It was one of his main campaign promises.
US President Joe Biden announced a partial forgiveness of student loans on Wednesday, an issue that is sparking heated debate in a country where a year of college can cost tens of thousands of dollars.
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“As per my campaign promise, my administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families a break as they prepare to resume federal student loan repayments in January 2023,” he tweeted. Mr. Biden, promising details in the afternoon.
In keeping with my campaign promise, my Administration is announcing a plan to give working and middle class families breathing room as they prepare to resume federal student loan payments in January 2023.
I'll have more details this afternoon.
pic.twitter.com/kuZNqoMe4I
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 24, 2022
The measure affects people earning less than $125,000 a year, according to an illustration accompanying the president's tweet.
It will be a question of erasing 10,000 dollars for people who have not benefited from a federal scholarship to pay the costs related to their university studies, and 20,000 dollars for those, with more modest means, having received a .
The president also extended the pause on student loan repayments for
"one last time"
until December 31, 2022.
Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren hailed in a joint statement "a giant step towards resolving the student debt crisis".
The leader of the Republican Party, Ronna McDaniel, on the contrary judged that this measure “unfairly punishes Americans who have saved for university or made a different career choice”.