Biden pitches sweeping student debt relief in Wisconsin

President Joe Biden vowed on Monday to cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans this fall, bringing an election-year pitch that he’s fighting to help struggling borrowers to a battleground state that’s crucial to his reelection.

Biden chose the backdrop of a community college in Madison, Wisconsin, a state he narrowly won in 2020, to announce new details about the scope of his next student debt relief plan, which is designed to revive the loan forgiveness goals that were thwarted by the Supreme Court.

“Starting this fall we plan to deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers and full forgiveness for millions more,” Biden said, highlighting the new, alternative approach to canceling student debt that his administration has been pursuing since the court’s ruling last year.

Biden’s speech offered few new details about the structure of the program, which the Education Department has already debated publicly for months.

But his remarks previewed plans to run on student debt as a political issue in the upcoming campaign.

It’s no coincidence Biden chose Madison to deliver his remarks on student loan debt relief. Not only is it the county seat of Dane County, one of the bluest enclaves of the state, it is also the state capital and home of the University of Wisconsin with its student body population of 50,600 students.

This also marks the first time the president returned to the Badger state since Wisconsin held its presidential primary last week, where he weathered a coordinated effort from progressives, young people and pro-Palestinian activists focused on registering a protest vote.

Buoyed by their frustration over the administration’s continued military support for Israel and that nation’s ongoing war in Gaza, this group rallied to urge other Democrats to vote “uninstructed” — a protest vote and Wisconsin’s version of the “uncommitted” vote that’s drawn strong support in Michigan, North Carolina and Minnesota earlier in the presidential primary contest.

The protest vote, led by a collection of activists including Listen to Wisconsin, were able to secure nearly 50,000 votes, an impressive feat given that activists in Wisconsin only began organizing less than a month before the April 2 primary.

The 14,489 votes in Dane County made up roughly 30 percent of all the “uninstructed” votes cast and was the highest activist showing of any county in the state.

“Madison has a [solid] track record of multigenerational anti-war organizers and advocates,” State. Rep. Francesca Hong told POLITICO via text ahead of Biden’s remarks. Hong was one of more than 20 Democratic elected state and local officials who urged their constituents to vote “uninstructed” last week.

“It wasn’t just young people voting for democracy and [an] end to the genocidal siege in Gaza,” said Hong, whose district includes Madison. “Students voting 'uninstructed' played a role in POTUS making a stop in the progressive stronghold.”

Officials said the Education Department plans to formally propose the new program in the coming months and they expect to finalize it and swiftly implement it later this year.

But major challenges loom over the effort, including a short time for implementation and likely legal challenges from Republicans, who’ve blasted the idea of widespread loan forgiveness.

“This is an unfair ploy to buy votes before an election and does absolutely nothing to address the high cost of education that puts young people right back into debt,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, the top Republican on the Senate education committee, said in a statement.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) accused Biden of “bribing voters” with an idea rejected by the Supreme Court. “Like a zombie comes back to life, this price tag will haunt taxpayers,” she said in a statement.

Biden’s efforts to erase loan debt have been cheered on by progressives in Congress, who’ve urged the administration to go as big as possible in developing its next sweeping program.

Those progressives and outside student debt activists have been generally pleased with where the administration has landed, though they’ve expressed concerns about the tight timeline for finalizing the relief programs before the election.

“Today’s announcement shows the President is heeding Congress’s call and Democrats will continue to be relentless in doing everything we can to lower costs and make college more affordable,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

The program is targeted at reducing balances for borrowers whose debt has ballooned because of interest, those who’ve carried their debts for decades, and borrowers who missed out on existing relief programs because they did not enroll. In addition, the administration is looking at canceling debts for borrowers who attend low-value programs or are experiencing financial hardship.

In his remarks Monday, Biden cast himself as a champion for student debt borrowers who face “crushing” loan obligations.

Officials said the Education Department plans to formally propose the new program in the coming months, and they expect to finalize it and swiftly implement it later this year.

The total number of borrowers expected to receive relief will be more than 30 million Americans, officials said. That rivals Biden’s first program that would have offered more than 40 million borrowers some amount of relief.

Biden also said he would continue working to lower the cost of college in the first place, vowing to revive his free community college plan, which he failed to pass through Congress, in a second term.

“If I'm reelected, I'm gonna push it hard,” Biden said of his community college proposal. “We're gonna get it next time.”

But Biden also took pains to promote efforts by his administration to bolster apprenticeship programs and manufacturing jobs that don’t require a college degree, offering a retort to many Republicans who’ve criticized Biden’s loan forgiveness agenda as elitist.

“People say to me, ‘it's great you're helping people into college — how about all those hardworking people, grew up and had no opportunity to go to college?’” Biden said. “That's the neighborhood I come from. That's why a big part of my economic agenda is invested in all Americans, whether you attend college or not.”