BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Friday the Supreme Court ruled against President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which would have eliminated up to $20,000 in student loans for millions of Americans.
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Matt Conwell of Tonawanda agrees with Friday's Supreme Court ruling, "I take out loans, and I pay them off," said Conwell. "I don't have any debt. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way."
About 43 million Americans, more than 13% of the U.S., have student loans to pay. According to a 2022 Nerd Wallet study, the average U.S. household that has student debt owes $58,000.
Nicole Niro of Buffalo said she has student debt and was looking forward to the assistance.
"I'm upset," said Nicole Niro, of Buffalo. "What's the point of setting everyone back? Why don't we just do better for everyone?"
The forgiveness plan would've helped her with her $12,000 in student debt, but Niro said she knows people who owe more than $50,000.
"It's not easy," said Niro. "That on top of a home, car, and everything else, and inflation."
Nathan Daun-Barnett, a professor of higher education at the University at Buffalo, says the ruling on student loan forgiveness shouldn't be a surprise.
While many are focusing on the headline, "Supreme Court strikes down student-loan forgiveness plan," he says there are other provisions in the plan that were not included in today's decision — that are still being debated to address long-term student debt issues.
Daun-Barnett explains, "They wanted to fix the income contingent loan repayment program, which they're working on the rules now and I think if that happens that will actually affect some of the structural problems that we see. They're going to cap the amount that students would have to pay back as a portion of their discretionary income and reduce the number of years from 20 down to 10 that they would have to pay before their loan would be forgiven. To me, that's a better approach to dealing longer term with what student loan recipients were going to have to deal with."
He also has advice for those taking out college loans. He says to make sure you understand the terms of your loan, what your monthly payments will be, and how long you have to make them.
Daun-Barnett recommends you take out your loans through federal programs. If you qualify for federal or state aid make sure you know the rules of maintaining that aid. You could lose it if you don't meet academic requirements or you have poor credit. Also, consider a job that could lead to student loan forgiveness.
