CANCEL FREEDOM DEBT RELIEF ZIP

CANCEL FREEDOM DEBT RELIEF ZIP

Several Atlanta-area ZIP codes, the state’s Democratic strongholds, had particularly high volumes of applications. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) was one of the most prominent Democrats pushing Biden to cancel student debt and ran on the issue during his close reelection bid last fall - even as Democrats in other close races distanced themselves from the program. But those areas accounted for about 54 percent of the student debt relief applications. In Georgia, for example, about 43 percent of the total population lives in ZIP codes that are majority non-white. But the number of applications per capita was higher among majority non-white ZIP codes than it was in majority white ZIP codes. Overall, about 15 million applications came from majority-white neighborhoods, while about 8.6 million applications were from ZIP codes that are majority non-white, the POLITICO analysis found. The NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus and other proponents of student debt cancellation have argued it will help narrow the nation’s persistent racial wealth gap. There were more applications per capita in majority non-white neighborhoods But those areas accounted for a greater share, 66 percent, of the applications for student debt. Less than 1 percent of the total applications came from the wealthiest ZIP codes where per-capita income is more than $100,000 - roughly corresponding to the portion of Americans who live in these ZIP codes.Īpplications from lower-income areas comprised a greater share of the population of adults who attended at least some college compared to applications from higher-income areas.įor example, about 60 percent of those college-educated adults live in neighborhoods where the per-capita income is less than $40,000. About two-thirds were from neighborhoods with an average income below $40,000.Īpplications from higher-income ZIP codes were more rare. POLITICO’s analysis found that more than 98 percent of applications came from ZIP codes where the average income is under $75,000. Most people, however, earn more or less than the average of their neighborhood. The per-capita income of the ZIP codes where applicants live is one proxy for estimating their income. On the application, borrowers were required only to self-certify that their annual income fell below the program’s $125,000 limit for individuals and $250,000 for couples. It’s impossible to know the precise income of the tens of millions of borrowers who applied for debt relief because the Education Department didn’t collect that information. When he announced the program, Biden said it was targeted to “working and middle-class people hit especially hard during the pandemic.” The White House, meanwhile, claims that about 90 percent of the benefits will go to families earning less than $75,000. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C,), who has led the GOP charge against the plan as chair of the House education committee, has blasted the program as a “transfer of wealth from working class Americans to privileged college graduates.” Lower-income areas applied at a higher rateĬritics of Biden’s debt relief program, including many Republicans, have decried it as a handout to wealthy Americans who don’t need the help. Census Bureau estimates of per-capita income, college attendance and racial demographics, as well as the results of the 2022 midterm elections. POLITICO’s analysis matched application ZIP codes with U.S. The department provided the data in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

11, when the program was frozen in response to a court ruling. POLITICO examined the ZIP codes associated with each of approximately 23.6 million applications for Biden’s debt relief that were received by the Education Department between Oct. The Supreme Court later this month will hear oral arguments in two cases brought by Republican-led states and a conservative group, which argue that Biden’s debt cancellation is illegal. The new details come as Biden’s debt relief program, which offers up to $20,000 of loan forgiveness, remains stuck in legal limbo.

Cancel freedom debt relief