Biden mulls $10,000 per borrower student loan forgiveness; local students and experts react

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MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- President Joe Biden said in the coming weeks, a decision will be made on student debt forgiveness. It's something some Democratic lawmakers have shown big support for. Biden came out against $50,000 per borrower debt forgiveness some asked for, but when he was asked about $10,000 he told lawmakers, "you're going to like what I do."

"You know Biden could just cancel all the student loan debt and just give free tuition to everyone, because it's what we need if we want to do better as a community, as a society, everything," said RISE Wisconsin member and Marquette University student Arin Anderson.

Anderson was out on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's campus Tuesday, May 3, advocating for free college for all with RISE Wisconsin.

She said especially for people like her, who face $60,000 a year tuition, $10,000 is a drop in the bucket.

PhD in economics Rebecca Neumann, a professor at UWM, said debt forgiveness like this can and will draw criticism.

"Can I get rid of my mortgage? Can I just say 'OK, forgive my mortgage?' So there's some idea of what those incentives are and maybe what the fairness is," said Neumann.

She said from an economic perspective, forgiving $10,000 per borrower likely won't have a major impact on things like inflation, but it could have different effects.

"It could make a difference for those that are at the lowest income level," said Neumann.

Neumann said people who, if they were no longer paying student loans, may spend more money.

For Neumann, she said if you're doing student loan forgiveness, looking at what would target specific groups of people is the best bet.

"I think if you can find some sort of thresholds to say, who is it really hurting?"

Other students say they see $10,000 as a good middle ground.

"I think it's a fair compromise, because too high, everyone is going to be angry about it, but too low and it's not enough," said UWM freshman Angel Amezquita

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