With student loan forgiveness program struck down, borrowers brace for impact

President Biden’s proposed student loan forgiveness program — a main plank in his pitch to middle-class voters during the 2020 campaign — has been thrown out by the Supreme Court.

In a 6-3 ruling, the conservative majority held that the administration does not have the legal authority to write off as much as $400 billion in outstanding student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans. And those borrowers are about to start feeling the pinch.

The program would have forgiven up to $10,000 in student loan debt for people making up to $125,000 a year, and up to $20,000 for those who were Pell-eligible. The average borrower owes nearly $30,000.

“(The majority of them) have deferred major life decisions with their personal finances — from saving for emergencies, saving for retirement, buying a car, buying a home, getting married and having children,” said Mark Hamrick at Bankrate.

Ten thousand dollars of loan forgiveness would have completely erased the debt of about 20 million people, many of whom started an associate’s or bachelor’s degree but never finished, said Katharine Meyer at the Brookings Institution.

“Think about people who owe less than $10,000,” said Meyer. “That can sound like a small amount of debt. But the fact that they haven’t paid that off is almost an indication that they’re in a financially precarious position.”

Meanwhile, borrowers are about to be on the hook again.

Regular monthly student-loan payments start back up in October, after being on pause during the pandemic.