Voters Demand Student Debt Cancellation

By Anika Dandekar and Sabrina Jacobs

Americans feel the burden of student loan debt for years, often decades, after they leave college. For some people, loans affect their ability to buy a house, afford a car, and make other monthly payments. The United States currently exceeds $1.7 trillion in education debt and about 10 million people are estimated to be in delinquency or default. Furthermore, studies show that people of color face disparate impacts of student debt, with students of color borrowing more than white students for the same degrees and the black-white debt gap tripling within four years of graduation.

Since late February, Data for Progress and Student Borrower Protection Center have conducted six surveys, researching voters’ attitudes on student loans and debt cancellation. Majorities of voters who are borrowers report little confidence in their ability to make loan payments if the payment pause were lifted. Among the entire electorate, we consistently find broad support for loan cancellation, including among majorities of voters with no bachelor’s degrees and voters with no current student loan debt.