Wyoming Most Impacted by Student Loan Forgiveness
According to a report by Student Loan Hero, Wyoming would have the highest percentage of borrowers impacted by a possible student loan forgiveness of $10,000.
The study, based on a report that President Joe Biden may forgive $10,000 in federal student loans, showed that 37.8% of borrowers, 19,219 people, in Wyoming would have their federal debt completely eliminated.
That's compared to Nevada in second place at 36.6%, Utah in third at 36.4%, and the District of Columbia at the bottom at 25.3% of borrowers who have $10,000 or less in federal student loans.
Across the U.S., 45 million borrowers owe $1.75 trillion in debt, with people in Wyoming owing $1.6 billion with an average debt of $29,315, compared to California with the most debt at $141.8 billion, but a lower average debt owed at $21,125.
Micahel Kitchen, the managing editor for Student Loan Hero, said it will be helpful for many people to have their loans forgiven.
"It's a good thing just because of the way student loans have been run in the past, a lot of people feel that students weren't properly educator before taking out these loans, that it's different than a mortgage or credit cards, or something like that," Kitchen said. "You're talking about teenagers, and they were brought into this, and in some cases, the loans weren't serviced well...there were a lot of issues with how the loans were serviced, just how the program was run in general."
A survey by Student Loan Hero in April 2020, showed that the younger people are, the more likely they are to favor forgiveness, as 51% of Millenials, 44% of Gen X, and 31% of Baby Boomers said all student debt should be forgiven.
Kitchen said that there are a variety of views when it comes to debt forgiveness and that it's important for the government to take some action in regarding how in debt people are.
"But there's a real variety of opinions out there. There are people who've paid off their loans but they are in favor of forgiveness." Kitchen said. "There are people who still owe student loans but they don't want them forgiven, feel it's unfair, or creates a moral hazard, people start expecting loans to be forgiven...I would say that probably, definitely, I could speak for Student Loan Hero in this, the most important thing is that we look at what's going to happen going forward and how to address student loan debt just the whole system, not just what's going to happen to the people that already owe money, but the students of the future, how are they going to avoid taking on debt in the first place. How can we make college more affordable."