AUSTIN, Texas — Monday, the Department of Education announced Texans will be able to apply for student debt relief in October. This is part of President Biden’s plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loan payments for eligible Texans.
The average student loan debt in Texas is nearly $33,000, according to the Education Data Initiative.
Top Republican lawmakers do not support the program. Greg Abbott was among several governors who called on the President to withdraw his plan immediately.
The letter reads in part: “Rather than addressing the rising cost of tuition for higher education or working to lower interest rates for student loans, your plan kicks the can down the road and makes today’s problems worse for tomorrow’s students.”
Senator Ted Cruz did not respond to requests for comment.
Senator John Cornyn, who was not available for an interview, is not a fan. In an op-ed for the San Antonio-Express News, he wrote in part: “Debt can’t be erased with a magic wand. Every dollar will be paid for by someone.”
These Republicans say the burden of paying off the loans will fall on the taxpayer. But one University of Texas at Austin professor said that’s normal despite how Republicans are framing it.
“As taxpayers, we fund the government and its initiatives,” said David DeMatthews, an Associate Professor at UT Austin’s College of Education.
DeMatthews stressed that the student debt relief plan is intended to help working-class families who are struggling with debt.
“The system right now that we have in the United States for higher education and funding higher education is quite flawed,” he said. “It’s very costly. There’s all sorts of predatory lending. There’s for-profit colleges that use tactics to persuade students into degrees that are not really going to help them; they’re not going to provide them with the credentials or the training that they need to be successful. And so we don’t have a great system.”
Some Republicans say the President doesn’t have the legal power to cancel some student debt. If Republicans try to fight the plan in court, Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Congressional District 35, said they’ll need to find a good reason to.
“I think they’re struggling to find a legal basis for attacking something that was really needed,” Rep. Doggett said.
Congressman Joaquin Castro, D-Congressional District 20, said Republicans could try to block the plan after the election.
“I think they’re ultimately going to be unsuccessful, but if they win back a majority in one of the houses of Congress, I think they’re going to do everything they can to stop the student loan relief from going through,” Rep. Castro said.
Both Rep. Doggett and Rep. Castro said the plan could have done more to help borrowers, but this is a good start.
“Republicans have focused a lot of their energy around tax cuts for very wealthy people and for corporations, and this initiative by President Biden is a way to offer debt relief to ordinary working folks,” Rep. Castro said. “It’s going to be great not only for the individual borrowers, but also for their family members. Remember: often, you have mothers and fathers or siblings that are helping somebody make their student loan payments, or helping them supplement their income in some other way, because of that heavy student debt load.”
Rep. Doggett said he hopes lawmakers will focus on lowering the cost of higher education.
“The debt relief, as important as it is, will not be of assistance to students that incur debt now for the current school year,” Rep. Doggett said. “And so I want this problem addressed at the front end, so that we’re not always facing it at the back end.”
The application will open in a few weeks. The Federal Student Aid website advises borrowers to send in their applications before Nov. 15 to get their money by the end of the year.
