Harvard survey finds 9 out of 10 young people are in favor of government action on student debt

The Harvard Institute of Politics conducted a survey of 2,000 young people and found the overwhelming majority of them are in favor of some kind of federal action on student loan debt, with the highest number of respondents saying they were in favor of complete forgiveness.

The Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School polled 2,000 people under the age of 30 between March 15 and March 30 about their opinions on student loan forgiveness and other possible government actions to ease the stranglehold student debt has on Americans. Most of the respondents, 38 percent, said they were in favor of full student loan forgiveness.

Student loan payments have been on pause since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the White House continues to extend the deadline for restarting the payments amid growing pressure to deliver on Biden’s campaign promises to act on student debt.

During the campaign, Biden touted a plan to deliver forgiveness of up to $10,000 in student loan debt from every student. To date, no legislation has been introduced.

About a quarter of the survey respondents said they would support the government helping with repayment options of federal student loans instead of fully canceling them. Another quarter responded that they support full forgiveness of student debt for those who need it most. 

The findings of the survey regarding student debt conclude, “85% of young Americans favor some form of government action on student loan debt, but only 38% favor total debt cancellation. And the poll also finds that at two-to-one margins, young Americans are supportive of greater parental control over K-12 education and supportive of candidates that support teaching K-12 students that racism – intentional or not – is a fixture of American laws and institutions.”