An Edvisors® survey with 1,143 respondents found that over 59% of respondents support student loan forgiveness. Edvisors conducted a study in July, through its proprietary ScholarshipPoints community. Student loan forgiveness has been a popular topic that has been discussed much over the last several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has renewed public interest and once again brought the subject to the forefront of discussion in America.
Many families have dealt with unexpected negative financial consequences due to the pandemic, and the federal government responded by providing student loan debt relief. The relief offered was in the form of a temporary 0% interest rate and no requirement to make a payment from March 13, 2020, through Jan. 31, 2022 on U.S. Department of Education owned federal student loans. Now many are looking for further solutions to help alleviate the burden of the student loan debt crisis, especially when the deferment period ends early next year, and loan payments will once again become due.
Key study takeaways:
- Over 59% of respondents support student loan forgiveness, and over 20% of respondents partially support student loan forgiveness
- Over 70.46% of respondents believe that President Biden should forgive student loans
- The overwhelming majority (70.48%) of respondents believe that anyone with private or federal student loans should qualify for student loan forgiveness
- Over 30% of respondents believe that all outstanding student loan debt should be forgiven, followed by over 25% thinking that $25,000 is a fair amount to forgive, and over 20% that $10,000 is a fair amount to forgive
- The majority of respondents (70.16%) did not believe that charging interest on federal student loans is fair
- 51.73% of respondents feel that student loan forgiveness will solve the student loan debt crisis, and 27.94% are undecided
- When asked if they believe colleges/universities should be held partially responsible for the student debt crisis, over 77% of respondents said yes, that they should be
“Even though student loan forgiveness has been a hot topic over the past two years, it’s still quite eye-opening to see these numbers,” explains Elaine Rubin, Director of Corporate Communications. “While there are many factors that play into the resolution of the student debt crisis, it’s clear that the public is seeking a solution and student loan forgiveness is the leading idea to help achieve this goal.”
For full survey results: Edvisors Student Loan Forgiveness Survey Results
Methodology:
Edvisors commissioned a nationwide online survey on their proprietary ScholarshipPoint.com website to member 13+. The survey received a total of 1,143 responses from July 1st, 2021 – July 28th, 2021. The primary focus of the survey is to get student opinions regarding federal and private student loan forgiveness. The sample’s demographics reflected Edvisors’ diverse audience with 21% of respondents identifying as African American, 15% of respondents identifying as Latin/Hispanic, and 14.23% identifying as Asian.