Idahoans have over $7.2 billion in student debt. Here’s who will qualify for Biden’s plan
Just over 19 months since taking office, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday morning his plan to fulfill one of his key campaign promises: student loan forgiveness.
Biden’s plan will cancel up to $10,000 per borrower and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. He also extended the student loan payment pause through the end of 2022, just a week before it was set to expire on Aug. 30.
Biden announced his plan on Twitter and said more details would come Wednesday afternoon.
This is what we know so far:
Who qualifies?
Under Biden’s plan, borrowers who make less than $125,000 annually will see $10,000 of their debt canceled. Pell Grant recipients, given to undergraduate students who display “exceptional financial need,” will see $20,000 of their student debt forgiven.
The income requirement to qualify for forgiveness in households is less than $250,000 annually.
The plan also aims to offer borrowers the chance to cap their monthly repayments at 5% of their monthly income.
How many Idahoans will be affected?
Idahoans are less likely to have student debt and owe less on average, according to a study from the Education Data Initiative, a resource compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.
The report estimates that there are 218,100 borrowers in the Gem State — approximately 11.9% of Idaho residents — with an average student loan debt of $33,012 and a statewide total loan debt of $7.2 billion.
Among the state’s indebted borrowers, 17.7% of them owe less than $5,000, meaning their debt will be wiped entirely assuming they earn less than $125,000. Just over 21% owe between $20,000 and $40,000 while 1.5% owe over $200,000.
According to the finance website WalletHub, Idaho ranks 37th in the United States in carrying the burden of student loans. The higher the ranking, the better it is to live in that state.
The website ranked every state on 11 key metrics to calculate each state’s student-loan indebtedness — the average student debt and proportion of students with debt — and the grant and student work opportunities, which took into account the availability of student jobs and the unemployment rate for ages 25 to 34.
Idaho ranked 36th in student-loan indebtedness and 38th in grand and student work opportunities.
