Student debt forgiveness is finally here

Everything about student debt is big. There are more than 40 million borrowers and they owe an astronomical $1.6 trillion. By comparison, the major increase in military aid to Ukraine announced this week will cost only $3 billion. 

President Biden’s announcement today forgives $10,000 for millions of borrowers and up to $20,000 for recipients of the Federal Pell Grant program, which provides grants to students who have demonstrated significant financial need. Before the different rates for Pell Recipients was added to the equation, this plan was estimated to cost about $300 billion.

The Biden administration deserves much credit for targeting debt forgiveness for the neediest students. This is an important step to help those struggling the most with student debt — those in default, 60 percent of whom owe less than $10,000.