TAMPA, Fla. — University of South Florida (USF) researchers released the results of a statewide survey Thursday, showing that 64 % of Floridians support the Biden administration’s recent decision to extend the student loan repayment pause.
“It’s a choice for people to decide if they want to go to college and a lot of people will take out loans. I think that this was just a very timely policy issue to ask about,” Associate Director of Development USF Libraries Christina Stevens said.
A majority would also support $10,000 in loan forgiveness for all borrowers.
“Very stark partisan differences regarding the lump sums of loan forgiveness," Stevens said. "So, 89% of democrats would support the $10,000 lump sum compared to only 42% of republicans."
Fewer Floridians expressed support of the federal government forgiving $50,000 at 55%.
Tuesday, the Education Department announced it is giving Americans a better chance of having their debt canceled faster. It is waiving the rules of income-driven repayment plans.
Income-driven plans cap the amount borrowers are required to pay and forgive the remaining balance after a set number of years.
Under this one-time waiver, people who have spent time in repayment for at least 20 or 25 years will have their federal loans automatically forgiven.
Others will receive credit for the months in which their loan was in repayment status, toward income-driven forgiveness, regardless of how much they paid, type of loan, the repayment plan or if they were delinquent (not in default) on the debt.
You do not need to be currently enrolled in an income-driven plan to benefit from the waiver. If a borrower later enrolls in the plans, any payments they’ve already made will count toward forgiveness.
The department expects the waiver gives 3.6 million people at least three years of additional credit. The changes will be applied automatically, but will not be reflected in accounts until the fall.
RELATED STORIES
