On Nov. 22, President Joe Biden announced he will extend the pause on student loan repayments, according to a Nov. 22 Politico article.
The decision to pause loan repayments comes after two appellate courts blocked his Student Debt Relief Plan.
The plan was announced on Aug. 24 by Biden, who promised to cancel $10,000 of student debt for low and middle income students, according to an Aug. 24 White House news release.
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis, Missouri issued a nationwide injunction, blocking the Student Debt Relief Plan on Nov. 14, according to a Nov. 14 CNBC article.
This decision came four days after the U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman ruled Biden’s plan as unlawful in Fort Worth, Texas, according to a Nov. 10 CNBC article.
James Brent, master of public administration director and political science associate professor at San Jose State, said the program will continue being on hold as courts debate the constitutionality of Biden’s plan.
“Neither of those appeals courts have actually weighed in on the constitutionality,” Brent said. “This is all procedural.”
He said it would be senseless for Biden to cancel student loans if the courts later deem Biden’s plan as unlawful.
Tarentz Charité, SJSU applied math and statistics freshman, said students shouldn’t be penalized with tremendous debt for a degree that seems like a necessity for people in the United States.
“We shouldn't even have to pay for school in the first place. I don't think forgiveness means accessible,” Charité said. “I don't think that [people] should have to take the loans [if they] are in a desperate situation where they feel like they need to go to school because they feel like their options are unlimited.”
Gabriel Evans, SJSU mathematics sophomore, said that college students don’t often graduate with lucrative job opportunities so paying off school debt can be exceptionally hard.
“[A] lot of loans out there [are] pretty predatory,” Evans said. “I feel like they hurt a lot of students and I feel like this is a good step, at least [for] those students that kind of fall prey to that kind of thing.”
The U.S. Department of Education is postponing monthly student loan payments and interests, which will “resume 60 days after the department is allowed to implement the program or the litigation is resolved,” according to a Nov. 23 Washington Post article.
