Biden announces new plans for student debt relief: live updates (2024)

Posted June 30, 2023 at 6:05 PM EDT

We'll wind down this blog, but there's more to dig into on the student loan decision — as well as the other big case out of the Supreme Court today.

• Listen to analysisabout both cases from the NPR Politics Podcast
• Read Nina Totenberg's breakdown of the student loan ruling and the case involving a web designer who refused work for same-sex weddings
• Read Cory Turner's takeaways on what the opinion means for borrowers

Posted June 30, 2023 at 5:40 PM EDT

Kevin Dietsch

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It's officially summer for the Supreme Court, which delivered its final opinions of the term today.

The justices will be in recess until the first Monday of October, when they will go back to hearing oral arguments.

There's already a major Second Amendment case on the docket — the court today agreed to review a federal law that bars an individual subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 5:16 PM EDT

President Biden's "Plan B" to address student debt will require a formal rulemaking process and it's expected to take months, according to the White House.

This process will start with a public hearing as soon as July 18 and will involve negotiations with various affected stakeholders, said Bharat Ramamurti, the deputy director of the National Economic Council.

Ramamurti said it’s too early to say whether as many borrowers will be able to get relief through the new process as the original Biden program.

The “on-ramp” program will run from Oct. 1, 2023, through Sept. 30, 2024, the White House says.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 4:44 PM EDT

Under a new repayment plan outlined by President Biden following the decision Friday, borrowers' monthly payments will be slashed.

The Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, which student loan borrowers have to enroll in to get access to, would allow them to make $0 monthly payments.

Undergraduate loan borrowers will only have to pay 5% of discretionary income each month — down from 10%. Additionally, borrowers won't be charged monthly interest.

Loan balances will also be forgiven after 10 years of payments — instead of 20 years — for borrowers with original loan balances of $12,000 or less, according to the White House. Learn more.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 4:36 PM EDT

President Biden also shared Friday afternoon that his administration will create a "12-month on-ramp payment program” as part of his "Plan B" solution to deal with student loan debt.

Under this program, Americans won't face the threat of default or harm to their credit for the first 12 months that debt repayments are due, he said.

Additionally, the Education Department will not refer borrowers to credit agencies.

This plan will run from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024. Loan payments will be due and interest will accrue during this time, but the White House said interest will not capitalize at the end of the on-ramp period.

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Posted June 30, 2023 at 4:20 PM EDT

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President Biden said his administration is pursuing at least one new path to give millions of Americans relief from student debt.

He said this new approach will be grounded in the Higher Education Act, rather than the HEROES Act. He said this new path will allow Education Department Secretary Miguel A. Cardona to waive or release loans.

"It's legally sound," Biden said. He noted this process will take longer to grant loan forgiveness, but it's the "best way" to get this done, he said.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 3:28 PM EDT

David McNew

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While today's ruling will determine how much borrowers need to pay back, it's not likely to impact when they need to pay that amount back.

Since March 2020, tens of millions of federal student loan borrowers have had the option to take a break from paying back their student loans without earning additional interest.

But in May — after five extensions, three years and two presidents — Congress voted to include a restart provision in its deal to avoid a debt default.

The deal locked in the timeline for when repayments resume: 60 days after June 30 (today). That means all federal student loan borrowers will be expected to start making payments again this fall, with the first deadline falling in October. Their loans will begin accrue interest as of Sept. 1.

The Education Department has said it would notify borrowers before repayments begin.

The problem now is that most borrowers are out of the habit. In fact, many have never had to make a student loan payment.

According to federal data, roughly 7 million federal student loan borrowers are 24 years old or younger, which means they were at most 21, and in many cases still in college, when the current payment pause began in March 2020.

Making matters worse, many older borrowers will have a new loan servicing company — not to mention they may have forgotten their online portal passwords; some may not have even checked their balances in months, if not years. Those days are coming to an end.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 3:16 PM EDT

"This Supreme Court decision fails to recognize the realities faced by student loan borrowers today,"said Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association. The union is the largest in the U.S. and represents teachers and other educational support personnel.

Despite the union's disappointment in the ruling, the NEA said it will continue working with the Biden administration to cancel student debt in other ways.

Pringle and other union leaders criticized the court's ruling Friday, saying it impacts the very working families their organizations represent. Union leaders that publicly commented on the SCOTUS decision indicated they would work to support the White House's plan to figure out how to address student debt in other ways.

“Today’s decision is yet another example of this court’s contempt for working families," said American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees President Lee Saunders.

“Student debt is crushing the dreams of millions of people across the country, and this decision is a major setback in their efforts to secure the relief they need so badly. Now, we must move forward and work to identify other opportunities to address this ongoing burden.”

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said Biden has authority to forgive student loans under the HEROES Act (the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003) "to help ease COVID-19’s burden and cancel debt for 40 million Americans— the court’s failure to address the obvious issues of legal standing constitutes stunning malpractice."

The White House has said previouslyit believes it has authority to forgive student loans under HEROES.

Weingarten continued, "Fortunately, canceling debt under the HEROES Act isn’t the only legal remedy available: The president has other options, and we hope he swiftly decides on a new path."

Posted June 30, 2023 at 2:48 PM EDT

Alex Wong

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The highest-ranking Republicans in the House and Senate have weighed in on the ruling, and they approve.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell slammed Biden's plan as socialist, illegal and "a raw deal for hardworking taxpayers."

“The President of the United States cannot hijack twenty-year-old emergency powers to pad the pockets of his high-earning base and make suckers out of working families who choose not to take on student debt," he said in a statement.

McConnell added that the court's decision "deals a heavy blow to Democrats’ distorted and outsized view of executive power.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy also celebrated the court's rejection of the plan, adding that "the 87% of Americans without student loans are no longer forced to pay for the 13% who do."

In a separate tweet, he pointed out that the court's opinion featured a quote from then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi, saying the power of debt forgiveness belongs to Congress and not the president.

McCarthy suggested his predecessor, a Democrat, was onto something: "I agree with her for once!"

Posted June 30, 2023 at 2:17 PM EDT

Erin Schaff

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The New York Times via AP

Justice Elena Kagan described the majority's decision to strike down Biden's student loan as an overreach, in a dissenting opinion joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“In every respect, the Court today exceeds its proper, limited role in our Nation’s governance," it begins.

Kagan argued that the plaintiffs did not have standing to bring the case in the first place, writing that "the Court's first overreach in this case is deciding it at all."

She said that by deciding "a case that is not a case," the court is exercising authority it doesn't have and "blows through a constitutional guardrail intended to keep courts acting like courts."

Kagan also questioned the legal soundness of the majority decision itself, saying it "rests first on stilted textual analysis" and resorted to the so-called "major questions doctrine," which essentially defers to the status quo when it comes to executive agencies.

"Thus the Court once again substitutes itself for Congress and the Executive Branch — and the hundreds of millions of people they represent — in making this Nation's most important, as well as most contested, policy decisions," she wrote.

After several more pages analyzing the HEROES Act at the center of the case (including involving the hypothetical example of a bombing in Chicago), Kagan suggests even the majority had reason to doubt its own conclusions, adding that "the tell comes in the last part of the majority's opinion."

"When a court is confident in its interpretation of a statute's text, it spells out its reading and hits the send button. Not this Court, not today," she wrote. "This Court needs a whole other chapter to explain why it is striking down the Secretary's plan."

Kagan continues with some discussion about the Supreme Court's unique role in government, "by design, as detached as possible from the body politic." That's why, she says, it's supposed to decide only "cases and controversies" and avoid making policy about subjects like student loan relief, which should come from Congress.

Kagan said today's decision "moves the goalposts for triggering the major-questions doctrine." Who knows, she wrote, by next year the court could be finding the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services unable to implement Medicare.

"From the first page to the last, today’s opinion departs from the demands of judicial restraint," she concluded.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 1:52 PM EDT

Drew Angerer

See Also

Supreme Court strikes down plan to forgive student loan debt; Biden vows to use alternate pathJune 30, 2023 SCOTUS blocks Biden's student loan plan and limits LGBTQ protectionsThe Supreme Court rejects Biden's plan to wipe away $400 billion in student loan debtThe Supreme Court’s lawless, completely partisan student loans decision, explained

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Writing for the majority in today's ruling on Biden v. Nebraska, Chief Justice John Roberts outlined why he believes the law doesn't give the Department of Education the power to forgive student loan debt.

But, perhaps because it was the final ruling of the term, he also snuck in some big-picture thoughts about the role of the court overall, pushing back against a pattern that's emerged in recent dissents from Justices like Sonia Sotomayor, who often landed on the side opposite the court's conservative majority this decision season.

"It has become a disturbing feature of some recent opinions to criticize the decisions with which they disagree as going beyond the proper role of the judiciary," Roberts wrote towards the end, later adding:

Roberts' words underscore what's been a tumultuous term for the court.

Polls show Americans of all political stripes are increasingly troubled bythe lack of an ethics code for the court,especially since investigative reporters continue to uncover stories that some justices have accepted gifts from political donors for years.

Yesterday, President Biden summed up weeks of growing concern with one memorable phrase: "It's not a normal court."

Posted June 30, 2023 at 1:34 PM EDT

President Biden will give remarks at 3:30 p.m. ET in the Roosevelt Room, the White House said.

He said in a written statement earlier that he will "stop at nothing to find other ways to deliver relief to hard-working middle-class families" after his student loan relief program was struck down.

"And later today," he said, "I will provide more detail on all that my Administration has done to help students and the next steps my Administration will take."

Posted June 30, 2023 at 1:18 PM EDT

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds

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AFP via Getty Images

President Biden said in a statement that he disagrees with the court's decision but will find other ways to bring relief to students and families.

He promised to provide more details when he addresses the nation later this afternoon, adding, "This fight is not over."

"While today’s decision is disappointing, we should not lose sight of the progress we’ve made – making historic increases to Pell Grants; forgiving loans for teachers, firefighters, and others in public service; and creating a new debt repayment plan, so no one with an undergraduate loan has to pay more than 5 percent of their discretionary income," he said.

Biden said his now-rejected plan would have been "the lifeline tens of millions of hardworking Americans needed as they try to recover from a once-in-a-century pandemic."

He said nearly 90% of it would have gone to borrowers making less than $75,000 a year, and that it would have been good for both short- and long-term economic growth, too.

"The hypocrisy of Republican elected officials is stunning," Biden added. "They had no problem with billions in pandemic-related loans to businesses – including hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars for their own businesses. And those loans were forgiven. But when it came to providing relief to millions of hard-working Americans, they did everything in their power to stop it."

Posted June 30, 2023 at 12:57 PM EDT

President Biden said in a statement on Friday that he is concerned a new Supreme Court ruling could weaken laws against discrimination.

The ruling bars Colorado from forcing a website designer to create designs for same-sex weddings.

“While the Court’s decision only addresses expressive original designs, I’m deeply concerned that the decision could invite more discrimination against LGBTQI+ Americans,” Biden said, urging Congress to pass the Equality Act to protect civil rights for the LGBTQI+ community.

He is expected to speak later on the student debt ruling.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 12:56 PM EDT

Robyn Beck

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AFP via Getty Images

The University of California, one of the country's largest university systems, comprising nine different campuses, just issued a statement calling today's ruling a "disappointment."

"This historic relief program would have made a significant impact on the lives of college graduates, particularly for those from low-income backgrounds who are more likely to take on debt to complete their education," the statement reads. "It also harms society as a whole: Those with student loans are less likely to earn advanced degrees, purchase a home, start their own business or make other investments that benefit their communities."

For the universities themselves, this ruling could have significant long-term impacts when it comes to student expectations of affordability.

As NPR's Cory Turner reports, "The inflation-adjusted cost of college has nearly doubled since 1990, from about $15,000 a year to $29,000 in 2020."

That means students are using loans to keep up.

Between 1995 and 2017, federal student loan debt "increased more than sevenfold, from $187 billion to $1.4 trillion (in 2017 dollars)," according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 12:54 PM EDT

Elise Amendola

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AP

Amid chatter about student debt strikes, several readers asked: What happens if borrowers simply refuse to submit their payments when the pause lifts this fall?

The short answer: financial and legal consequences, at least eventually.

First and foremost, the loans wouldn't go away just because you stop paying them.

Student loans can't be discharged in bankruptcy, so they would keep following you around, Amy Li, an assistant professor of educational policy studies at Florida International University, told Marketplace earlier this year.

Interest on your loans would accrue, and that would impact your income-to-debt ratio (which helps lenders determine your borrowing risk).

The Wall Street Journal reported that missing payments can rack up penalties and fees, making your debt more expensive and hurting your credit score.

"If you default on federal student loans, the government could garnish your wages, tax refund and even Social Security benefits," it says, adding that there's usually some time to make up late payments before these consequences start to take hold.

There are differences between federal and private student loans, as the WSJ outlines.

For federal loans: If your payment is 30 days late, you'll be charged a late fee up to 6% of the amount due. At 90 days, your loan will be reported as delinquent to credit bureaus. After 270 days, your loans will go into default.

For private loans: Most lenders consider loans delinquent the first day you miss a payment, and in default after two to three months. You could face late fees, your debt may get sold to collections and the lender could take you to court. Plus, the default will show up on your credit report and stay there for some seven years.

Notably, some private loans can be discharged through bankruptcy proceedings, and they all have a statute of limitations (which vary by state, anywhere from three to 10 years after defaulting). After that point, the collections agency can no longer recover the debt.

Even if everyone stopped paying down the nation's student loan debt, that wouldn't address the underlying issues in the U.S. higher education system, says Nick Hillman, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Education.

He told Marketplace that a more lasting solution would be to provide free college tuition for everyone to make college more affordable.

“Even if everybody says, ‘I’m not paying ever again,’ it doesn’t change those underlying structures," he said.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 12:32 PM EDT

As with yesterday's affirmative action decision, many Republican presidential candidates have been quick to praise the Supreme Court for its ruling on student loan forgiveness.

Mike Pence

The former vice president said in a statement:

“Joe Biden’s massive trillion-dollar student loan bailout subsidizes the education of elites on the backs of hardworking Americans, and it was an egregious violation of the Constitution for him to attempt to do so unilaterally with the stroke of the executive pen. I am pleased that the Court struck down the Radical Left’s effort to use the money of taxpayers who played by the rules and repaid their debts in order to cancel the debt of bankers and lawyers in New York, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision, and as President I will continue to appoint judges who will strictly apply the law and enforce our Constitution’s separation of powers.”

Nikki Haley

The former South Carolina governor and Trump-era ambassador to the U.N. called both of today's rulings — on student loans and the Christian web designer case — "a victory for freedom."

“A president cannot just wave his hand and eliminate loans for students he favors, while leaving out all those who worked hard to pay back their loans or made other career choices," she said in a statement. "The Supreme Court was right to throw out Joe Biden’s power grab.”

Tim Scott

The South Carolina senator praised the ruling as "a victory for common sense."

"You take out a loan, you pay it back. This decision frees taxpayers from shouldering debt they never signed up for," he tweeted.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 12:09 PM EDT

Democrats in Congress have started weighing in on the court's decision, accusing its members of hypocrisy and corruption and calling on the Biden administration to take other steps to help borrowers.

Here are some of their statements:

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the "disappointing and cruel" ruling "shows the callousness of the MAGA Republican-controlled Supreme Court."

"The hypocrisy is clear: as justices accept lavish, six-figure gifts, they don’t dare to help Americans saddled with student loan debt, instead siding with the powerful, big-monied interests," he said, referencing the court's recent string of ethics scandals.

While the payment pause is expected to expire in weeks, Schumer pledged that this won't be the end of the fight. He said the Biden administration has "remaining legal routes to provide broad-based student debt cancellation" and is calling on the Biden administration to do everything in its power to help the millions of Americans struggling with student loan debt.

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez similarly homed in on the controversies surrounding the justices, specifically Justice Samuel Alito.

He was accused last week of failing to disclose a 2008 luxury fishing trip with hedge fund Paul Singer and not recusing himself from cases Singer later had in front of the Supreme Court. When ProPublica asked Alito questions, he instead responded with a defensive, pre-emptive op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

Ocasio-Cortez said the court's "corruption undercuts its own legitimacy by putting its rulings up for sale."

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren also suggested hypocrisy, noting that "the same Supreme Court that overturned Roe now refuses to follow the plain language of the law on student loan cancellation." She is among the lawmakers calling on Biden to take other steps to cancel student debt.

Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley made a similar call, urging Biden and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to use other means to cancel student debt.

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar posted nearly a dozen tweets slamming the court's legal reasoning and overall credibility, explaining how many people will be affected by its decision and urging the Biden administration to find a creative solution.

She called the majority's legal arguments "senseless," adding that "the illegitimacy of their actions makes more sense once you understand the depth of their corruption."

"Three of the rightwing justices were appointed by a twice-impeached president who lost the popular vote twice and led an insurrection when he lost the electoral vote," she said, referring to former President Donald Trump. "Two others were appointed by another president who lost the popular vote. Two have been credibly accused of sexual assault. Two have taken obscene private gifts—including private jet rides —from their billionaire backers with business before the court. One, Clarence Thomas, even accepted private tuition for a child he was raising from his billionaire backer—especially ironic given his ruling today. Together, the rightwing justices reek of corruption."

Omar pointed to polls showing broad support for student loan forgiveness in some form, and said, "Every option needs to be on the table to ensure borrowers are protected from economic ruin by being thrown back into a fundamentally broken student loan system come September 1st."

Posted June 30, 2023 at 11:51 AM EDT

Groups led by young people, including Gen Z voters, are lashing out against the Supreme Court's decisions of late, including the latest move to sink President Biden's plan for student loan forgiveness.

March For Our Lives, a student-led organization started to stop gun violence, had strong words for the nation's highest court for several of their decisions Friday.

"The recent decisions by the Supreme Court on LGBTQIA+ rights, affirmative action, and student loan debt forgiveness is a direct attack on young people and our right to live freely and be who we are," the group said in a statement.

They continued, "March For Our Lives, the largest youth-led organization in the nation – representing the voice of hundreds of thousands of young people across the country – says clearly: We will not f*cking stand for this. We will continue to fight for a future we deserve and for policies that prioritize the rights, well-being, and future of America’s youth."

Voters of Tomorrow, which describes itself as a Gen Z-led nonpartisan organization, called the Supreme Court's decision on student loan forgiveness an attack on young people.

The group also called the justices "an activist court" and the decision "illegal."

“As the past, present, and future of student loan borrowers, we know that the affordability of higher education is absolutely vital. We do not want to go into excruciating debt for our entire lives to enhance our education," they continued in their statement. “We hope that the Biden Administration is able to negotiate a deal through Congress or take executive action to relieve student debt for all Americans. While we know it will be difficult with far-right politicians who have championed the removal of the plan, it is what is needed to remove the burden from millions of Americans.”

Posted June 30, 2023 at 11:34 AM EDT

We're turning now to a few audience questions — if there's something you'd like to ask, let us know by filling out the form at the bottom of the page.

Nope, for now, this decision shouldn't immediately impact the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which allows government and nonprofit employees to have their remaining loan balances forgiven after 120 qualifying monthly payments while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

The legal question in today's ruling revolved around the HEROES Act, which President Biden invoked to announce the wider-reaching forgiveness plan in August 2022.

That act isn't what the administration uses to justify the PSLF program, which has been around for over a decade.

Though, as a side note, PSLF has had its own share of complications, which the Biden administration is trying to fix, in part, with some changes to the application process. (You might want to read up on those changes if you're a PSLF applicant.)

Moving forward, will this ruling leave PSLF vulnerable to its own legal challenges? Maybe, but it hasn't been the subject of political debate in the same way the August 2022 plan has been.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 11:22 AM EDT

Jemal Countess

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Getty Images for We The 45 Million

At greatest risk of falling through the restart cracks are borrowers who were given a chance at a so-called “fresh start” during the pandemic.

For these roughly 7.5 million borrowers who are in default, the department is offering new protections from involuntary collections on their accounts and the chance to regain access to flexible repayment plans. But to benefit and get out of default, these “fresh start” borrowers must opt into the program and contact their loan servicer.

According to the department, these defaulted borrowers are disproportionately likely to be economically vulnerable, first-generation college students. And there is considerable concern among advocates about the department’s ability to communicate these opportunities to borrowers in default and borrowers’ willingness to return to repayment after years of default.

That concern stems, in part, from NPR reporting in January that revealed serious funding shortfalls inside Federal Student Aid (FSA), the Education Department office tasked with managing the government’s student loan portfolio.

After a political fight between Democrats and Republicans over Biden’s debt relief plan, Congress flat-funded FSA for this year, making it all but impossible for it to keep up with its many student loan responsibilities.

Already, the agency has quietly delayed an effort, promised by the Biden administration, to review the loans of millions of borrowers who were unfairly set back by years of mismanagement around income-driven repayment plans. Promised in May, that review has been extended into 2024.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 11:10 AM EDT

Stefani Reynolds

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AFP via Getty Images

The Supreme Court’s decision starts what is essentially a 60-day clock as the U.S. Department of Education prepares to require that borrowers get back on track with their loans.

Most of them are out of the habit. In fact, many have never had to make a student loan payment. According to federal data, roughly 7 million federal student loan borrowers are 24 or younger, which means they were at most 21 — and in many cases still in college — when the current payment pause began in March 2020.

Many older borrowers have no doubt forgotten their online portal passwords; some may not have even checked their balances in months, if not years. Those days are coming to an end.

Some borrowers’ financial situations have changed, and their repayment options will need to change as well. Call centers will need more and better-trained workers in anticipation of the months-long onslaught of questions they’ll face from confused and anxious borrowers.

Instead, however, the Education Department has reportedly cut funding to its loan servicers and allowed at least one, Nelnet, to dramatically scale back call center hours.

“We are fully committed to supporting student loan borrowers as they successfully navigate returning to repayment,” says a department spokesperson in a statement to NPR.

But the statement also acknowledges: “the Department is deeply concerned about the lack of adequate annual funding made available to Federal Student Aid this year. As the Department has repeatedly made clear, restarting repayment requires significant resources to avoid unnecessary harm to borrowers, such as cuts to servicing.”

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:59 AM EDT

Below is the full 77-page ruling striking down the student loan forgiveness plan, Biden v. Nebraska.

The opinion incorporates two separate cases, the first of which was dismissed unanimously for a lack of standing.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:53 AM EDT

Chip Somodevilla

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Getty Images

President Biden intends to announce new actions to protect student loan borrowers in the wake of a Supreme Court decision that struck down a program that would have canceled student loan debt, a White House official tells NPR’s Tamara Keith.

There were no immediate details on what the new actions would be. Biden is expected to speak today about the Supreme Court decision.

“We’ll also be making it crystal clear to borrowers and their families that Republicans are responsible for denying them the relief that President Biden has been fighting to get to them,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of Biden’s response.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:46 AM EDT

By a 6 to 3 vote, the high court ruled that federal law does not authorize the Department of Education to cancel such student loan debt.

Last August, President Biden told federal student loan borrowers that the U.S. government would cancel up to $20,000 of debt for low-income students who had received a Pell Grant to attend college, and up to $10,000 for the vast majority of remaining borrowers. He cited a 2001 law that allows the Secretary of Education "to alleviate the hardship that federal student loan recipients may suffer as a result of national emergencies." That is the same law that President Trump used to freeze federal student loan payments and interest accrual due to the COVID pandemic.

Soon after Biden's announcement, however, six states filed a lawsuit to stop the implementation of the debt cancellation plan, arguing that Biden exceeded his authority under the federal law. The Supreme Court ultimately stepped in to review the case.

Just In

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:39 AM EDT

Larry French

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Getty Images for We, the 45 Million

In one of the most anticipated decisions of its current term, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s sweeping plan to discharge some or all federal student loan debt for tens of millions of Americans.

The decision comes after a tumultuous year for federal student loan borrowers, who were told in August by Biden that the U.S. government would cancel up to $20,000 of debt for anyone who had received a Pell Grant to attend college, and up to $10,000 for the vast majority of remaining borrowers.

That August announcement came after months of speculation that the president would act, and its warm reception by younger voters may have contributed to Democrats’ better-than-expected showing in the midterm elections. But the proposal was also beset by a host of Republican legal challenges that ultimately led to the Supreme Court stepping in.

In the first of two cases, the court ruled that a challenge led by states did not have legal standing. But in the second, it agreed with the states that the president does not have the authority to discharge debt under the HEROES Act.

Stay with us as we unpack what it will mean for borrowers and the country.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:29 AM EDT

We're still waiting to hear how the court ruled on the student loan case — the very last decision they'll issue for this term.

The justices are still reading from their opinion in the previous case, 303 Creative v. Elenis.

This is longer than they've taken to get through three or four opinions on other days.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:21 AM EDT

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that the First Amendment bars Colorado from “forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees" for its decision in 303 Creative v. Elenis.

The case pitted laws that guarantee same-sex couples equal access to all businesses that offer their services to the public against business owners who see themselves as artists and don't want to use their talents to express a message that they don't believe in.

For nearly a decade, the justices have dodged and weaved on this clash of legal values, declining to hear some cases and punting on one involving a baker who refused to make custom wedding cakes for same-sex couples. But now the issue was back before a far more conservative court, a court that reached out to hear the case even before any same-sex couples complained that they were the victims of illegal discrimination.

We're expecting the ruling on student loans next.

➡️ Read more on the ruling in the LGBTQ+ rights case here.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 10:02 AM EDT

It's just after 10 a.m. here in Washington, D.C., and the court is gearing up to issue opinions for the last two cases left this term.

We'll bring you the news as soon as we have it, including the full decision on Biden v. Nebraska, which will determine how much student loan debt millions of borrowers face.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:56 AM EDT

Larry French

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Getty Images for We, The 45 Million

The Supreme Court is grappling with two main legal questions in this case: Is Biden's debt plan constitutional? And can any of these plaintiffs prove they would be hurt by debt cancellation?

🎧 NPR education reporter Cory Turner broke those down onMorning Edition.

Is it legal?

At the heart of the question is the 2003 HEROES Act, which passed in the wake of 9/11 and gave the education secretary broad power to "modify or waive" provisions of student loan programs in times of emergency.

The Biden administration argues that the COVID-19 pandemic constituted one such emergency.

Conservative opponents of the plan, however, argue that erasing some $400 billion in student loans goes beyond just modifying the rules — and that Biden is exceeding his legal authority. Plus, they say, if Congress really wanted to erase these student loans, it would do that itself.

Does it hurt anyone?

Do the six conservative states that brought the lawsuit against the administration have legal standing to sue in the first place?

For the answer to be yes, plaintiffs have to be able to prove that they would be hurt by the cancellation of student loans.

They have argued that a Missouri-based major student loans servicing company, MOHELA, would lose business, in turn hurting the state economically. But that's not a particularly strong argument, Turner says, given that MOHELA isn't even a plaintiff in the case.

Conservative justices seemed skeptical of the Biden administration's plan during arguments earlier this year, while justices on both sides of the aisle had questions about standing.

Today's decision, Turner says, will show how the court weighed those concerns.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:51 AM EDT

Jemal Countess

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Getty Images for People's Rally to Cancel Student Debt

A USA Today/Ipsos poll out last month asked student loan holders how they felt about various forgiveness plans, as well as their experience with the repayment pause.

"Many student loan holders report that the pause has had a positive impact on various aspects of their lives, from improved mental health to saving more money," the pollster said.

Here's what we learned:

• Fifty-five percent of student loan holders report that the student loan payment pause has improved their mental health.
• Half of student loan holders say that they have been able to save money during the student loan pause that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
• Nearly 2 in 5 student loan holders, or 38%, say they were able to afford a major purchase (like a new car or home) during the pause that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.
• Fifty-three percent of student loan holders believe the current pause has been an economic stimulus and helped boost the economy (compared to 29% of all Americans).

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:44 AM EDT

Jemal Countess

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Getty Images for We, The 45 Million

Not everyone is disappointed that the court chose to hear this case.

Many Republicans had fiercely opposed Biden’s plan, calling it an abuse of executive power and an enormously expensive handout to college-educated Americans. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the debt relief plan would cost about $400 billion over the next 30 years.

“I'm very pleased that the Supreme Court is following the Constitution,” says Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, the Republican chairwoman of the House education committee.

While Republican opposition has been fierce, a majority of the public (55%) supported forgiving up to $10,000 per person in federal student loan debt, according to a June 2022 NPR/Ipsos poll.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:34 AM EDT

Jemal Countess

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Getty Images for We The 45 Million

Nearly half of Americans support the Biden administration's proposal — to forgive up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt or $10,000 for non-Pell Grant recipients, with an income limit — according to a USA Today/Ipsos poll released last month.

That said, a majority of Americans don't want the Supreme Court to rule against it: Just 35% of Americans and 18% of those with student loans support the Supreme Court overturning the current student loan forgiveness proposal.

That leaves questions about how best to proceed.

While support for forgiving student loan debt varies across demographics, 7 in 10 Americans agree that the government should prioritize making college more affordable for current and future students.

"This is one of the few things where a majority of Americans and current student loan holders agree," the pollster said. "Fifty-two percent of student loan holders agree that making college more affordable should be prioritized."

In fact, Ipsos says, the only proposal in the survey favored by a majority of respondents is implementing two years of tuition-free community college.

Those findings are very similar to those of an NPR/Ipsos poll released last June, showing broad support for student loan forgiveness but even more for reining in the cost of college.

Read more about it here.

It also provided insights into the impact of the student loan payment pause and what borrowers were doing during this period — 47% said the pause had improved their mental health.

In last month's survey, that number went up to 55%.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:23 AM EDT

When this case was argued back in February, it seemed like a handful of Republican-dominated states might be successful in invalidating the student loan forgiveness plan. A majority of the court's conservatives indicated great skepticism during 3.5 hours of discussion.

Estimates of the plan's cost have ranged from $300 billion to $430 billion, but at the Supreme Court, Chief Justice John Roberts went high.

We're talking about "half a trillion" dollars in debt, and 43 million borrowers, he said. If you're going to "give up" that much money and "affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that's of great controversy, they would think that's something for Congress to act on," he added.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, representing the Biden administration, replied that Congress had acted when it passed the 2003 law creating special provisions for student loan forgiveness during a declared national emergency.

U.S. Supreme Court

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Getty Images North America

The biggest sticking point of the day, though, was whether the six state objectors have legal standing to challenge the student loan forgiveness plan at all. If they can't show they have suffered a concrete harm, they have no right to sue.

Back in February, the states hung their argument on a claim that the Biden plan, by discharging millions of loans, could end up depriving the state of Missouri of revenue from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, known as MOHELA.

MOHELA is an independent corporation set up by the state that services student debt, but it explicitly did not join this lawsuit — a fact that both liberal and conservative justices pounced on.

Nebraska Solicitor General James Campbell, representing all six GOP states, replied that it was "a question of state politics" but argued that as a matter of law, "the state has the authority to assert its interest."

➡️ Read more about what was said during oral arguments.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:11 AM EDT

Olivier Douliery

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AFP via Getty Images

It's not just student loan forgiveness on today's decision docket, the last round of rulings for this term.

The court is also expected to issue a ruling on 303 Creative v. Elenis, which pits two constitutional principles against each other.

On one side are laws that guarantee same-sex couples equal access to all businesses that offer their services to the public. On the other are business owners who see themselves as artists and don't want to use their talents to express a message they don't believe in.

The plaintiff in the case is a Colorado web designer who argues that Colorado's public accommodations law prevents her from doing what she wants to do most — custom web designs for weddings. The reason: She believes that marriage should only be between a man and a woman, so she preemptively sued, arguing that the state law violates her right to free speech.

The case was argued Dec. 6.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 9:01 AM EDT

President Biden expanded on his comment that this Supreme Court “is not a normal court,” explaining in an MSNBC interview yesterday that the conservative majority on the court is “so out of sorts with the basic value system of the American people.”

“It’s done more to unravel basic rights and basic decisions than any court in recent history,” Biden said in the live interview after the Thursday ruling that effectively ended affirmative action for college admissions.

“Its value system is different and its respect for institutions is different,” Biden said.

Biden, who has in the past said he was opposed to enlarging the court, again ruled out the idea of adding justices beyond nine to the panel. Some in his party have proposed expanding the court as a way to be able to name more Democrats to the bench.

“I think if we start the process of trying to expand the court, we’re going to politicize it, maybe forever, in a way that is not healthy,” Biden said.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 8:45 AM EDT

Anna Moneymaker

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Getty Images

As we await today's round of rulings, newspaper headlines and cable news chyrons are still beaming out reaction to yesterday's major decision.

The U.S. Supreme Court effectively banned the use of affirmative action in college admissions, overturning 40 years of legal precedent in rulings on Students for Fair Admission v. Harvardand Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina.

In 6-2 and 6-3 rulings (respectively), the court found that the admissions policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

The decision is expected to end the ability of colleges and universities — public and private — to do what most say they still need to do: consider race as one of many factors in deciding which of the qualified applicants is to be admitted.

➡️ Read more about the decision here and check out NPR's live coverage for how reaction to the rulings unfolded.

Q & A

Posted June 30, 2023 at 8:25 AM EDT

Wondering what this ruling could mean for you, a student in your life, the future of U.S. politics or the jurisprudential landscape? Send us your questions using the form below.

NPR's reporters and editors will answer as many as possible throughout today's blog and use the rest to inform our coverage moving forward.

Your submission will be governed by our generalTerms of UseandPrivacy Policy. As the Privacy Policy says, we want you to be aware that there may be circ*mstances in which the exemptions provided under law for journalistic activities or freedom of expression may override privacy rights you might otherwise have.

Posted June 30, 2023 at 8:11 AM EDT

Drew Angerer

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Getty Images

President Biden's plan would provide relief to most federal student loan borrowers — as many as 43 million people. That’s roughly 1 in 8 Americans. Nearly half of those borrowers, roughly 20 million, could have their student loans erased completely.

Whatever you think of Biden’s proposal, at this moment, the potential for collective disappointment and perhaps disillusionment for so many Americans is palpable and worth acknowledging.

“I feel like it's back to business as usual,” borrower Kurt Panton told NPR on the prospect of loan forgiveness ending. “What else can I do? Go back to paying the student loan that I have been paying for 20-plus years.”

Panton took out federal student loans to pay his way through college and dutifully made monthly payments from late 2003 until March 2020, when the pandemic payment pause began.

“There is this mental weight that you carry with a student loan, knowing that [it’ll be with you] as far as you can go into your foreseeable future,” he says.

Panton, who became a father late last year, says the money he has saved not paying down his loans over the pause has helped support his young family. “I haven't been having crazy parties for the last three years because I'm not paying back my student loans. You know, I'm not eating a goose for dinner every night.”

Posted June 30, 2023 at 8:06 AM EDT

Drew Angerer

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Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling today on one of the most anticipated cases of its current term: Biden vs. Nebraska.

A handful of Republican-dominated states have asked the Supreme Court to permanently block the Biden administration's student loan forgiveness program.

The states contend that the president exceeded his legal authority when he implemented a program to cancel up to $20,000 of debt for anyone who had received a Pell Grant to attend college, and up to $10,000 for the vast majority of remaining borrowers.

The merits of the case are fairly straightforward. Does the 2003 law, known as the HEROES Act, give the president and his secretary of education the power to authorize federal student loan forgiveness?

But the impact it could have are wide-ranging and complex. Since the case was heard in February, an estimated 43 million borrowers have been in financial limbo, with repayments potentially due to restart by summer's end.

A decision is expected shortly after 10 a.m. ET.