18 Mar Canceling all US student debt would mostly benefit high earners

But who benefits from such forgiveness would depend largely on how it’s structured.

Some policy approaches could chiefly benefit the highest earners, suggests research by University of Pennsylvania’s Sylvain Catherine and Chicago Booth’s Constantine Yannelis.In the United States, about 43 million borrowers collectively owe nearly $1.6 trillion in outstanding federal student debt, according to the Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid.

That balance has more than tripled since 2007, while the number of borrowers has only increased by about 50 percent.

Read more in Chicago Booth Review: https://review.chicagobooth.edu/economics/2020/article/canceling-all-us-student-debt-would-mostly-benefit-high-earners