As voters weigh the candidates’ various proposals heading into the 2020 presidential election, issues around higher education and mounting national student loan debt are factors many are considering before casting a ballot.
Currently, more than 40 million Americans have student loan debt, and collectively they owe the federal government $1.5 trillion. In a poll conducted by Cheddar, 12 percent of prospective voters said they defaulted on their loans with another 8 percent in danger of doing the same.
A Brookings study found that approximately 40 percent of student loan borrowers are expected to default by 2023. The financial strain, particularly in a year where the COVID-19 crisis has piled up hospital bills for many families, has moved student debt planning higher up on the list of critical voting concerns.
Plans for higher education
The Trump administration so far has rolled out the College Scorecard, a tool for prospective college students to navigate the cost of various schools, the earning potential based on major, and secondary higher education options, like apprenticeships. The president largely views higher education as a consumer-driven marketplace.
While federal spending under Trump has reached landmark levels, he plans to slash funds for higher education by $170 billion. The cut would effectively limit access to students in need of financial aid, but the president has shown some flexibility on Pell Grants for lower-income families. Access to government-subsidized loans would also end, leaving those still in school or facing an economic fallout to cover interest fees.
Joe Biden, meanwhile, has a plan to cancel student debt for millions of qualifying students. Those who attended public universities, historically Black colleges and universities, or minority-serving institutions would have their loans wiped out. He also has said that attending public universities should be free for low and middle-income students.
Students from families making less than $125,000 annually would also have their obligations forgiven.
Read More on Trump and Biden's Plans:
Trump vs. Biden on Raising the Federal Minimum Wage
Biden vs. Trump on Student Loans and Higher Education
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. The only dissenter was Stephen Miran, the recent Trump-appointee.
After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
The Trump administration has issued its first warnings to online services that offer unofficial versions of popular drugs like the blockbuster obesity treatment Wegovy.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama says his new Cabinet will include an artificial intelligence “minister” in charge of fighting corruption. The AI, named Diella, will oversee public funding projects and combat corruption in public tenders. Diella was launched earlier this year as a virtual assistant on the government's public service platform. Corruption has been a persistent issue in Albania since 1990. Rama's Socialist Party won a fourth consecutive term in May. It aims to deliver EU membership for Albania in five years, but the opposition Democratic Party remains skeptical.
The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
President Donald Trump's administration last month awarded a $1.2 billion contract to build and operate what's expected to become the nation’s largest immigration detention complex to a tiny Virginia firm with no experience running correction facilities.
