November 2024 – Health Advocate Insights

Much has happened in the work of student loan debt relief over the past month. Last Friday saw the release of President Biden’s student loan debt relief proposal. The plan, which would benefit eight million individuals, is the result of legal challenges to his initial effort which would have given relief to 43 million borrowers until it was struck down by the Supreme Court last year. The initial revised plan would have provided relief to borrowers who currently owe more than they initially borrowed or those who have been paying down their debt for 20 years or more; however, it is currently upheld in the courts. The revised final rule has yet to be released; however, according to the draft rule, the proposal would allow the Department of Education to waive the balance of outstanding loans to a borrower who experiences an income shock such as chronic illness, childcare costs, or medical bills, among others. 

The ongoing battle to increase accountability over higher education has made a surprising move to the state policy arena. The National Council on State Legislatures’ Higher Education Task Force, which includes members from 32 states, recently released a report advocating for major changes to the role of the federal government in higher education. Arguing that there has been a lack of coordination between the work of state and federal governments, the report focused on two key issues. First, the report implied that the trend towards student loan forgiveness will place a harmful burden on taxpayers and that the federal government should instead focus on expanding Pell Grant programs as a means to promote higher education access. The report further suggested that the increasing political interest in transparency and accountability should be left to the states given their direct and constitutional relationship to higher education institutions. Concerned that there is a lack of federal consensus on what accountability is and what measures should be taken, the authors note that, “unclear or mixed intentions can make for clunky or ineffectual implementation. If Congress contemplates a bipartisan consensus on federal accountability policies, the task force would advise it to: Use accountability measures carefully, thoughtfully and on a limited basis; recognize and support state efforts whenever possible; and seek alternative approaches to accountability when seeking to improve outcomes.” It is unclear how much traction this report will get in Congress given the deeply politicized nature of the issue which has centered college campuses within debates over culture wars in the US.