Students continue to get coronavirus stimulus check but as debt relief
It’s not certain whether or not Congress will approve another round of economic controls, but students will continue to benefit from Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion …
June 15, 2021 3 min reading time
This story originally appeared on ValueWalk
It’s not certain whether or not Congress will approve another round of economic checks, but students continue to benefit from Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package. More universities are giving their students stimulus checks for coronavirus by canceling their debts with funds from the $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package.
Hedge fund letters, conferences, and more in the first quarter of 2021
Coronavirus Stimulus Checks: Colleges Cancel Student Debt
Last month, Delaware State University (DSU) announced it would waive more than $ 700,000 in student loans. Since then, several colleges and universities have made a similar announcement that they will cancel student debts using funds from Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion Incentive Act, approved in March.
Recently, Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina found it would cancel $ 286,500 in student debt owed directly to the university. Wilberforce University made a similar announcement in late May. The Ohio-based university said it would cancel more than $ 375,000 in debt for students enrolled in 2020 and 2021.
The announcement from Wilberforce University states that “debts and other debts owed by students in 2020 and 2021 to the university have been settled and are in zero balance.”
Dartmouth College also announced that it will cancel student loans for families with an annual income of $ 125,000 per year or less. Some schools offer debt-free enrollment options for students to ensure students don’t run into debt to begin with. However, Dartmouth College would not use stimulus money to complete debt-free enrollment.
After Congress approved Biden’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus bill, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released updated college and university guidelines. The updated guidelines allowed colleges and universities to use the funds in a variety of ways to meet student needs, including canceling student debt.
“We hope that every eligible student will take advantage of these benefits while they continue to focus on their studies,” Cardona said in March when announcing the policy update.
Granting of federal student loans: is it coming?
It should be noted that these student debt reliefs only apply to the debts they owe directly to a college or university. Does not include government or private lender debt.
Hence, advocates of the student loan waiver expected Biden to add such a provision to his budget. However, the budget did not include funds for student loan issuance. Biden has been heavily criticized for having promised student loans during his election campaign. Previously, Biden has shown support for a $ 10,000 loan cancellation per borrower.
However, it is still possible for Biden to issue student loan waiver. Biden has already asked the Department of Education (DoE) to work in this direction. Late last month, the DoE also announced that it has begun reviewing regulations and other options related to eliminating or reducing student debt.