The United States Supreme Court, which is reviewing this landmark measure by the president, could oppose it.
By Armelle Bohineust
Published update
The amounts are staggering. Nearly 43 million Americans today must repay federal loans taken out when they were students. On average, they each owe 36,000 dollars (34,000 euros) and the total at stake exceeds 1630 billion dollars, more than the country’s car loans.
The exorbitant cost of higher education in the United States, from $10,000 a year at the cheapest public institutions to more than $60,000 at highly rated universities, has several consequences.
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In recent years, the number of students has been decreasing, some of the young people preferring to do without a diploma. Moreover, while the total amount of student loans has almost tripled in twelve years, nearly a million graduates find themselves in default each year.
” READ ALSO – In the United States, students are deserting universities
In August, Joe Biden, self-proclaimed champion of the working classes, decided to purely and simply cancel part of this debt. He announced the deletion of 10,000 dollars from the slate of borrowers who earn less than 125,000 dollars a year and 20,000 dollars for former scholarship holders.
The candidates rushed and 26 million applications were filed, said the White House, which estimates the overall bill for the federal state at some 400 billion dollars.
Since 2020, repayment of student loans has been regularly frozen. Donald Trump had, the first time, invoked a 2003 law called the Heroes Act, which allows ” relieve “ student debt holders in case “of war or national emergency”.
” READ ALSO – United States: in the face of inflation, loans are increasing, so are defaults
The ex-president and then his successor renewed this suspension several times. But the definitive cancellation of part of the debt, decided last summer by Joe Biden, goes much further. And she’s not for everyone.
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hostile republican states
Justice blocked the process after being seized in particular by a coalition of Republican states. They accuse the Biden Administration of having exceeded its powers on the pretext of the pandemic and of having improperly committed taxpayers’ money.
The case has been before the Supreme Court of the United States since Tuesday, which must decide by the end of June. It will not necessarily rule in favor of the students. The nine judges have already inflicted several setbacks on the Democratic Administration, for example invalidating measures intended to prevent evictions of tenants during the pandemic.
Actors hostile to a strong central power hope that the temple of American law will take advantage of this case to cut the wings of the federal government a little more.
