“Debt” is an unpleasant word, evoking an obligation that people can feel hangs over them. Given that, it would be no surprise if mass cancellation of federal student loans, as President Biden declared last week, had intuitive appeal to many people. Indeed, new polling from Cato’s Project on Public Opinion reveals just such support. But it also reveals something else: When presented with potential downsides of mass cancellation, especially its quite possible effect on infamously high college prices, sentiment flips from major support to major opposition.
The basic premise in the new survey is a bit different from what Biden ended up announcing, asking about “forgiveness” for individuals making less than $150,000 and households less than $300,000, rather than the $125,000 and $250,000 in the final plan. Also, the administration added $20,000 of cancellation for loans held by people who also received Pell Grants, moving more of the benefit to lower-income borrowers than higher. But it was still mass cancellation.
As seen below, presenting student debt forgiveness by itself generates lopsided support, with approval outpacing disapproval 64 to 36 percent.
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