Misleading: Joe Biden is in favour of cancelling student debt.

By: Devika Kandelwal
August 20 2020

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Misleading: Joe Biden is in favour of cancelling student debt.

Fact-Check

The Verdict Misleading

Under Biden's administration, individuals making $25,000 or less per year will not owe any payments on their undergraduate federal student loans.

Claim ID feeb8167

Under Biden's administration, individuals making $25,000 or less per year will not owe any payments on their undergraduate federal student loans.Joe Biden will make tuition debt-free for those who attend two years of community college or high-quality training programs. Students who do want a bachelor's degree could then transfer to a four-year school, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions. Going to a community college or a high-quality training program before will halve their tuition costs for obtaining a four-year degree by transferring those credits to a four-year college or university. Biden will make public colleges and universities tuition-free for all families with incomes below $125,000. Under Biden's administration, individuals making $25,000 or less per year will not owe any payments on their undergraduate federal student loans and also won't accrue any interest on those loans. Everyone else will pay 5% of their discretionary income (income minus taxes and essential spendings like housing and food) over $25,000 toward their loans. After 20 years, the remaining loans for people who have responsibly made payments through the program will be 100% forgiven. Those working jobs in national or community service like teaching or non-profits would receive $10,000 student debt relief annually for up to five years for each year to stay in that vocational job. This is a significant departure from his previous policy. Biden was one of the architects of the changes to the bankruptcy code that restricted bankruptcy discharges of student debt. Logically had previously checked whether 'Joe Biden helped to cause the student loan debt crisis' and found that he supported the Republican-led Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. The Act's subsequent passing in the Congress led to private student loans being largely stripped of bankruptcy protections, and this had a devastating impact of tripling such debt over a decade.

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