(WXYZ) — Metro Detroiters are sharing their thoughts on President Biden’s new student loan forgiveness program.
RELATED: More than 6K Michiganders have $47M of student debt forgiven under latest plan
“Definitely a huge proponent,” said Sam Mead.
Mead is studying electrical engineering at Wayne State. He says loan forgiveness programs are helpful for students who don’t land high-paying jobs right after school.
“A lot of people just get stuck after graduation having all this debt and the job market not really meeting their expectations,” said Mead.
Under President Biden’s plan, federal loan balances are erased for those who originally borrowed $12,000 or less and have made payments for at least 10 years.
“A debt is a debt, you pay it. You took it, you pay it,” said Jim Katsaros.
On Thursday, we put a call out on social media to see what people had to say about the program.
As you can imagine, there was a mixed reaction to it.
“If you take out a loan, you should pay the loan back that’s what loans are for,” said Paul Brusman.
Brunsman says he paid off all of his loans after he finished college.
“The reality is when you cancel student debt, then all the people that couldn’t afford to send their kids to school are the ones that end up paying for it,” said Brunsman.
Brunsman’s son, Michael, has a different take on the matter though.
“It really helps out people who have been paying their loans, especially in like lower-income families, sometimes your loan accumulates more than you’re paying off each month so you end up in an endless cycle of never paying off your loans,” said Brusman.
While more than 150,000 borrowers have had their student loan debt wiped out, some people are still waiting to have theirs canceled.
“I’m hoping that mine are forgiven and it will make a big difference,” said Ashley Correll.
Correll used student loans to pay for beauty school.
“I was 18 when I went to school and I just felt like I had to do something at that time, I ended up not going with that career choice so it’s actually just been following me since,” said Correll.
Currently, the Biden administration has approved nearly $138 billion in student debt cancellation.
