debt has ballooned from like $60,000 to dang near $100,000. I now owe more than 150% of my loan. It's only been five years, and for two of them there has been no interest due to the pandemic."

a hand stacking blocks with percentages stamped on them
Nora Carol Photography / Getty Images

11."I’m appreciative of it. In college, my dad died suddenly, and my mom lost her job for a while, so I had to take federal and private loans. I’ll still have debt, but it’s helpful, at least to me."

giannad475e16791

12."I work in public higher education. I earned a master's degree for my job. I’m on an income-based repayment plan. I accrue more interest over a calendar year of payments than my payments actually cover due to my income adjustment. I’m glad this will help many people. For me, $10K is the equivalent of thoughts and prayers."

beeemgee

13."With the forgiveness, my payments will be low enough that I can start actually saving. Right now, if payments were due, they would be almost another rent payment each month. This will make buying a house an actual possibility."

a couple moving and holding the keys to a house

—Anonymous, 28

Prostock-studio / Getty Images/iStockphoto

14."I have about $185K left in student loan debt (started at $220K) between undergrad and law school. While I earn around $200K, between taxes, mortgage, bills, and supporting my parents, I basically live like I earn $40K. The deferred payments made the most impact because I was able to use that money for a down payment and an additional $1,000 each month for my parents. The forgiveness plan takes none of this into account. The whole student loan and higher education system needs to be completely overhauled. Otherwise, POC and people with graduate degrees are disproportionately penalized. It’s basically indentured servitude."

—Anonymous, 35

15."This is a big deal for me. I borrowed just over $10K, so this will cancel my debt almost completely. I understand that my perspective is coming from a place of privilege and there are a lot of people who need way more help than this, but at the very least, this is a step in the right direction."

aelewis1999

16."I won't lose our house — the house we were FINALLY able to purchase because of the hold on my student loan payments during COVID. I'd been stuck in the interest cycle of repayment for the last eight years! Thanks, Biden, for real!!"

young man drinking coffee at home
Asiavision / Getty Images

17."I am 22 and my fiancé is 24; we both graduated within the last 18 months, and neither of our families were able to contribute a lot of cash. Our combined income at the moment is about $130K; our combined loans are $50K, and we are expected to help both sets of parents with the PLUS loans they took out to get us through college — another $80K or so. This forgiveness plan is lifesaving, and it means the American Dream to me; my family was able to come to the US with NOTHING, and now our new family can be comfortably upper-middle class without being crushed by debt. We both worked during college, we're relatively frugal, and worked our asses off to be hired before graduating. We have put so much work into this, and it is such a relief to suddenly owe $30K less as we start our lives together. I genuinely almost cried tears of happiness when I found out. I know there is a long way to solving the problems, but this is a huge step and more than we had hoped for."

—Ana, 22

18."It's life-changing. I know it's a drop in a bucket for some, but for me, it makes a huge difference. I have to gone to school several times and became a certified medical assistant, certified end-of-life doula, I have an AAS degree in a Health Studies, and I'm currently enrolled in a final certification program. All things I will use in my career and things that I'm so passionate about. Even with many scholarships, so many times over the years, I've been overwhelmed by my student loan debt and feeling like I was stuck between settling for a job I didn't truly love or having debt till I died for following my dreams. This feels like a weight off my chest and freedom to breathe to me."

hellomiriah

19."If I can afford to pay $6K before January and this goes into effect before then, I will be completely student loan free! I have kept paying during the pandemic since I kept my job; I've gotten the principal down to $16K from $23K in two years. My original loan was $29K, and I've paid $41K so far in nine years. If everything is taken care of by January, my husband and I can now afford to remodel our 83-year-old home that is starting to fall apart. With two car loans and two kids, we've had to prioritize and only replace stuff as it becomes unfixably broken."

young couple with two kids in their backyard
Kate_sept2004 / Getty Images

20."I don't qualify for the $10K, so I get until January 1 to sort my finances out. I've made 10 years of payments on my loan, but the vast majority has gone toward interest. After earning less than $40K per year for half my post-grad career, I'm finally starting to earn decent money, which removes me from most of the benefits of this plan. Also, excluding graduate loans from the 5% cap is wildly shortsighted. So many doctors, teachers, and lawyers who go into nonprofit would be saved by this benefit. This decision just forces us away from public service. Speaking of, the current PSLF program is laughable. Ten years is basically a career at this point. You can get trapped in a job you hate and degrades your mental health solely for the purpose of remaining in PSLF. The entire system needs an overhaul — Biden's announcement was just not it."

—Anonymous

21."A small portion of my student loans are Pell Grants or other federal loans, so this will help a little bit with those. It still feels like a semi-meaningless drop in the bucket compared to the massive private student loans (looking at you Sally Satan Mae) I took out as an 18-year-old kid from a poor family who didn’t know any better."

—Claire, 25

22."I got my BS and master's in my discipline, and I only regret it because of the amount of student debt I have. To be a licensed professional anywhere in the US in my industry, I needed the accredited master's degree. The $10,000 forgiveness will reduce my $60,000 federal loans down to $50,000 but does not help my private loan debt of $85,000. All in all, when I started paying my loans, I had a total between the two being $160,000. Thinking about how long it will take me to pay it off and how many future sacrifices it will cost makes me sick to my stomach. But I am grateful it is something. I believe higher education is great for those who want to pursue it, but I don’t think it should penalize you for your future. What really needs to be talked about is the cost of college and tuition constantly increasing."

woman stressing out over her bills

—Valerie, 26

Fizkes / Getty Images/iStockphoto

23."I have about $20K in public loans and $35K in private. My wife has about $80K in public loans left. While the $10K each is appreciated, we were definitely hoping that more action would have been taken. We’ve probably paid total over $300K for our loans that started out at $200K combined, due to high compound interest and my extremely high (predatory) private loan I took out when first starting school. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue making progress, but it's still a bummer that more wasn’t done."

—Anonymous

What are your thoughts on Biden's student loan forgiveness plan? Share them in the comments.

Note: Responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.