U.S. President Joe Biden's continued efforts to cancel student loan debt receives a new boost as a poll found data on who young Americans blame for student loan debt not being forgiven.
On Monday, a poll conducted by Generation Lab, provided exclusively to Axios, found:
- 47 percent of young Americans blame the Supreme Court for student debt not being forgiven.
- 38 percent of young Americans blamed Republican lawmakers and
- 10 percent said Biden was at fault for student loans not being forgiven.
The poll's findings come as Biden continues to fight for student loan debt forgiveness after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the previous cancellation plan that sought to cancel up to $10,000 in student debt for borrowers with an income of $125,000 or less and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.
And while it may be a boon for the Biden Administration that he's not taking the majority of the blame, one expert told Newsweek Biden's currently not faring well with young voters.
Following the decision by the Supreme Court, Biden announced a new income-driven repayment (IDR) plan, the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan, and promoted the Revised Pay As You Earn Repayment REPAYE Plan.
"These borrowers will join the millions of people that my Administration has provided relief to over the past two years—resulting in over $116 billion in loan relief to over 3 million borrowers under my Administration," Biden said in a statement last week. "When the Supreme Court made the wrong decision, I immediately announced a new plan to open an alternative path to relief for as many borrowers as possible, as soon as possible."
The poll from Generation Lab also found that more than half of the respondents, which was among 738 college students and recent college graduates, disagreed with the decision by the Supreme Court and 17 percent said they agreed.
Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy Action, told Axios that having support for student loan cancellation could be helpful for Biden's reelection campaign in 2024.
"They obviously need to ensure that there is high enthusiasm across the voting bloc to secure victory," Mejia told Axios.
Newsweek reached out to the White House via email for comment, but Biden may have a harder time convincing younger voters of a repeat election.
A Pew Research Poll following the 2020 election showed Biden receiving more support than former President Donald Trump among college graduates. The poll found that 56 percent of college graduates voted for Biden, compared to 42 percent that sided with Trump. Additionally, the poll found that 67 percent of postgraduate respondents voted for Biden and 32 percent in this group sided with Trump.
Now, however, Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told Newsweek that Biden is currently in "bad shape" with young voters.
"Young voters are smart enough to know there needs to be a policy change and the White House can help," Rottinghaus told Newsweek. "The White House needs a workaround to the student loan policy or it risks anemic turnout among young voters, jeopardizing wins in states with big young voter turnout like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Colorado."
