California Senator Kamala Harris endorses Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President ... [+]
In a historic decision, Joe Biden has selected Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his running mate. Harris will be the first Black female Vice Presidential candidate on a major party ticket.
Student loans continue to be a major national issue, and the 2020 election may determine the future of existing student loan forgiveness programs, as well as broader debt cancellation proposals that have rapidly gained momentum in recent months. There is also speculation that Biden, if elected, may only serve one term, which means that Harris could have a shot at the presidency in just four years.
So where does Kamala Harris stand? Her positions has evolved over time, but she has voiced support for broad student loan forgiveness.
Kamala Harris: Past Student Loan Positions
When she served as California's Attorney General, Harris established herself as an early leader in the struggle to stop predatory for-profit schools from defrauding students. Her office sued one of the largest for-profit college chains in the nation — Corinthian Colleges — and she played a key role in bringing down the company, which allegedly saddled thousands of student loan borrowers with mountains of debt and limited career prospects. Harris has since been a strong proponent of Borrower Defense to Repayment, a program established to provide relief to student loan borrowers defrauded by their schools.
Harris has also supported initiatives for free college. She backed the College For All Act in 2017 (a bill sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders), and she co-sponsored the Debt-Free College Act of 2018, which would have created a federal-state partnership to incentivize states to reduce or eliminate tuition at public colleges and universities.
As a presidential candidate, Harris came out with her own student loan forgiveness plan. She proposed cancelling up to $20,000 in student loans for borrowers who established successful new businesses in underserved communities. However, the plan was criticized by some as being narrowly focused and unwieldy.
Kamala Harris: More Recent Positions on Student Loans
As recently as two weeks ago, Harris made public statements in support of broad student loan forgiveness. Publicly touting Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan, which supports investment in communities to achieve economic and racial justice, Harris voiced support for $10,000 in across-the-board student loan forgiveness for borrowers as a form of economic stimulus in response to the Coronavirus pandemic and the associated recession — a plan that is broadly supported by other Democratic senators.
Harris has also continued to reiterate support for the Borrower Defense to Repayment program, voting in favor of reversing new rules put in place by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos that imposed new barriers for borrowers seeking relief. President Trump subsequently vetoed bipartisan legislation that would have restored the original Obama-era Borrower Defense rules.
Harris is a co-sponsor of the What You Can Do For Your Country Act, a bill that would substantially overhaul improve the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. The bill would allow payments made under any repayment plan on both Direct and FFEL loans — not just income-driven plans or just Direct loans — to qualify for PSLF. And it would allow borrowers to get 50% of their loan balance forgiven after five years of public service work, with the remainder forgiven after the second five year period.
Harris has also called on the Senate to pass the HEROES Act, the $3.4 trillion stimulus bill passed by House Democrats in April. That bill would provide $10,000 in federal and private student loan forgiveness to economically distressed borrowers, and would extend the existing freeze on student loan payments and interest for a full 12 months. Senate Republicans have opposed that measure.
Further Reading
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: Cancel Student Loan Debt Now
Biden Reaffirms Plan To Cancel Student Debt, Reduce Racial Inequality
NAACP And 60 Other Groups Call On Congress To Cancel Student Debt
Would Student Loan Forgiveness Reduce Racial Inequality?
For Student Loan Borrowers, The 2020 Election Has Unprecedented Implications
There Are Now Five Plans To Forgive Student Loans — How Do They Compare?
Widespread Student Loan Forgiveness Is More Likely Now Than Ever Before – Here’s Why
