CNBC Poll: 59% of Americans say student loan forgiveness will make inflation worse

A new CNBC survey shows that 59% of Americans feel that forgiving student loans will worsen inflation in the United States.

The poll, which was carried out by Momentive between August 4th and August 15th surveyed a total of 5,142 Americans.

Among their findings, the poll showed that 34% of Americans do support loan forgiveness for loanees “in need” while 32% said that all student loans should be forgiven while and 30% responded by saying no debt should be written off.

President Biden recently announced a plan to forgive $10,000 of student debt for any borrower earning less than $125,000 per year.

According to national statistics, about 44 million people currently have a student loan and owe a combined $1.7 trillion in federal student loan debt.

Malcolm Newman, 26, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Drexel University, said he has continued to pay back his student loan during the freeze on payments for federal student loan debt.

“I haven’t really altered my spending habits. You know when those payments kick back in, I’ll have a little bit less than what I’ve been used to,” Newman said. “But it’s nothing that’s going to, you know, put me under or get me evicted from my house.”

Tonya Edmonds, who works as an administrative assistant and an artist, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Temple University and master’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Edmonds has student loan debt in excess of $100,000.

“I think there should be forgiveness because the majority of the time unless you start out with a job that is a high-paying job you can’t afford to pay,” she said.

“I’m not a doctor, I’m not a lawyer, I can’t, you know, pay the $100,000 or even the portion,” Edmonds said. “They always ask for a portion that is too big, like the minimum amount for them is always more than I can afford. So it’s just overwhelming.”

Kate Bernyk graduated with two communications degrees and about $100,000 in student debt.

Bernyk has previously applied for her student loans to be forgiven. Whilst encouraged by the recent student loan announcement, Bernyk said she won’t get excited until she receives an official notification of forgiveness. “I’m not celebrating until I get that.”