Fresno State students can thank President Biden for erasing their student loan anxieties

About 25,000 students are attending Fresno State this year. Of those, over a third — 9,000 — have federal student loans.

And according to university officials, the average indebtedness being carried by each borrower is $14,000. That is well below the national average, but is still a sizable number.

However, the pressure on Fresno State students to repay those loans got significantly eased Wednesday when President Biden announced a debt forgiveness program.

In his announcement, Biden said he is canceling $10,000 in debt for students earning $125,000 or less a year. That number doubles to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Those grants can be used to cover tuition, housing and other costs while in school. At Fresno State, 60% of students receive the grants, university officials said.

Given that 66% of Fresno State’s students are the first in their families to go to college, the news was more welcome than even an A-plus on a test.

Loan forgiveness is good

There was predictable outrage and opposition by Republicans. Said Senate Republican Leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky: “Inflation is crushing working families and his answer is to give away even more money to elites with higher salaries.”

Few Fresno State students would consider themselves to be among the “elites.”

The chance to graduate without much debt, or any at all, will allow students to get jobs and put their earnings into other positive pursuits, such as starting a business, buying a home or helping family members. And that will be good for the region. Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval says 80% of the university’s students remain in the San Joaquin Valley after graduation.

How about the argument that older generations paid their own way through college? That is true, and without question it is laudable that they achieved that goal.

But those older Americans did not face the kind of college costs students do today. The White House says the average student graduates with $25,000 in debt.

Nor did their parents enter their working years with housing costs being as high as they are now, especially in California.

The White House says that relief will be targeted to low- and middle-income borrowers. Nearly 90% of relief money will go towards borrowers with an annual income less than $75,000, according to estimates from the Department of Education.

Should the debt relief have gone further? Perhaps. Will it increase already-high inflation, as Republicans claim? Analysts differ on that point.

Regardless of the politics, Biden deserves credit for doing more than any other president to address the burden of student debt. His decision hits close to home, as thousands of Fresno State students will be better off for it.

This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 2:40 PM.