What portion of all federal student loans are now actively being repaid?
Correct Answer
In 2020, Congress passed and President Trump signed a "Covid-19 relief" law that suspended student loan payments and interest through September 2020. After this timeframe, President Trump and President Biden repeatedly extended this policy without explicit legal authority to do so. Thus, 1% of all federal student loans are now actively being repaid. The U.S. Government Accountability Office estimates that these policies have cost taxpayers $102 billion. In addition, President Biden recently announced that he is "forgiving" up to $20,000 of student loan debt for each Pell grant recipient and up to $10,000 for others. When people don't pay back student loans because politicians "forgive" them, this debt is transferred to other people who did not borrow the money.