Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, you’ll know by now that the Department of Education will be forgiving certain student loans. Hysteria ensued. But how does this impact Wisconsinites?
Here’s Five Fast Facts About Wisconsin Student Loan Forgiveness:
- 🧾Some Clarification - The Department of Education will cancel up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients and $10,000 for non-grant recipients. It only applies to borrowers with an individual income less than $125,000 for single people and $250,000 for married couples.
- 🎓How Many? - In Wisconsin, around 220,000 borrowers could have their loans forgiven if they meet the income threshold. One expert said that about 31% of the 715,800 residents with federal student loan debt have less than $10,000 of that kind of debt.
- 💵How Much? - A 2020 report said that 23% of our state’s labor force has student loan debt, owing a total of $23.1B, with an average balance of $32,230. That’s the price of my groceries at Woodman’s with this inflation.
- ⬆️High is Good! - Get this, though: Wisconsin ranks 45th in the country in average debt per borrower. That includes Puerto Rico and DC!
- 💲There’s a Catch (Of Course) - We are one of 13 states that may tax that forgiveness if our legislature doesn’t make an exemption, with one study saying it could cost you $530 based on your income level. WTF guys?
🔥Bottom line: There are plenty of opinions flying around about this, most of them (on either side) completely reactionary. But who is going to let facts stop them from speaking their mind, right? The key here is that if your loans are forgiven, there’s a strong chance you’re going to wind up owing anyway in Wisconsin. That decision lies in the hands of people elected to public office. Let’s hope you have faith in their decision-making abilities.
What do you think of Wisconsin’s Forgiveness?
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