US President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a partial forgiveness of student loans, an issue that is sparking heated debate in a country where a year of college can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
“As per my campaign promise, my administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families a break as they prepare to resume federal student loan repayments in January 2023,” he tweeted. Mr. Biden, promising details in the afternoon.
The measure affects people earning less than US$125,000 (CA$162,096) a year, according to an illustration accompanying the president’s tweet.
It will be a question of erasing 10,000 $US (12,968 $CA) for people who have not benefited from a federal scholarship to pay the costs related to their university studies, and 20,000 $US ($25,957 CA) dollars for those of more modest means who received one.
Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren hailed in a joint statement “a giant step towards resolving the student debt crisis”.
The leader of the Republican Party, Ronna McDaniel, on the contrary judged that this measure “unfairly punishes Americans who have saved for university or made a different career choice”.
To see in video