What Kamala Harris has said (and done) about student loans during her career
The potential of a Kamala Harris presidency should give Americans still holding a mountain of student debt hope for a second chance at getting it forgiven, analysts said.
As vice president, Harris supported President Joe Biden’s canceling of more than $160 billion in federal student loans.
She also initially backed broad forgiveness of between $10,000 and $20,000 for every borrower until it was blocked by the Supreme Court. Biden’s new plan to achieve broad forgiveness from a different angle is pending. If that plan doesn’t pass while Biden’s still in office, Harris may try to see it through if she wins the election in November, analysts said.
“Now that the spigot for broad student loan forgiveness has been opened by the Biden administration, it would make little sense for Harris to tighten it back up, particularly when she is attempting to draw the support of young voters, many of whom are college educated with student debt,” said Justin Begley, economist at research firm Moody’s Analytics, in an email.
What has Harris said about student debt?
Outside of her time supporting Biden's student loan measures, here's what Harris has said and done over her career:
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2013: As attorney general in California, Harris filed charges against for-profit Corinthian Colleges and its subsidiaries for purposely targeting “low-income, vulnerable Californians through deceptive and false advertisements and aggressive marketing campaigns that misrepresented job placement rates and school programs.” In 2016, she obtained a $1.1 billion judgment against the defunct chain.
2016: Also as AG, Harris joined attorneys general from 16 other states and the District of Columbia to urge the Department of Education to do more to give relief to “tens of thousands of students with useless degrees and tens of thousands of dollars in debt” because of dishonest practices by for-profit schools.
2017: Sen. Harris signed on to Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Pramila Jayapal’s College For All Act to make four-year public colleges and universities free for families making up to $125,000 and community college free for everyone. This bill never became law.
2019: Sen. Harris joined her colleagues in reintroducing the Debt-Free College Act to provide a dollar-for-dollar federal match to state colleges in exchange for “a commitment to help students pay for the full cost of attendance without having to take on debt.” She also introduced the BASIC Act to provide grants to colleges to help eligible students with basic needs like food, housing, transportation, and health care. Neither became law.
2019: As a Democratic presidential hopeful, Harris proposed a smaller student loan forgiveness plan than what she ended up supporting as Biden’s vice president. She campaigned on loan forgiveness for Pell Grant recipients who started and operated businesses in disadvantaged communities for at least three years, which drew criticism for being too narrow.
Blocked:Federal judges block part of President Biden’s student loan repayment plan
What else might Harris pursue if she becomes president?
In addition to supporting Biden’s “alternative path to provide relief through the Higher Education Act” and new income-driven repayment plan to reduce borrowers’ monthly payments, Harris could also more aggressively enforce consumer protection and antitrust laws, analysts said.
“This would include taking greater legal action against for-profit institutions, as she did when she was California’s AG,” Begley said. “We may also see some smaller proposals around student debt come to fruition, such as eliminating origination fees levied on borrowers when they take out federal loans for school.”
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Will this help her with voters in November?
Whether Harris’ views on student loans influence your vote depends on who you are, analysts said.
Only 39% of the 1,309 Americans surveyed in a UChicago Harris/AP- NORC Poll in May said federal student loan forgiveness was extremely or very important. By contrast, 51% believe forgiving medical debt is extremely or very important.
However, support varies slightly based on the reasons for the relief and significantly depending on people’s partisanship and personal experience with student debt, it said.
“Forgiveness tends to resonate more with Democrats, but it’s also popular with those who currently have student loans,” said David Sterrett, a principal research scientist at NORC in a release.
Fifty-eight percent of Democrats find student loan forgiveness important, compared with 44% of independents and just 15% of Republicans.
Those who are paying student loans (54%) are also more likely than respondents who have paid off loans (31%) or have no experience with student debt (34%) to consider forgiveness important.
In certain circumstances, such as when borrowers have been defrauded or misled by their school (54%) or made on-time payments for 20 years (49%), Americans are more likely to support student debt relief, the survey showed.
Medora Lee is a money, markets, and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at [email protected] and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.