Can you put a price on knowledge? Though massive student loans are a relatively recent phenomenon, their impact on American society has been unmistakable.
Student loans were first introduced by the American government through the National Defense Education Act of 1958. The NDEA provided students seeking graduate and undergraduate degrees in defense-related fields with low interest loans. In the midst of the Cold War, the NDEA was necessitated by the Soviet Union’s launching of the Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth, a year earlier. A byproduct of the space race, the NDEA encouraged participation in STEM-related fields however did not yet cause significant financial accumulation and burden.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Higher Education Act which expanded federal student aid programs and guaranteed loans issued by private lenders.
Though Americans grew increasingly reliant on federal loans, once Reagan assumed the presidency in 1981, he cut federal spending, decreasing access to federal student loans. In 1981, a Yankelovich, Skelly & White/Time Magazine Poll of registered voters found 28% said that they have been affected by cutbacks to federal student loans.
Over the next decade, concerns grew, and, by 1991, a Yankelovich Clancey Shulman/Time Magazine/CNN Poll found that 57% of Americans believed that more government spending should go towards student loans and grants
By 2003, an ICR/Debt Relief Clearinghouse Poll found that 68% of Americans noted that existing or future student loans prevented them from spending money on other things such as a house and a car. This number continued to rise, as a GfK Knowledge Networks/Harvard Institute of Politics poll in 2012, found that 73% of Americans aged 18-29 noted that their financial circumstances going forwards would be impacted by student loans.
Sensing a rising student debt problem, Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden all either initiated or proposed legislation focusing on student debt relief. The Obama administration implemented Income Driven Repayment (IDR) plans which reduced monthly payments to a percentage of one’s income, with forgiveness of the total balance after 20-25 years. The Trump administration attempted to cap these IDR payments at 12.5% of one’s income, which the administration noted would reduce costs and streamline IDR plans. This plan never materialized.
The Biden administration proposed a mass-forgiveness plan which would cancel up to $20,000 in debt, however was struck down by the Supreme Court, despite a May 2024 AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research/University of Chicago School of Public Policy Poll finding out that only 23% of Americans oppose loan forgiveness after 20 years.
So, where does this leave us?
According to a September 2024 Pew study, one in four American adults under 40 have student loan debt, with Americans collectively amassing $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. Despite this, that 2024 AP-Norc/University of Chicago Poll found that only 29% of Americans oppose federal loan forgiveness, but a 2024 Ipsos/ABC News poll found that 42% of Americans still believed that Biden was doing too much on this issue.
As Trump gets ready to assume his second term, we will see if his newfound popularity among Gen Z voters will change the way in which he approaches federal student loans.
This post was written by Marist Poll Media Team member Neel Viswanathan.