Democratic President Joe Biden arrived in Madison, Wisconsin, to unveil his latest effort to expand student loan relief through several avenues, including a proposal that, according to White House officials, would wipe away interest for some borrowers who owe more than they originally borrowed.
The administration's new proposal, if fully implemented, would provide debt relief to more than 30 million borrowers, when combined with Biden's previous efforts to cancel student loan debt.
Biden formally announced the new plans on Monday in Madison, home to the flagship campus of the Universities of Wisconsin, as well as the Madison Area Technical College and Edgewood College. The trip is Biden's third to the state this year and sixth since February 2023 as he campaigns for a second term.
After departing Air Force One shortly after noon on Monday, Biden met briefly and took a selfie with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.
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Speaking in Madison Area Technical College's H. Douglas Redsten Gymnasium about an hour later, Biden said eliminating student loan debt for borrowers provides "the freedom to chase their dreams."
"While a college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive," Biden said.
Senior administration officials said some proposed measures, including the automatic cancellation of outstanding interest for some borrowers, could be implemented earlier this fall, before Biden's expected rematch with former President Donald Trump in the November election.
According to details provided by White House officials, Biden plans to launch new loan forgiveness programs through the Higher Education Act, expanding on powers the president turned to after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the administration’s first debt cancellation plan, which proposed eliminating up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.
“President Biden will use every tool available to cancel student loan debt for as many borrowers as possible, no matter how many times Republican elected officials try to stand in his way," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on a press call Sunday.
Evers applauded Biden's latest effort, which proposes waiving accrued and capitalized interest for more than 25 million borrowers who owe more than they originally borrowed, among other measures. The proposal would cancel up to $20,000 in borrowers' unpaid interest for single borrowers who earn up to $120,000 and married borrowers who earn $240,000 or less.
"Higher education should be affordable and accessible for every Wisconsinite who chooses it — period," Evers said.
Biden also proposes eliminating student debt for borrowers with undergraduate degrees if they have been in repayment for at least 20 years. Borrowers with graduate school debt would qualify for similar relief if they have been in repayment for at least 25 years. The administration estimates the program to aid more than 2.5 million borrowers.
Other plans within the proposal include automatically eliminating debt for borrowers who are otherwise eligible, but have not applied for, loan forgiveness under programs like the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) Plan; helping borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs or institutions; and assisting borrowers who are experiencing hardship paying back their loans.
“Student loan forgiveness isn’t only about relief for today’s borrowers, it’s about social mobility, economic prosperity, creating an America that lives up to its highest ideals," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said.
White House officials said additional details on the proposal will be available in the coming months.
The proposal marks Biden’s second attempt at large-scale loan forgiveness after the U.S. Supreme Court last year overturned the administration’s first debt cancellation plan, which proposed eliminating up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year.
The latest plan seeks to expand federal student loan relief to new categories of borrowers through the Higher Education Act, which administration officials believe puts it on a stronger legal footing than the sweeping proposal that was killed by a 6-3 U.S. Supreme Court majority last year.
The president announced immediately after the Supreme Court decision that Cardona would undertake the process because he would have the power under the Higher Education Act to waive or compromise student loan debt in specific cases.
The latest attempt at cancellation joins other targeted initiatives, including those aimed at public service workers and low-income borrowers. Through those efforts, the Biden administration says it has canceled $146 billion in student loans for close to 4 million Americans.
"These historic steps reflect President Biden’s determination that we cannot allow student debt to leave students worse off than before they went to college,” U.S. Undersecretary of Education James Kvaal said in a statement. “The president directed us to complete these programs as quickly as possible, and we are going to do just that.”
Like Biden’s previous efforts to cancel student loan debt, the president’s latest proposal was met with criticism by Republicans.
“Transferring the cost of President Biden's student debt forgiveness to hardworking taxpayers who never had the opportunity to go to college, to those who worked their way through college or repaid their loans is fundamentally unfair," Republican Eric Hovde, who is running to challenge U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, in November, said in a statement.
Biden's trip to Wisconsin's liberal stronghold of Madison comes as the president tries to drum up support among young voters. More than 48,000 voters, or about 8%, cast ballots in last week's Democratic presidential primary for the "uninstructed delegation" option — likely spurred by activists to signify opposition to the Biden administration's stance toward Israel over its handling of the war in Gaza.
Trump, meanwhile, lost more than 110,000 votes in the state's GOP primary to candidates who are no longer in the race, including more than 76,000 votes for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
In 2020, Biden defeated Trump by 20,682 votes, while Trump won the state in 2016 by securing 22,748 more votes than Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.
Biden and Trump remain deadlocked in Wisconsin, according to a Marquette Law School Poll released in February.
The poll found both Trump and Biden receiving support from 49% of registered voters, with 2% saying they had not yet decided. Of respondents who are very enthusiastic to vote, Trump holds a 19-point lead over Biden. However, Biden has more support among respondents who said they were somewhat enthusiastic, as well as those who are not very and not at all enthusiastic to vote.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.