A-OK? Capital Region School Shares How Many Love, Hate Debt Forgiveness

The federal government recently decided to forgive a portion of the student loans of millions of Americans, and naturally, the decision divided the country directly down the middle.

There's a portion of the country that supported the decision, and another portion that was staunchly against it. Naturally, there was also a section of the population that had no idea how to feel.

Let's get more specific than that, though. In the Capital Region and beyond, how many people supported student loan forgiveness, and how many wish it never happened?

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Siena College Poll Shares Feelings of Participants on Loan Forgiveness

CBS 6 in Albany recently released an article, breaking down poll results from Siena College on the feelings of New Yorkers regarding the decision to forgive student loans for millions of Americans.

In total, 56% of those surveyed were in favor of President Joe Biden's decision, while 33% of those surveyed were against it, while the remaining 11% of participants fell somewhere in the middle.

First, let's get into the specifics of the decision made by the government. As part of the forgiveness plan, they agreed to:

• cancel up to $20,000 worth of student loans for some
• cancel up to $10,000 for others
• cap the amount any borrower must pay each month at 5% of their earnings

Now, let's get into how people feel about it, more specifically than the "like it or hate it" percentage that we shared above. Here are a few statistics about how many people are being impacted:

• 38% of respondents claim they took out student loans to help pay for college.
• 17% of all New Yorkers claimed they still have debt left to pay.

What about the plan itself, though? Where do people feel on the amount of money promised to be forgiven?

• 29% think Biden’s plan has gone too far.
• 21% say it doesn’t go far enough.
• 39% say the plan is the right approach.

Those that believe in the debt forgiveness plan say this: it will allow those who are impacted to help the country's economy far quicker than they would've if they were saddled with student loan debt. Those who oppose it, meanwhile, believe it will lead to more inflation, and will negatively impact the country's economy in the long-run.

As someone who still has student loans left to pay, I am naturally grateful for this decision. That said, I completely understand the perspective of someone who opposes this decision. I specifically chose to attend a college that left me with minimal student loan debt when I graduated, and would've paid them off in relatively short order if asked to do so.

It's a touchy subject, and I'm not the least bit surprised that people may have been less than enthused by it. The decision was a polarizing one, and will be impacting people in the Capital Region, one way or another, for years to come.