US Secretary of Education promotes student loan debt forgiveness on HBCU tour
DENMARK, SC (WOLO) — Thursday morning, US Secretary of Education Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona visited two HBCUs in South Carolina.
Alongside Congressman Jim Clyburn, Cardona made stops at Voorhees University and Denmark Technical College in Bamberg County speaking about several crucial issues in education.
“Right around 4 million people have received 400 billion dollars in relief,” said Rep. Jim Clyburn. “That’s a big chunk of change.”
Clyburn and Cardona spoke with South Carolinians who had recently had student loans forgiven through a federal program.
“We’re not going to stop until we fix this system so we don’t have to rely on debt relief,” Cardona said. “The goal is to make higher education affordable, accessible and a good investment.”
However, the Biden administration’s aim to forgive even more student loan debt has met recent opposition.
“People have said that these efforts are giving people forgiveness while other people pay off their loans,” Clyburn said. “They paid off their loans a long time ago! They’re being forgiven for this almost criminal interest that they still owe.”
Recently, a circuit court decision allowed the Department of Education to begin forgiving student loan debt through the SAVE plan. South Carolina was one of three states to appeal this decision.
“Let these Republicans who are suing me talk to some of these folks that I spoke to today,” Cardona said. “They say their loan payments were 1000 dollars a month. Because of the SAVE program, it went down to 500 dollars a month. They were able to pay for groceries and not go into default.”
Thursday, a federal appeals court blocked a student loan forgiveness plan, but the secretary of education says he will keep fighting for it.
“When you get to hear the stories of hard-working Americans who are benefiting from it, it motivates you to keep fighting,” Cardona said. “Today, what we heard is testimony that we need to do this not only for them but for their communities.”
This past May, the Biden administration also announced an investment of 16 billion dollars into HBCUs like Voorhees University and Denmark Technical College.
