MILWAUKEE — A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court stopped President Biden from canceling billions of dollars in student loan debt. That means 40 million Americans will not see any relief from their federal student loans.
As word broke that the Supreme Court banned the student loan forgiveness plan, people around Milwaukee reacted.
“It is not good, not good,” said Asha Bennett, who has thousands of dollars in student loans.
“Well dang, I guess I have to go take some more orders so I can pay for it,” said Marty Scalen, who has a student loan and is currently working as a delivery driver.
Under President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, people could qualify for up to $20,000 in loan forgiveness. The White House says 90 percent of those affected are people who make $75,000 a year or less. Bennett says it would have made a big difference for her as she struggles to pay back her loans 10 years after graduating college.
“A lot of people who may not have a loan might not know it is not a negotiation, it is income-driven. Which is based on your W2 or 10-99,” said Bennett. “It is not really a consideration of gross versus net, so it can be crippling.”
She isn’t alone, according to the University of Wisconsin Madison professor Nick Hillman. He says U.S. Department of Education data shows 685,000 of the 700,000 borrowers who have a student loan in Wisconsin would have benefited from the forgiveness if it went through. The U.S. Department of Education says the repayment process will start on Sept. 1 and the first payments will be due in October.
“I do know that about $150 or so is about the median amount of monthly bills, student loan debt that people owe. So in the State of Wisconsin that's around about the sort of budgetary impact on people's wallets. And so, of course, that varies a lot,” said Hillman.
Bennett says she tried to pay down a lot of her loan after college, but with all the interest she still owes thousands of dollars. She says she will just keep chipping away at it.
“You are just paying the interest. It’s not good. That’s all I can say. I am going to do what I agreed to and what it is documented that I am going to do,” said Bennett.
Hillman says if you have student loans there are three things to do right now. First, start preparing to make that first loan repayment possibly by putting money aside. Second, contact your loan servicer to make sure they have your up-to-date contact information like your address and phone number. Third, talk to the servicer as well about your repayment options. You may be able to qualify for a different monthly payment.
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