Americans struggling with student debt expect 'much worse' under Trump [View all]

Source: The Guardian

Sun 29 Dec 2024 09.00 EST


Joe Biden has pushed during his presidency to cancel student debt for tens of millions of Americans. Now Donald Trump, who has branded such efforts “vile”, is preparing to succeed him – leaving borrowers at risk of losing relief they received, or had been waiting for.

Mary Ann Rockwell, 72, is a librarian in upstate New York. She has grappled with her student loans for years, as interest ballooned while she often struggled to afford to make payments.

“I’m entitled to be forgiven,” she said, having completed thepaperwork for loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. But she is still in “limbo”, waiting for it to happen.

“It’s taking so long to happen that I’m afraid, when Trump gets in, everything will change on day one,” said Rockwell, a member of the Debt Collective, a union of debtors. “I’m very nervous about it. I feel like I can’t retire. I can’t even think about it to function. I’ll be facing a house payment of student loans.”

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/dec/29/student-debt-relief-trump