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There’s a growing consensus among Americans who want President Biden to cancel student debt — but addressing the ballooning debt burden is much more complicated than it seems.
Why it matters: Student debt is stopping millions of Americans from buying homes, buying cars and starting families. And the crisis is rapidly getting worse.
By the numbers: Student debt — which stands at $1.55 trillion — is the biggest category of debt Americans owe, aside from mortgages.
- Most borrowers are white, but Black college graduates owe an average of $25,000 more than their white counterparts.
- According to a new Harris Poll survey, 64% of Americans support canceling some student debt, and 55% support canceling all of it.
What’s happening: Biden has proposed immediately cancelling $10,000 of federal student loan debt for every borrower. The move would cost around $370 billion.
- That would eliminate debt for the 15 million borrowers that owe $10,000 or less — a broad-based approach that would help all 42 million borrowers.
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