Searching for just solutions to America's student debt crisis

By Tom Hall,

Teria Rogers, Rob Sivak, Malarie Pinkard-Pierre, Sam Bermas-Dawes

Published August 11, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

Jordan Braithwaite, 21, center, an undergrad at Grambling State University in Louisiana facing over $10,000 in student loans, demonstrates outside the Supreme Court, Friday, June 30, 2023, in Washington, DC. A sharply divided Supreme Court has ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to cancel or reduce student loan debts for millions of Americans. Conservative justices were in the majority in the 6-3 decision last June that effectively killed the $400 billion plan that President Joe Biden announced last year. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) — Jordan Braithwaite, 21, center, an undergrad at Grambling State University in Louisiana who's carrying over $10,000 in student loans, demonstrates outside the Supreme Court, Friday, June 30, 2023, in Washington, DC. A sharply divided Supreme Court has ruled that the Biden administration overstepped its authority in trying to cancel or reduce student loan debts for millions of Americans. Conservative justices were in the majority in Friday's 6-3 decision that effectively killed the $400 billion plan that President Joe Biden announced last year. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Today, on Midday: what to do about the nation's student debt crisis.

Forty-five million Americans are carrying debts from their or their children's education, totaling more than $1.7 trillion. Women borrow more than men. (They also complete their degrees more often.) African Americans borrow the most, and most frequently.

In 2022, then-WYPR education reporter Zshekinah Collier reported that the average student loan debt for a Maryland resident was $42,861, the second-highest average in the country, just behind Washington D.C.

The Biden Administration’s first plan to forgive some student loans for some students was struck down earlier this summer in a 6-3 ruling by the US Supreme Court. The White House immediately announced a new plan that pegs loan repayments to income levels. A beta version of the application website launched last week. The permanent site will be up later this month. A COVID-related payment hiatus period ends next month.

Let’s begin by understanding what’s in the new Biden plan, known as the SAVE Plan, for Saving on a Valuable Education. Tom's first guest is Katherine Knott, a journalist who covers federal policy for the online education news journal, Inside Higher Ed.

Katherine Knott joins us on Zoom from Washington, DC…

The three-year hiatus from loan repayments that began during the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end in October. Resuming those payments will be a certain hardship for tens of millions of borrowers already struggling with their monthly expenses.

Joining Tom now in Studio A is Dr. Tisa Silver Canady. Dr. Canady is a financial wellness advocate for scholars and the founder of the Maryland Center for Collegiate Financial Wellness.

One of the programs that many families rely on to fund education is called a 529 Plan. Over the last few years, the MD 529 Plan encountered major problems stemming from mistakes in calculating the amount of interest the accounts were to have been credited with. The mess led to the resignation of the twelve-member board that overseeing the program. Last spring, the Maryland legislature transferred authority for the fund to State Treasurer Derek Davis. But Davis has come under criticism for problems with the fund as well.

A co-sponsor of that legislation was Maryland Delegate Catherine Forbes, a Democrat who represents District 43B (Baltimore County).

Del. Forbes joins us on Zoom from Towson, Maryland.