The College Fix

By Casey Harper | The Center Square

A majority of Americans are less likely to support candidates in favor of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness, according to a newly released survey data.

Convention of States Action, along with the Trafalgar Group, released the data, which found that 55.6 percent of voters say they are “less likely to vote for a candidate who supports President Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.”

In fact, 49 percent of those surveyed said they are “much less likely” to support that kind of candidate. Notably, 64.6 percent of independent voters said the same.

The survey comes after Biden announced in late August that taxpayers would foot the bill for $10,000 to $20,000 per borrower in student loan debt. Biden said his administration will also allow debtors to cap repayment of their student loans at 5 percent of their income.

Those payments will not need to begin until the beginning of next year, according to the Biden administration.

The decision was met with controversy and pushback from critics who raised concerns about the federal spending amid heightened inflation as well as questions about whether Americans should be paying the bills of the college-educated.

“Joe Biden has had a lot of bad ideas,” U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said after the announcement. “But transferring billions in student loan debt to taxpayers – especially at a time of high inflation – might be his worst idea yet.”

The poll found that 44.4 percent of voters say they are “more likely to vote for a candidate who supports Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan” while 30.9 percent say they are “much more likely” to do so.

The survey queried more than 1,000 likely midterm voters from Sept. 2 through Sept. 5.

“We’re seeing this reflected not just in the polling but on the ground as well with grassroots activists we talk to in every state,” said Mark Meckler, president of the Convention of States Action. “This is looking like the sleeper issue that may have more impact in November than people suspect.”

The survey comes on the heels of another recent survey that found the majority of Americans fear student loan cancellation will hike prices.

As The Center Square previously reported, the CNBC/Momentive survey released in August said that 59 percent of those surveyed said they are concerned forgiving the debt will make inflation worse.

“Republicans are especially concerned: 81% of Republicans say student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse, nearly double the number of Democrats who say the same (41%),” Momentive said.

Originally published September 12, 2022 by The Center Square

IMAGE: Drop of Light / Shutterstock

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