Student loans - do we think new admin will cancel?

[scm1011]

DH has about $17k in student loans left, most at about ~5%. I was considering paying them off but I'm curious about the likelihood of the next administration canceling student debt. I see a lot of noise about this from my (very liberal) senators (Markey and Warren), but I don't know if this is something that has legs. Any thoughts? 

[kittenponypony]

Great question, I also considered this recently when I was deciding whether to pay off my student loans. But ultimately my faith in Biden/Harris to take dramatic action to tackle the student loan debt crisis is low. I remember how much Kamala’s student loan forgiveness plan was ridiculed in the primaries — “ Pell Grant recipients who start a business that operates for three years in disadvantaged communities.”

Still bummed we didn’t get Warren or Sanders. But I hope I’m proven wrong...

[wanderingback]

No I don't think there will be anything major and sweeping like that.
I honestly can't remember where I read this or if it was from a "legit" source, but I think I remember something like if there is SL debt cancellation it'll be like $10,000 for certain people. I don't think this administration is going to be cancelling all SL debt.

Due to covid I've become paranoid about hoarding cash, so I would probably keep the 17k for now and not pay them off.
But if you have tons of extra money laying around then if 17k is no big deal then go for it.

[SusanBAnthony]

I doubt it for several reasons-

1. How do you decide whose to cancel without it being super unfair
2. How do you actually get anything passed
3. It's doesn't solve any problems, it's a 1 time stimulus effectively

If anything I could see changes and expansion of forgiveness programs.

[sadlebred]

Keep in mind that IF any debt gets cancelled/forgiven, it would only be federal student loans. It would 99.9% most likely not include any private loans held with a bank or private institution.

[scm1011]

Jan 3, 2021 16:11:00 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Due to covid I've become paranoid about hoarding cash, so I would probably keep the 17k for now and not pay them off.
But if you have tons of extra money laying around then if 17k is no big deal then go for it.

We don't have tons of extra money lying around, more that its next on my list of things to aggressively tackle now that we have comfortable savings. 

DH is a teacher a Title 1 school so perhaps better to look into loan forgiveness programs there, but frankly I've heard the administrative hoops needed to secure that are maddening so I've avoided so far. 

[wanderingback]

Jan 4, 2021 9:15:42 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Jan 3, 2021 16:11:00 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Due to covid I've become paranoid about hoarding cash, so I would probably keep the 17k for now and not pay them off.
But if you have tons of extra money laying around then if 17k is no big deal then go for it.

We don't have tons of extra money lying around, more that its next on my list of things to aggressively tackle now that we have comfortable savings. 

DH is a teacher a Title 1 school so perhaps better to look into loan forgiveness programs there, but frankly I've heard the administrative hoops needed to secure that are maddening so I've avoided so far. 

My exH was a teacher. This was many many years ago, but he got I think 15k forgiven and I remember the process being pretty straight forward. Like just his prinicipal had to sign off on it that he worked in a qualifying school and then he sent the paperwork in and it was forgiven. So yeah I'd def look in to that. 

[scm1011]

wanderingback, oh interesting - thanks for the info! i'll definitely pursue.

[Susie]

H and I are down to $91k between us, of our original $260k from law school.  A lot of what's left is now in private loans because of refinances for better rates, but around $25k of it is federal loans.  I'm riding out the loan terms because the rates are great, but I don't have any hope or expectation that any of it will be forgiven.  And frankly, why should it be?  Starting our adult lives worth -$260k was hard af, especially in small law/civil service, and we're behind on retirement as a result, but aside from that we are through the hard part.  I don't really think people in our situation should get loan forgiveness.

[kershnic]

I have about 12k that I have considered paying off with a small inheritance I got last year. I’m holding it for now while the loans are not accruing interest and won’t pay anything more until interest resumes. I think there’s a chance the new administration does something since supposedly it can be done by executive order, but I’m not holding my breathe.

[mccallister84]

Jan 4, 2021 9:37:45 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

wanderingback, oh interesting - thanks for the info! i'll definitely pursue.

Yea he definitely needs to look at forgiveness for teachers. When I qualified there was a large list of schools that did - I wasn’t working at a title 1 school and my school did. I got $17,500 forgiven because I was a math teacher but everyone was eligible for $5,000. You just needed five years of service.