For my whole adult life, debt and financial hardship has dictated my path, first through a cycle of generational poverty and now in the form of student debt. With Friday’s Supreme Court decision, it looks as if I have many years ahead of student loan repayment. It could take, quite literally, the rest of my working life before my student loans are paid off.
On Friday, the Supreme Court blocked President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan. In a 6-3 ruling, the Court found that the Department of Education “doesn’t have the authority to cancel $430 billion of student loan principal.” This is devastating news.
I was elated when I first heard about Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan which seemed designed to help someone just like me – dedicated and hardworking but without much in the way of assets or savings. My profession, teaching, wasn’t exactly what one could call lucrative.
The odds were always against me going to college. I grew up in central Georgia in a low income household, the eldest of three children. I was the first of my family to attend a four-year university. My family had no experience with the college application process. We also were not familiar with the complicated financial aid loan application form, known as the FAFSA, that all students need to fill out when applying for financial assistance.
After submitting my FAFSA forms, I applied for aid from my college and to my disbelief, I was told that I had an expected family contribution of zero dollars. Naively, I assumed this meant that almost all of the costs of my education would be covered by my college. I discovered later just how mistaken I was.
I received two types of grant funding during my time in college: A program called the HOPE scholarship, funded by the state lottery, which apportioned grants on the basis of academic achievement; and a federal Pell Grant, for students who demonstrate financial need.
Approved ~ FS
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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/30/opinions/scotus-student-loan-forgiveness-ruling-clark/index.html