By Nayanna Hollins
President Joe Biden has discussed a plethora of ideas during his 2020 campaign and his presidency- vowing to improve educational and financial resources for college students. Now, after seven months in the Oval Office, it’s time to see if he has made the grade for college students.
The CARES Act
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law under the Trump Administration on March 27, 2020. The act allowed employers to pay off $5,250 from each of their employees’ student loans, dispersed emergency aid grant money for college students, and froze interest on student loan debts and payment collections. Biden did extend the cut-off time for the CARES Act during his presidency. As of now, it is set to end on September 6, 2021.
See how some of Biden’s priorities align with what college students, among others, care about:
The American Rescue Plan
This plan was signed into law in February 2021. In addition to boosting the CARES Act relief and providing grants for schools, it also declared that any student loan-forgiveness plans passed between December 30, 2020, and January 1, 2026, would be tax-free.
Loan Forgiveness
In October 2020, during his campaign for office, Biden went to a town hall meeting in Miami. When asked what he would do to support Generation Z, he said it’s time to make sure that Generation Z can start their careers with a clean slate.
“That’s why I’m going to eliminate a lot of your student debt if you come from a family of less than $125,000 and you went to a public university,” Biden said at the meeting. “I’m going to make sure that everybody in this generation gets $10,000 knocked off of their student debt as we try to get out of this God-awful pandemic.”
Biden has restated his goal numerous times, yet there has not been notable progress towards achieving it. Currently, lawyers within his administration are researching to find out whether or not he can achieve this goal through an executive order.
The American Families Plan
On April 28, 2021, Biden announced the American Families Plan. In addition to supporting working families with more accessible childcare, paid leave, and tax cuts, the proposal also has the potential to fulfill many of the campaign promises Biden made to students. The plan would cost $1.8 trillion in total over 10 years, according to data from Morning Consult found here.
- $109 billion would be used to provide students with two years of free community college, to give everyone a chance to receive an associate degree.
- $85 billion would be invested into Pell grants, increasing the maximum grant amount by $1,400. The Family Plan would also make these grants available to DREAMers.
- $62 billion would be invested into implementing programs and strategies to keep college students from dropping out.
- $46 billion would be invested into Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs). This money would be used to provide two years of subsidized tuition for students whose families make less than $125,000 a year, expand programs in high-demand fields, expand aid grants, and provide resources for teachers.
According to a recent Morning Consult poll, 58% of voters want this plan enacted. However, due to the financial demands of this policy, the Family Plan requires congressional approval to be enacted. Biden has been very adamant about building rapport between parties and has successfully gotten Republicans and Democrats to work with him on an infrastructure investment plan.
In a briefing room statement, he addressed the potential pushback towards the Family Plan, saying,
“I have been clear from the start that it was my hope that the infrastructure plan could be one that Democrats and Republicans would work on together, while I would seek to pass my Family Plan and other provisions through the process known as reconciliation. There has been no doubt or ambiguity about my intention to proceed this way.”
Biden made it clear he would maintain his commitment to supporting the infrastructure plan, regardless of how congress members vote in the future. At the same time, he also urged both parties to support the Family Plan, indicating he wanted them to be equally prioritized and signed together.
When asked whether or not Biden prioritizes the needs of college students, Jelani Leftridge, a rising sophomore at Howard University, said.
“No, he only said all those things to get votes. He really had no intentions to do anything about student debt. Those all feel like empty promises.” Many students feel the same way, viewing Biden’s campaign promises as a performative stunt to sway Gen Z voters. However, despite the uncertain future of Biden’s plans, one thing is clear: young voters are a force to be reckoned with.
According to Circle’s Election Week statistics, constituents between the ages of 18 and 29 made up 17% of votes in the 2020 Presidential Elections. Up to 55% of the youth voted in the election and they were the most partial towards Biden out of all age demographics. As Generation Z and younger millennials continue to merge into a voting block, appealing to their interests could prove crucial to executive and legislative officials seeking reelection in the future.
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