Student Loan Forgiveness: 59% of Borrowers Won’t Be Able to Make Payments Come June

A stack of one hundred dollar bills in a money wrapper labeled "Student Loan" on top of a blue graduation cap.
DNY59 / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Commitment to Our Readers

GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.

20 Years
Helping You Live Richer

Reviewed
by Experts

Trusted by
Millions of Readers

When the student loan moratorium lifts next June, millions of Americans could be in hot water. According to a new Morning Consult poll, 59% of student loan borrowers said they may not be able to afford to resume their loan payments.

Most adults who currently have federal student loans (66%) said they have experienced hardship in affording their payments in the past. 

The Biden administration announced in August that it plans to forgive $10,000 of debt for borrowers who make less than $125,000 annually (or less than $250,000 if married filing jointly), or $20,000 of debt for Pell Grant recipients. That plan is now being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court — and has already been blocked by lower courts.  

But even if Biden’s relief plan does survive unscathed, many student loan borrowers will still owe — and struggle. According to the Morning Consult poll, 48% of adults with federal debt said that they owe more than $20,000 in federal loans.

The Morning Consult poll also found that in the wake of several court cases, including an October ruling by the conservative 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that slammed the brakes on Biden’s loan cancellation plans, U.S. adults were most likely to point the finger at conservative judges and GOP lawmakers for blocking student loan forgiveness plans.    

When asked who they trust most to address how student loans are handled in the U.S, 47% of U.S. adults named the Department of Education, followed by Biden and Democrats in Congress (45% each). Additionally, about 4 in 5 Democrats said they trust the president and congressional Democrats to handle student debt, while some 3 in 5 said they trust liberal judges and the Department of Education. 

Today's Top Offers

Republicans largely stuck with their party, saying they were most likely to trust congressional Republicans (69%) and conservative judges (57%) on the issue. 

Independents were more neutral, with 37% saying they trust the Education Department, and 32% saying they trust the president and 31% trusting Democrats in Congress.

BEFORE YOU GO

See Today's Best
Banking Offers

Looks like you're using an adblocker

Please disable your adblocker to enjoy the optimal web experience and access the quality content you appreciate from GOBankingRates.

  • AdBlock / uBlock / Brave
    1. Click the ad blocker extension icon to the right of the address bar
    2. Disable on this site
    3. Refresh the page
  • Firefox / Edge / DuckDuckGo
    1. Click on the icon to the left of the address bar
    2. Disable Tracking Protection
    3. Refresh the page
  • Ghostery
    1. Click the blue ghost icon to the right of the address bar
    2. Disable Ad-Blocking, Anti-Tracking, and Never-Consent
    3. Refresh the page