On Aug. 24, the Biden administration announced a three-part plan for partially canceling student loans for low to middle-income student borrowers:  

– The Department of Education will provide debt relief for up to $20,000 to Pell Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients. 

– Loan companies will cut monthly payments by keeping annual payments of undergraduate loans under five percent of borrowers’ annual income.  

– The Biden administration will continue to maximize the use of Pell Grants and work to make community college free. To be eligible, one needs to make less than $125,000 and married couples cannot make more than $250,000.  

Approximately 74% of Gannon students qualified for financial assistance in 2020. This means it is probably that the majority of students fall into loan forgiveness categories, which could help them afford their student loans.  

This not only affects current students, but also alumni and potential students. This is a waiting game, but experts said to keep updated personal information on the FAFSA and complete personal taxes. For those with everything up to date, the process should be smooth and borrowers will be automatically credited to their loan accounts.  

Logan Swanson, a sophomore legal studies major, said that since the U.S. education system is overpriced, this is an important initiative.  

“It is not something that is happening in other first world countries such as, U.K., Italy, France and Germany.” Swanson said. “These are all countries with very good educational systems similar to, if not better than the U.S.”  

David Steward, assistant director of the Office of Global Admission and Outreach, said this initiative will have trickle-down effects.  

“I finished this past year paying off student loans — it took me 19 years to pay them off,” Steward said. “It will be great for students and alumni. My niece and nephew will go to college, and I do not want them to get stuck with it.” 

Marilee Wilkosz, director of the Office of Global Support and Student Engagement, said that while the initiative does not change her daily life, she is happy it is in the works.  

 “This is a good thing, overdue, small in the scope of national student debt,” Wilkosz said. “This is obviously a political strategy for voters but not a bad one, that’s just how politics work. There are lots of people that are middle ground that will benefit from this.” 

KARLA JIMENEZ

[email protected]