Since Kamala Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, she has been avoiding the issue of forgiving student loan debt in her campaign activities. Despite over 40 million Americans burdened with federal student loan debt, Harris’s online policy only mentions loan forgiveness twice with no concrete plan. Why is Harris staying so low-key on this matter?
In her campaign efforts, Harris is striving to gain support from moderate voters, including a crucial group of Americans without college degrees.
At a campaign event in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania in September, Harris stated: “For too long, our country has only encouraged one path to success: a four-year college degree. Our country needs to recognize the value of other paths.”
According to the Associated Press, in a few short years, canceling student loans has shifted from a pillar policy of the Democratic Party to a political burden. What was once seen as a way to energize young voters is now wielded by Republicans as a criticism of benefiting the elite at the expense of those who have already paid off their loans or did not attend college.
During the presidential debate in September, this issue was only raised once, but not by Harris. Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump fiercely criticized Harris and the Biden administration for failing to fulfill their promise of canceling student loans, calling it a “total disaster” that “mocked the youth.”
“They haven’t even come close to getting complete student loan forgiveness,” said Trump.
Approximately 46 million Americans carry federal student loans, with a national balance of $1.7 trillion.
According to a press release from Harris’s campaign team in October 2024, she has been a staunch supporter of the Biden administration’s student loan debt relief plan. The Biden administration approved injecting $175 billion into the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program to assist over 4.8 million Americans with student debt. The PSLF program is aimed at forgiving the outstanding student loan debt of public servants such as teachers or nurses. The initial forgiveness plan by the Biden administration was to forgive $20,000 of student loan debt per person for tens of millions of Americans, but it was overturned by the Supreme Court last year.
Harris’s website states: “She will continue to work to end the unreasonable burden of student loan debt and make higher education more affordable, to make college a ticket to the middle class.” However, her campaign team has not specified how she will address this issue if elected.
During the 2019 presidential election as Biden’s running mate, Harris proposed a student debt relief plan providing $20,000 relief to Pell Grant recipients who have been in business in impoverished communities for three years. At the time, her plan faced criticism within the party for being too narrow and limited in scope.
During her tenure as a federal senator from California, Harris supported several legislative proposals to reduce student debt: the College for All Act introduced by Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Pramila Jayapal, allowing students from families earning up to $125,000 to attend four-year public colleges for free; the Debt-Free College Act, which establishes federal matching grants to help universities offer tuition without debt; and the Basic Act, providing grants to universities meeting students’ basic needs like food and healthcare.
However, these three bills were not approved as formal laws.
Biden once questioned the legality of large-scale student loan forgiveness, but under the influence of left-leaning figures like Senator Bernie Sanders, he began campaigning on this issue during the 2020 election. However, upon assuming office, Biden faced significant obstacles in implementing his plan. For Americans burdened with federal student loans, the hope of debt forgiveness has become increasingly dim.
Last year, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to reject Biden’s first large-scale student loan forgiveness plan – canceling up to $20,000 of student loan debt for over 40 million borrowers.
At a campaign rally in Wisconsin in April, President Biden introduced a new plan for student debt relief – “Changing Lives,” promising economic assistance to over 30 million Americans.
After lawsuits were filed by Republican-led states, this narrowed debt relief program was halted by federal judges.
On October 25, the Biden administration made another attempt to cancel student loans, this time focusing on 8 million Americans facing additional financial burdens beyond student loans (including medical expenses and financial difficulties due to natural disasters).
Harris expressed appreciation for this plan, reiterating her commitment to make higher education more affordable.
The proposed rules are expected to be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks, with the finalization of these rules set for 2025.
However, the future of this plan remains uncertain, with just over a week until the election on November 5.
Michelle Dimino, Director of Education Programs at the centrist think tank Third Way, told the Associated Press that the legal uncertainty might lead Harris to stop emphasizing student debt forgiveness, an issue familiar to her supporters.
“Until we know what will happen in court, she cannot provide much new content,” Dimino said, noting that Harris had not attempted broad loan forgiveness when Biden initially proposed it in 2020. “Now, the situation is completely different from 2020; everything was cleaner then.”
Harris’s silence on the loan forgiveness plan also signals political risks, especially in a tense election where any new commitment to cancel student loans could become a fresh target for Republicans to attack her.
Preston Cooper, a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, said: “Harris’s campaign team has recognized that this may not be a winning political issue.”
“The student loan agenda is disjointed and hasn’t really helped them win any votes,” Cooper added.
Even moderate Americans have doubts about student loan forgiveness. A survey conducted by Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in June found that only a third of American adults approve of Biden’s handling of student debt. Slightly over half of Democrats expressed support for Biden’s work on the issue, while only 18% of independents did.
For voters who could benefit from student loan forgiveness, they have heard promises from both Biden and Harris.
Aissa Canchola Bañez, political director of Protect Borrowers Action, said that Harris’s record on student debt forgiveness indicates she will uphold the promises made under Biden’s leadership.
Harris’s campaign website mentions the issue of student loans only after a full-page policy targeting workers without degrees. During the September rally in Pennsylvania, she stated plans to eliminate unnecessary degree requirements for federal jobs, which garnered applause, but she did not address student loans in her 20-minute speech.
That event took place at Wilkes University, a private university in northeastern Pennsylvania. Harris told attendees: “Requiring a certain degree doesn’t necessarily mean one’s skills.”
Harris’s remarks echo traditional Republican perspectives, aligning with increasing skepticism of the value of a college degree among Americans, a view gaining popularity among Democrats as well.
Andrew Gillen, a researcher at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom, said: “Student loan forgiveness…may reduce some of the support Harris hopes to gain from individuals who have not had a college education. These polarizing topics are poisoning other issues that both parties support. Once issues like student loan forgiveness are resolved, I think more bipartisan agreements will emerge.”
This is one of the few commonalities between Harris and Trump.
Trump expressed in his platform that he will “support creating additional, more affordable alternatives to traditional four-year college degree programs.” The platform does not mention the issue of student loans. Trump opposes student loan forgiveness, viewing it as illegal and unfair.
Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 campaign, told the Associated Press: “President Trump will implement real solutions to make education, housing, and living expenses affordable again for young people to achieve the American dream.”
Melissa Byrne, a political activist advocating for student loan forgiveness, believes Trump’s promises are vague, failed to address public service loan forgiveness issues, and hindered a broad student debt forgiveness plan through his appointed judges.
The fate of student loan forgiveness remains unclear, likely dependent on whether Harris or Trump ultimately wins this year’s presidential election, with the outcome expected next week.