James Kvaal is the outgoing U.S. below secretary of schooling. His tenure ends with the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20.
After a long time of an accelerating scholar debt disaster, Joe Biden is the primary president to make use of each out there instrument to alleviate the burden of borrowing for faculty. He will probably be remembered for turning the web page on the worst penalties of the nation’s failed experiment with debt-financed faculty and starting a brand new chapter on tips on how to pay for larger schooling.
For the previous two generations, growing reliance on scholar debt appeared like a simple resolution to paying for faculty. Mortgage phrases had been set without charge to the federal government, and college students had been anticipated to simply earn sufficient to pay the loans again following commencement.
Nevertheless it didn’t work out that approach. One in three debtors don’t graduate, leaving them with debt however no diploma. As a result of curiosity piles up so quick, greater than 20 million individuals owe greater than they borrowed. Earlier than the pandemic, greater than 1,000,000 individuals default on their faculty loans yearly.
Some critics say that scholar debt impacts debtors of all revenue ranges equally. However hair stylists, therapeutic massage therapists and different employees incomes modest wages usually went into debt to get the coaching, certificates or levels wanted for his or her jobs. And debt is not only an issue for the roughly 43 million individuals with scholar loans. It hurts their households and communities as a result of it stands in the way in which of financial safety, homeownership and potential new companies.

James Kvaal, the U.S. below secretary of schooling below President Joe Biden
Permission granted by U.S. Division of Schooling
Others say we should always remove scholar debt altogether. However till Congress and states put money into decrease tuitions and bigger scholarships — as President Biden has proposed — loans will stay important for a lot of low-income and middle-class college students.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these festering issues. Almost 3 of each 5 college students lacked ample entry to meals or housing through the pandemic, placing them susceptible to dropping out. And most debtors of modest means anticipated they couldn’t afford mortgage funds.
By pausing funds and curiosity on federal loans, the administration saved the common borrower in compensation greater than $3,800 and helped them persevere by the nationwide emergency. President Biden additionally fought partisan opponents in court docket for as much as $20,000 in one-time reduction for debtors — all the way in which to the U.S. Supreme Court docket.
Whereas the pause gave debtors a break, the U.S. Division of Schooling labored on long-term options.
First, we targeted on individuals who had been owed forgiveness however had been blocked by forms.
For instance, solely 7,000 individuals had ever obtained Public Service Mortgage Forgiveness from this system’s creation in 2007 to when President Biden took workplace in 2021. Many public servants deliberate their careers round this profit solely to be taught too late that they’d the incorrect sort of mortgage or had spent years within the incorrect compensation plan. Now, greater than 1 million debtors have obtained the reduction they earned.
We additionally saved guarantees to debtors with everlasting disabilities and people who had been cheated by schools. In complete, we have now authorized greater than 5 million individuals for mortgage reduction. Many extra debtors are set to profit within the years to return.
I’ve heard numerous tales about what this life-changing reduction has meant for People. They are saying they’re lastly capable of plan for retirement, repay medical bills, and even have extra youngsters.
On the identical time, not all of our efforts succeeded. Some 40 million debtors and their households proceed to really feel the burden of each the Supreme Court docket choice to disclaim one-time reduction and litigation hindering our capability to assist debtors experiencing hardship.
Second, to assist individuals with low incomes and excessive money owed, the Biden administration created Saving on a Beneficial Schooling, or SAVE — an income-driven compensation plan that would lower month-to-month funds in half for eligible debtors. Individuals making funds would lastly see their balances happening, as an alternative of up on account of ballooning curiosity.
SAVE served virtually 8 million individuals earlier than partisan lawsuits held it up, and it’s now below judicial assessment. The SAVE plan is much like different compensation plans the division has created over the previous 30 years, and we proceed to defend it in court docket.
These new insurance policies are supported by a brand new mortgage servicing system — 10 years within the making — that mixes better funding and better accountability in our contractors to assist debtors declare forgiveness if they’re eligible, discover inexpensive compensation choices, and keep away from default.
Third, we reformed the gathering of defaulted loans to remove punitive practices and pointless hardship. We eradicated charges, expanded inexpensive compensation phrases, and labored to make sure that debtors in default is not going to be pushed into poverty — or deeper into it.
In fact, it’s not sufficient to simply make loans extra inexpensive. Now we have to deal with the basis causes of debt.
President Biden proposed doubling the Pell Grant and achieved the most important enhance in a decade. Working with First Girl Jill Biden, his long-standing name for tuition-free group faculty helped spur packages in 34 states and Washington, D.C. — many begun with federal funds. Extra broadly, we see many schools protecting tuition prices regular, and states investing extra in public schools and universities.
The administration additionally took on Washington D.C. lobbyists to create the strongest-ever accountability guidelines to make sure that college students know the chance of affording loans earlier than they borrow and that schools don’t routinely go away college students with unaffordable debt. The worst-performing profession packages will not have the ability to provide federal help.
Any administration leaving workplace feels as if its work is unfinished. Debtors who want entry to extra inexpensive month-to-month funds however are presently blocked by lawsuits may have to attend longer to enroll in faculty. In 2025, some debtors face penalties for late funds for the primary time in 5 years, and the subsequent administration might want to prioritize serving to them keep away from default and keep on observe in compensation.
Federal and state policymakers and faculty leaders face a selection: End what President Biden began by investing in faculty affordability and serving to debtors who can not afford their money owed, or reignite the failed experiment that acquired us so far.