“Will Canceling Student Debt Worsen the Divide Between Graduates and Blue Collar Workers?”

Laurie Bereau is a lecturer in American civilization at Rennes 2 University.

LE FIGARO. – Joe Biden announced the partial student debt waiver. How important are student debt and the cost of higher education to American public opinion?

Laurie BEREAU. – This question occupies a prominent place in American discussions. Some say this is potentially the next bubble that could sweep away the US economy – student debt hits $1.5 trillion in the US. It is therefore a problem very present in the minds of Americans and this announcement was rather well relayed in the media and on social networks, with an incisive communication from the White House: Joe Biden stepped up to the plate in a conference of press and the White House’s Twitter account counter-attacked against Republicans who denounced the measure by displaying the tax credits that some Republicans had themselves benefited from, a way of attacking the hypocrisy of Republicans who see no problem with tax credits when they benefit businesses or the wealthy.

Who is affected by this decision?

Education is a federal jurisdiction in the United States, so Partial Debt Relief applies to all states. However, there are disparities in higher education depending on the state: more progressive states such as New York or California, for example, have quite developed and fairly well-funded public university networks, even if that is nothing to do with French universities. The measure will in any case potentially affect students from all over the country, regardless of the type of establishment they have attended – because the system is very fragmented, between public universities, private non-profit universities and private for-profit institutions. But the $10,000 student debt waiver will only target former students who did not earn more than $125,000 annually in 2021 or 2022.

This measure is more of a response to the inflation crisis, the decline in purchasing power, but it does not provide an answer to the structural problem of debt and the cost of studies.

Laurie Bereau

Does this measure represent a turning point in educational policy in the United States or is it only a short-term measure?

This is a major measure because just over 40 million Americans are eligible for this partial debt relief. For about half of them, this amounts to completely erasing the slate of their student debt, which is not negligible. This decision targets in particular the most socio-economically fragile former students, those who have preferred short, professional and less expensive training courses, but which do not necessarily lead to high-paying jobs. It will also help the large number of students who have dropped out of school.

The measure targets very well the most fragile – because there was a risk of watering everyone who was denounced by the Republicans – but it does not at all solve the root of the problem, that of the cost of higher education in the States States and the need to go into debt to be able to study. We have an answer there, in 2022, which is more of an answer to the inflation crisis, the decline in purchasing power, but it does not provide an answer to the structural problem of debt and the cost studies. Some even go so far as to say that it feeds the problem because partial debt relief acts on what students pay rather than tempering and regulating the unity of what institutions charge. One could imagine that the establishments take advantage of these 10,000 dollars of exemption to invoice more; there is a risk of a rather colossal increase in registration fees.

Several positions coexisted within the Democratic Party on this issue; how was the announcement received in the Party?

Among the Democrats, the first response is quite positive. We see the sign of a momentum that galvanizes the most progressive, the left wing of the Democrats, who see the midterm elections coming in November and are happy that things are starting to move. After the law on the reduction of inflation and its many provisions on the environment and energy policy, this new measure continues the remobilization of this left wing. Some believe, however, that it does not go far enough: during the 2020 Democratic primary, Bernie Sanders called for a total cancellation of student debt and free access to higher education; Elizabeth Warren proposed a cancellation of up to $50,000 for all students. Joe Biden, who is a centrist, was already announcing more moderate figures.

The US president is caught in the crossfire because he also has a very centrist wing, including a number of Democrats whose seats in Congress are up for grabs in November, and who come from slightly more moderate states. They are worried about this measure that the Republicans will be able to wave as a socialist danger. In Ohio or Nevada, for example, the elections will partly be played out on non-graduate blue-collar workers who could feel aggrieved by the measure.

There is a very clear split among Americans, linked to the level of education: Americans with a diploma are largely leaning towards the Democrats, and those who have not been beyond high school are an electoral bloc very inclined to support the Republicans.

Laurie Bereau

How did the Republicans react?

For Republicans, it’s a bit of a godsend; this measure allows them to get out of the news of the unrest at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Moreover, when we look at the elections of recent years, there is a very clear split among Americans, linked to the level of education: Americans with degrees turn largely to the Democrats, and those who have not Beyond high school are an electoral bloc very inclined to support Republicans. The Republicans are therefore playing this card by denouncing the fact that many brave Americans have paid off their student debt without assistance from the state. They also raise the specter of the debt, the deficit and the cost of this measure. Finally, we criticize the electoral side of the measure, two and a half months before the elections: Ted Cruz believes that we are buying the vote of Americans who will benefit from it and that we will finance lazy people who make a living, who have not calculated the cost of their studies, to the detriment of the most deserving Americans.

Mitch McConnell, leader of the Republican minority in the Senate, saw in this measure a “form of socialism” and a huge slap in the face for American families who have sacrificed themselves to pay for their children’s education. We really play the opposition of the worker who has not studied and worked hard to feed his family or who has set aside to finance the studies of his children against the America of the assisted who did not calculate , not worked, who takes refuge in long studies which lead to nothing and who pockets the check at the end of the race.

Could this measure increase the divide between educated urbanites and the American middle and working classes?

This is certainly an argument that will be put forward by Republicans, but it does not quite correspond to reality because, in fact, the measure will primarily benefit people who have not studied very long. and who have not taken on a colossal debt. The standard profile that will benefit from it is that of the student who has gone to the community college near his home to follow a short, technical and professional training. It’s going to be used by Republicans who are trying to mobilize their electorate for the November elections; they are currently losing ground and will therefore cling to this measure to play on the caricature of the democrat who is rich, educated, lecturer and not in tune with the pulse of America.

SEE ALSO — Joe Biden announces partial student debt forgiveness