Student loan forgiveness may be on the way for millions of Americans

WASHINGTON (KABC) -- President Joe Biden is expected to make a decision on student loan forgiveness in the next few weeks.

Politico reports the president is considering using executive action to provide up to $10,000 of debt relief per borrower for millions of Americans who qualify.

Michael Kitchen with Student Loan Hero says around 48 million Americans owe student loans that total more than $1.7 trillion.

"Student loans are a huge problem in the U.S.," Kitchen said.

He said people have been stuck in the vicious cycle of repaying back these loans for decades.

"Interest is a huge problem," Kitchen said. "If you just pay the minimum amount on your student loan and you have, let's say a standard 10-year repayment plan, you can be in debt for a very long time with that minimum amount."

Kitchen said a third of all Californians with student loan debt would see their entire student loan balance wiped out if the president moved forward with his possible student debt forgiveness plan.

The push for student loan forgiveness has gained steam, as a pause on federal student loan payments due to the pandemic is set to expire on Aug. 31.

The president of the NAACP sent a letter to Biden urging him to cancel $50,000 in student debt per borrower.

Derrick Johnson writes, "No American should have to begin paying back their predatory student loans next month. Yet, another simple extension on repayments won't address the crisis. The American people are anxious. Voters are anxious. Your base is anxious. Extending the freeze will only extend the anxiety that millions of Americans feel. It will not address the economic oppression that has plagued generations of Black families, and other minority communities, for decades and centuries."

In addition, he said, "Thus, any extension must be accompanied by meaningful cancellation. We urge you to cancel a minimum of $50,000 as Black borrowers - drowning in an average of $53,000 in student debt - have virtually no realistic way to pay it back in today's unjust economy. Capping cancellation to a certain income bracket will not only miss huge numbers of borrowers in dire need, but it will also leave millions of borrowers with the same monthly payment they had before, thus negating the purpose of cancellation."

But Kitchen said not everyone supports loan forgiveness.

"On the one hand you have some people who still have student loans but they feel it would be unfair to forgive student loans. That it would cause people to want their credit cards or mortgages forgiven," Kitchen said.

He added the government can't force private lenders to forgive student debt so people who have private loans would still have to pay that money back.