U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona hosted a roundtable meeting Monday at the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) headquarters in Downtown Manhattan with UFT president Michael Mulgrew and several educators and teachers from NYC.
Cardona discussed the next federal proposals for student debt relief, both of which are centered around the U.S. Department of Education’s four existing major student loan forgiveness programs: the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) and Saving On A Valuable Education (SAVE).
The administration is proposing canceling debt for SAVE, he said.
“It will take undergraduate loans and cut them in half in July,” Cardona said. “That’s a big deal for educators going into the profession. We’re working hard to get it done.
Mulgrew agreed with Cardona’s support of student loan forgiveness, saying it is needed for teachers.
“It’s not fair when someone decides to dedicate their life to helping children and then having to go home with horrible anxiety from loans that just keep escalating,” Mulgrew said.
Cardona shared an inspiring message for the small group of teachers who were in attendance, all of whom have benefitted from student debt relief.
“We need to invest in our educators, provide them with the benefits they deserve so they can do their job well,” he said.
Earlier Monday, President Joe Biden announced more details of the next round of plans for student loan relief, which include: waiving accrued and capitalized interest for borrowers; automatically discharging debt for borrowers otherwise eligible for loan forgiveness under SAVE, closed school discharge, or other forgiveness programs, but not enrolled; eliminate student debt for borrowers in repayment for 20 years or more; and helping borrowers who enrolled in low-financial-value programs or institutions.
During the meeting, Cardona also said the administration is tackling “predatory schools.”
“Another area that I think we really stepped up our oversight is these predatory schools,” he said. “They go after first-generation college students who want to chase their dreams and they’re paying $75-80,000 for a program that’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”
Last month, Biden approved an additional $5.8 billion in student debt relief for 78,000 public service workers.
