Loudenville, N.Y. (WBEN) - A new Siena College poll has brought forth some opinions on President Joe Biden's plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of Americans.
"56% of New Yorkers support President Biden's recent decision to cancel up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt 33% of New Yorkers overall oppose," said Siena College Research Institute Director Don Levy, who was on WBEN's BMaz and Beamer Wednesday morning.
The data also shows that 29% think Biden's plan has gone too far, 21% say it doesn't go far enough and 39% say the plan is the right approach. The approach being canceling up to $20,000 in student loan debt for some, up to $10,000 for others and caps the amount any borrower must pay each month at 5% of their earnings.
According to the poll, Fifty-seven percent of New Yorkers say that canceling some student debt will allow many Americans to get out from under the burden of student loans and that debt relief will both help them and the economy. Over one third, 35%, disagree and say that canceling student loan debt will increase inflation and that this plan isn't fair to those that never had student loans, or to those that had loans and already paid them back.
"Younger New Yorkers and by young in this case, we're going to talk about people under the age of 50, there you have between 60 and 67% of younger New Yorkers in support of the plan. When you get to New Yorkers who are 65 years of age and older, a plurality 49 to 44 oppose the plan. Interestingly, about a quarter of all New Yorkers under the age of 50 tell us that they still have a balance on a student loan. Of all people with a balance, probably not surprisingly, 73% of everyone with a balance on a student loan is in support of this debt cancellation plan," said Levy.
Probably the most surprising statistic of the poll, the poll suggests people who make more income seem to favor erasing student loan debt more than people who make less income.
"60% of people making $100,000 or more are in support of it. A majority of people making over $100,000 a year say that they think that this will be good for the economy. It's similar numbers with lower incomes, but you're absolutely right, people with the highest level of income are most in support of this," Levy told WBEN.
