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Less than a third of U.S. adults approve of President Biden’s handling of student loan debt, and only 36 percent of those currently paying back loans support the president’s actions, according to survey results released Tuesday from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
The Biden administration has so far forgiven $167 billion for 4.75 million Americans and plans for more relief are in the works, but the AP poll is the latest sign that the president’s ambitious plans aren’t resonating with voters. Student debt relief is a key plank of Biden’s reelection campaign.
Among Democrats, 55 percent said they approve of how Biden is handling student debt. But only 18 percent of Independents and just 9 percent of Republicans said the same.
Thirty-four percent of those surveyed who are responsible for paying back a student loan said they disapprove of how Biden has dealt with the issue. About 40 percent of adults said it’s important for the federal government to forgive student loans—but a similar percentage said it’s not. There was a generational gap in the findings: Adults under age 45 rated the issue much higher, saying it was “extremely important” for the government to prioritize debt relief.
Biden’s new plan to provide debt relief to discrete groups of borrowers—such as those whose balances have ballooned because of interest or those who’ve made payments for at least 20 years—isn’t popular with a majority of Americans, according to AP’s findings, though a majority of Democrats approved of the proposal.
