The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday morning on whether the Biden administration has the authority to forgive student loan debt. Under Biden’s plan, non-Pell Grant recipients would receive up to $10,000 in debt cancellation. Pell Grant recipients would receive twice that amount.
A group called the Campaign to Cancel My Student Debt held a rally in front of the Supreme Court. Students from Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, and Glendale Community College camped out overnight to be there.
Miranda Lopez is regional director in Southern Arizona for the Arizona Students’ Association. The organization flew both her and the students out to Washington, D.C., on Monday.
“[We] had a lot of blankets,” Lopez said of camping out. “It was very cold.”
Lopez graduated from the University of Arizona and has student debt. She says the financial burden takes a toll, especially for those who didn't have a choice to borrow money to pay for school.
“Because you’ve been told your whole life, ‘This is the way that you will get your education,’” Lopez said.
She said she hopes to see debt cancellation because it is unfair to keep borrowers on the hook if they felt they had no choice but to get loans, or made that choice at a young age.
“It just seems like you’re always told you have to get an education, you have to go to college, you have to do this, you have to do that,” Lopez said. “And you do it, and it just is this huge financial burden. And you’re paying it off for the rest of your life. And you’re like, ‘Why did I do this?’”
Lopez said she sees helping the roughly 45 million borrowers who still owe as a potential boost to the economy.
“Former students don’t spend nearly as much right now as they would if they didn’t have debt,” she said.
Lopez said she hopes people will consider what the future will look like if debt prevents future students from studying fields like medicine and engineering.
