Selveyah Gamblin graduated from the University of Iowa in 2023 with a bachelor's degree in political science with a double minor: public policy and theater studies.
A native of Chicago, Gamblin is the first person in her family to graduate from college. Her parents moved to Peosta, Iowa, in search of a better financial situation while she was still in high school. Like millions of others, Gamblin relied on federal student loans to pay for her education. He borrowed money to cover tuition and fees, books, and living expenses.
“It was similar to many families of color in America trying to figure out how to get their first-generation student through college,” Gamblin said. “And it's one of those things that comes with the territory, and even though it sucks, it's what we have to do to get that college education.”
Many students, including Gablin, had high hopes for debt relief when the Biden administration announced a program to ease their student loan burdens in August 2022. It would cancel up to $20,000 in debt for low-income students who had received a Pell Grant. and up to $10,000 for the vast majority of remaining borrowers.
Gamblin has $20,000 in student loan debt. Her father got about $40,000 to cover her four years at the University of Iowa.
“I was one Pell Grand recipient,” Gamblin said. “Which means, under the Biden student debt cancellation, $20,000 would have been forgiven.”
Selveyah Gamblin
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Courtesy
The Biden administration enacted the debt relief program under the HEROES Act.
In a 6-3 decisionthe Supreme ruled that federal law does not authorize the Department of Education (DOE) to cancel student loan debt.
Allen Rostron, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said the majority agreed that while the law allows the DOE to make some changes to the HEROES Act, eliminating billions of dollars in student loans is not among them.
“The Supreme Court said this is a massive restructuring,” Rostron said. “Billions of dollars are involved and it's a huge restructuring of the program and people's obligations. And we don't think that's what Congress really wanted.”
The decision came as a blow to Gamblin, who heard the news of the Supreme Court decision on Friday morning.
“It was devastating. I felt kind of lost,” she said. “According to my student loans being forgiven and being able to go to law school, which is my dream.”
The staff at Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) is also disappointed. The organization works with lawmakers and stakeholders to promote changes in federal student loan policies and connects borrowers with resources that can help them navigate the financial aid system.
“We're devastated,” Executive Director Cody Hounanian said. “This is not the news we wanted. We are disappointed and angry that the Supreme Court has made a decision based on ideology.”
Polls show that most Americans favor some form of student debt relief, but they may not agree on how it should be achieved. A February Research/Shaw & Company Research poll on Fox News showed that 62% of respondents agreed that some student debt should be forgiven. Another February poll, by YouGov and the Economistfound that 53% of US adults “strongly” or “somewhat” supported the federal government canceling up to $10,000 in student loans for people earning less than $125,000 a year.
Hunanian said the Supreme Court's ruling ignores widespread sentiment on the issue.
“There are 40 million Americans who have been waiting for this relief,” he said. “A majority of Americans support some level of student debt relief. Not only is the court taking action that is harmful to a huge segment of the American public, it is out of step with what the majority of Americans want in our society.”
In response to the decision to block the student loan forgiveness program, Biden said:
“I will stop at nothing to find other ways to provide relief to hard-working middle-class families. My administration will continue to work to bring the promise of higher education to every American.”
How we got here
In August 2022, the Biden administration used the HEROES Act to bypass Congress and pay off some or all of the student debt. Congress passed the HEROES Act after the 9/11 attacks to ensure that federal student loan borrowers will not be financially devastated in the event of a national emergency, or war or disaster. In this case, the national emergency was the COVID-19 pandemic.
A month after the president announced the program, 22 Republican governors signed a letter to Biden about his sweeping plan. Partially, they wrote: “…we are fundamentally opposed to your plan to force American taxpayers to pay off the student loan debt of an elite few.”
The governors who signed the letter disagreed that the president had the authority to use the HERO Act in this way. Among its signatories were the governors of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. This midwestern block of states would later join Arkansas and South Carolina to take it a step further. In early March, they asked the Supreme Court to block the student loan forgiveness program.
Six to nine the judges agreed. In fact, Chief Justice John Roberts poked holes in Biden's argument that the loan forgiveness program was merely an amendment to the HEROES Act. Such broad action, Roberts said, would require congressional approval.
The states involved in the case were quick to celebrate the decision. An early reaction came from Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, who said:
“The Supreme Court's decision confirms what Iowans have believed all along: the hard-working men and women of this country should not have to shoulder the burden of paying off other people's loans. This plan undervalues Iowans who paid off their debt or chose not to pursue a traditional four-year degree.”
“It's heartening to see the Supreme Court rein in President Biden's executive overreach and bring common sense back to the fore.”
Governor Kim Reynolds, Iowa
Gablin, who lives in Iowa City, said she feels frustrated by her family's adoption.
“Knowing that most of college I was a COVID student and it seriously affected everything in my life? And knowing that my state decided that any help for me wasn't worth it? It's something like betrayal,” he said.
Politics or politics?
According to its own 2023 data, the federal government holds more than $1.6 trillion in student loan debt from more than 40 million borrowers.
In Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, most college graduates have student loan debt. The average graduate owes more than $25,000.
Reynolds and other critics of Biden's policy argue that taxpayers without student loans bear the burden of paying off the debt for those who do.
“There's such a knee-jerk response from some people that Americans think student debt forgiveness is unfair,” Hunanian said. “What I really think the polls show is that Americans believe that crushing students and families with debt to pursue an education is what's really unfair here.”
Eric Berger, a law professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said there's no escaping the partisanship behind the decision to even take the case to the high court.
“I think overall the suit was mostly political,” Berger said. “And this has become quite common. When a Democrat is in the White House, you're going to have red states questioning what the blue White House is doing. And likewise, when you have a Republican in the White House, you're going to have blue states that are going to question what the Republicans are doing.”
As a college professor, Berger says he is well aware of the challenges students face when paying for higher education.
“This decision will have a real impact on many of these students,” he said. “Law school graduates can often do quite well after law school, but other college graduates often can't get those high-profile jobs. So there's definitely going to be a real world impact for a lot of Americans.”
What's next?
Hunanian said the high cost of higher education in the U.S. means millions of college applicants have few options.
“Unfortunately, many families don't have a choice about whether or not to take out student loans,” she said.
That was the case for Jackie Logan of Chesterfield, Missouri, who graduated from Arkansas State in 2006. She earned a degree in dietetics there after transferring from Eastern Illinois University. She is a native of Kinmundy in southern Illinois, where her family's financial situation meant she had to apply for loans to put herself through college.
Today, Logan still has about $20,000 to pay back, though now that she's in a two-income household, she's not as worried about her ability to do so. Her first thought after hearing the Supreme Court's decision was about recent graduates like Gamblin.
“I was more concerned about younger people or people who don't have the same resources that I have now,” said Logan, who was raised by her grandparents and other relatives. “I was one of those people who didn't have any of the resources. I didn't have parents. I didn't have a family that could just save me.”
Now a married mother of seven-year-old twins, Logan is thinking about how the federal student loan system will work in the future.
“I'm also concerned about what it's doing to our culture, our economy,” he said. “I feel like it makes younger people feel more like they're not able to be autonomous or make an impact on the world. On the contrary, actions are being taken against them.”
Gamblin is optimistic and said she has confidence in her peers.
“It hurts, yes,” he said. “But I have no doubt that many people who suffer will be able to overcome and go on to be successful, and it may be much more difficult, but I have no doubt that greatness still awaits many people.”
Resources:
Student Debt Crisis Center
The Institute for College Access & Success
The Midwest Newsroom is an in-depth and investigative journalism partnership including KCUR, St. Louis Public Radio, Iowa Public Radio, Nebraska Public Media and NPR.
