(THE CONVERSATION) When the Biden administration announced in August 2022 that it was canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt per borrower, it said the idea was to provide families with “breathing room as they prepare to start repaying loans after the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic.” But two federal courts recently blocked President Joe Biden’s student loan relief program, ruling it unconstitutional. Here, William Chittenden, a professor of finance at Texas State University, explains why and what’s next for student loan borrowers still hopeful that their loans can be forgiven.
1. Why was Biden’s student loan cancellation program blocked?
It was found to be unconstitutional. That determination was made on Nov. 10, 2022, by Judge Mark Pittman of the U.S. District Court of Northern Texas, who ruled that the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 – or Heroes Act – “does not provide the executive branch clear congressional authorization” for a student loan forgiveness program. He said further that the program was “an unconstitutional exercise of Congress’s legislative power and must be vacated.”
