In fact, nearly all of the Democratic presidential candidates have come out with some kind of proposal to help reduce student debt and even President Donald Trump favors modifying repayment plans to make them less complicated for borrowers. Debt forgiveness, as Fishman says, is «the sexy new thing, the shiny object.»
But if you need evidence that erasing student debt in the U.S. would be a much thornier challenge than the candidates own up to, look no further than what’s happened with the country’s more limited attempt at it: the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. Signed into law by President George W. But since the first borrowers became eligible for forgiveness 18 months ago, nearly 74,000 have applied and more than 99 percent have been rejected-a spectacular failure rate that has prompted widespread derision, anger and a spate of lawsuits, including one by the American Federation of Teachers accusing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos of gross mismanagement.
Many higher education experts applaud the candidates’ desire to help struggling borrowers, but raise serious questions about the cost, effectiveness and fairness of the proposals so far. «For someone like me, who’s worked in the area for a long time, it’s exciting and heartwarming to know this issue is getting attention,» says Scott-Clayton. «But now that we’ve crossed that major hurdle, the question is whether attention is being directed in the most productive way.»
