The Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s student debt forgiveness program, which will impact millions of people across the country and in New York.

Brandon Gonzalez, a junior at SUNY New Paltz, would be the first in his family to graduate from college in the next school year.

“School is really important growing up," he said. "You know, I’ve been pretty much a straight A student since elementary school, really tried to, you know, try my hardest with school. It was really taught that that's how you get ahead in this world.”

Gonzalez, a political science major, hopes to get into politics in the near future.

“We don’t make too much money in that field, so any money I can save would be helpful. I took a lot of loans to be here,” said Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said he's racked up $90,000 getting his education so far. Thanks to a few scholarships, he now owes $50,000. But with another year to go, he is one of the millions of qualified borrowers hoping to benefit from the student loan forgiveness program that President Joe Biden supported.

“I was really excited when that came out," Gonzalez said. "A big reason I voted for him in 2020 was because he said that. My first time ever voting, and I’m upset that the court kind of took that back.”

According to Education Data Initiative, student loan debt across the United States totals $1.7 trillion, and while more students benefited from forgiveness than ever in 2021, the total dollar amount forgiven was less than 0.6% of the national student loan balance.

Gonzalez said while the extended pause on federal loan payments and the possibility of some debt forgiveness helps, he hopes something changes in the future to give students like him long-term support.

“I just hope that those programs expand so more opportunities to go to college and people who are already in college can maximize the potential without worrying about going into major debt,” said Gonzalez.