Young Americans Overwhelmingly Want Government To Help Student Debt—But They’re Split On Canceling It, Poll Finds

Topline

More than 80% of Americans ages 18 to 29 want the government to take action when it comes to student debt relief, a new Harvard Youth Poll finds, but as the Biden Administration mulls whether to forgive at least some student debt, less than 40% of young people think it should be canceled for everyone.

Advocates call on President Joe Biden to sign an executive order to cancel student debt in a sign in … [+] front of the White House on June 15, 2021.

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Key Facts

The poll found 85% of respondents support some form of government action on student loans, while only 13% think nothing about its policies should change.

Of those who want the government to take action, 38% want the government to cancel student loans for everyone.

That’s the highest support of any of the government solutions polled, with 27% backing the government “help[ing]

with repayment options” without canceling any debt and 21% wanting it to cancel debt “only for those most in need.”

Support for canceling student debt for everyone has gone up by 5 percentage points since 2020, Harvard notes, while the share of those just wanting help with repayment has decreased by 8 points.

Democrats were most in favor of canceling debt for everyone—with 48% backing it versus 20% of Republicans and 39% of Independents—though even 73% of Republicans want the government to take some form of action (38% want help with repayment options and 15% want debt canceled for some).

People of color were more likely to support debt cancellation for everyone—50% of Black, 43% of Hispanic and 38% of Asian respondents, versus 33% of white ones—which reflects the racial gap in student debt, with Black Americans carrying the largest burden.

Tangent

The poll was conducted by the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics from March 15 to March 30 among 2,024 18- to 29-year-olds.

What To Watch For

The Biden Administration’s moratorium on student loan repayments has been extended through August 31, and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the Administration could make a decision on whether President Joe Biden will cancel student debt before that deadline. “Between now and August 31, [the student loan pause is] either going to be extended or we’re going to make a decision . . . about canceling student debt,” Psaki said on a recent episode of Pod Save America, adding that debt forgiveness is “still on the table.” The president has previously supported canceling $10,000 in student debt per person, though CNBC notes an executive order forgiving the debt could be subject to legal challenges.

What We Don’t Know

Whether Biden canceling student debt or taking other action on student loan relief will get more young people to the polls in the midterms or 2024. The president now has only a 41% approval rating among the Harvard poll respondents, which is down 5 percentage points from the school’s last poll in Fall 2021 and 18 points since Spring 2021, and doing something politically popular like student debt relief could help improve his standing. Young Americans who said they aren’t likely to vote in November were actually more likely to support canceling debt than likely voters (39% versus 35%), though it’s unclear whether Biden’s action could convince them to change their mind and go vote. The poll also found large numbers of young people feel discouraged when it comes to political participation, with 42% saying they “don’t believe [their] vote will make a real difference.”

Key Background

More than 43 million Americans have federal student loan debt, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and borrowers owed a total of $1.6 trillion in outstanding loans as of the fourth quarter of 2021. That’s made the question of student debt a significant political issue, and Biden has taken action on student debt like continually extending the pause on student loan payments and expanding student loan forgiveness programs to include more borrowers. Canceling student debt has become a popular proposal among progressives, however, and calls from Democratic politicians for the administration to cancel debt have grown in recent months as the moratorium on loan repayments has stretched on. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) tweeted March 4 that “today would be a great day for President Biden and Vice President Harris to #CancelStudentDebt,” for instance, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) said on MSNBC in March that she “think[s] this is the moment” for Biden to take action on student debt, calling for him to cancel $50,000 in debt per person.