One-third of Alabama student loan borrowers could have debt erased

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - For Alabama borrowers, 33.4% of the state population with debt, or around 199,000 people, could see their student loans completely vanish.

With nearly $1.75 trillion collectively owed by all borrowers in the United States according to Forbes, it’s one of the biggest regular issues for those that are actively gaining a degree or have already obtained one.

The burden these debts create has been a talking point for a while, not just from person to person, but with our highest ranking officials in Washington as well. The conversation even entered into campaign promises during the 2020 presidential election from now-President Biden, who vowed to cancel $10,000 per borrower in student debt. or around $321 billion.

“Canceling $10,000 per federal borrower would eliminate $321 billion of student loans,” said Fortune. “About one-third of borrowers would see their debt completely erased if $10,000 were forgiven.”

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That campaign promise might soon become reality, as Biden said last month he would have more details on a federal forgiveness plan coming. Reports in recent months such as this one from Business Insider detail Biden would forgive $10,000 for borrowers who make under $150,000 a year.

While no final plan has been unveiled as of yet, and no timetable for when it might be shown to the American public, a clearer picture has been unveiled of what to expect for some with student debt, especially those who currently have only $10,000 or less in loans.

College resource site schoolauthority.org put together maps based on data from the US Department of Education (studentaid.gov). These give us a good look at how many borrowers per state have $10,000 or less in federal student loan debt, and thus would have an option to see their entire debt cancelled if they qualified within the income limit of Biden’s proposed forgiveness plan.

(Based On Data From The Department of Education)(schoolauthority.org)

As previously mentioned, 33.4% of Alabama’s state population currently with student debt sit with $10,000 or less owed on their plate, and would potentially be eligible for complete forgiveness based on the income requirement.

Here is how that compares to the 10 states who would receive the most help based on the state population percentage of total borrowers with $10k or less in student debt:

Wyoming - 40.3%
Nevada - 39.9%
Oklahoma - 38.8%
Utah - 38.5%
New Mexico - 37.9%
Louisiana - 37.8%
Alaska - 37.6%
North Dakota - 37.5%
Arkansas - 37.2%
Arizona - 37.0%

Alabama’s percentage of state population lies just above those in the other end of the spectrum, the least helped states based on those percentages, which include:

New Hampshire - 32.8%
Oregon - 32.7%
Minnesota - 32.4%
Pennsylvania - 32.0%
Vermont - 31.7%
South Carolina - 30.9%
Maryland - 30.7%
North Carolina - 30.6%
Georgia - 30.5%
Virginia - 30.1%

Tell us in our new poll where you stand: does Biden’s forgiveness plan do enough to help eliminate student debt in Alabama?

clarification: Previous wording indicated 1/3 of the state population itself would benefit from the debt forgiveness, but that should have been more specifically 1/3 of the state population WITH student debt. I've corrected the article with the better clarification, I appreciate the person on Facebook for pointing out the slip up in wording!

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