UNDATED – Summer is upon us, and as another school year comes to an end, a fresh crop of college graduates are still excitedly celebrating their accomplishments. But before long, these graduates’ mailboxes will be filled with the dreaded notice that their student loan payments are due.
Today’s typical new college graduate leaves school with around $31,100 in student loan debt. That number has steadily increased over the years as the cost of college continues to skyrocket out of control (see our previous report where we found the cost of attending college has increased at 5x the rate of inflation).
While some of these new graduates will undoubtedly land great jobs and be able to start paying off their loans, the reality is many of them will struggle to make the required payments. And as time goes on and interest adds up, many of these new graduates may soon find themselves in a situation faced by tens of millions of other Americans right now where they simply can’t afford to pay off their loans.
Student loan forgiveness has been a hot topic in the news as the Biden administration reportedly has been considering forgiving $10,000 of debt for qualifying borrowers (those who earn less than $150,000 per year, or less than $300,000 annually for married couples filing jointly).
The current pause on federal student loan payments that was enacted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic is set to come to an end in August, making it more likely that an official decision on the issue will be made later this summer.
With all the discussion surrounding President Biden’s plan to cancel a portion of student debt, My eLearning World has released a new report analyzing interest in student loan forgiveness across all 50 states.
- South Dakota
- Montana
- Pennsylvania
- Illinois
- Ohio
- Iowa
- Minnesota
- Idaho
- Wisconsin
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Alabama
- Maryland
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Oklahoma
- Louisiana
- Arizona
- Indiana
- Vermont
- States in the northern half of the US have seen the largest increase in interest in student loan forgiveness since the onset of the pandemic
- There appears to be no correlation between cost of living and increased interest in student loan forgiveness
- The Erie, PA metro area saw the largest increase in student loan forgiveness in the entire country, followed by Macon, GA, Watertown, NY, Parkersburg, WV, and Binghamton, NY.
