For English teacher Chrissy Hejny, the word ‘debt’ is synonymous with stress.

It’s been 19 years since Hejny graduated from college. Even after all this time, she and her husband are still combating their college debt, a seemingly endless stressor pressing down on their daily ways of life; a trap, easy to fall into, yet hard to crawl out of.

Millions of Americans nationwide are swamped in student loan debt; over 48 million people owe money, according to the Educational Data Initiative. In the wake of these economic struggles resulting from debt constraints, President Joe Biden has proposed multiple steps to attack long-lasting loan debt.

“Debt’s very stressful, and it’s difficult,” Hejny said. “We weren’t able to afford to put our kids in decent after-school programs. We had to find the cheapest alternatives for everything, and even with reduced payments, it’s a lot for a family of four. It’s hard enough living from paycheck to paycheck just for necessities, like groceries and bills; then you have that student debt, like the icing on top of everything else that’s stressful.”

Biden’s new proposition offers up to $20,000 in debt forgiveness, meaning millions of individual borrowers may see the cancellation of thousands of dollars owed in student loans. Biden has also put forth suggestions to make repayment more manageable, including a new monthly payment cap, forgiveness after ten years, and integration of monthly interest into payment percentages. Many are grateful to see these changes, as they feel most politicians ignore such struggles.

“At this point, I’m glad Biden’s here because the alternative is unspeakable, but I wish he was doing more,” Hejny said. “Anything that will help people like my husband and I, who are in debt and who are working their butts off every day, is a good idea in my book. It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s a band-aid; it’s not really solving any problems.”

Senior Shane Palmer believes that continuing his education after high school is worth the money. Despite this belief, he’s hesitant to go through with college, as the looming threat of debt seems too great to combat in adult life.

“I’m terrified of debt,” Palmer said. “There would be a constant drain on my funds, I would lose so much money. It’s hard to get high paying jobs without a college degree, but it’s also really difficult to live off of minimum wage, not to mention having college debts hanging over your shoulders; it’s a trap, it seems like it’s just going to put you down the ditch.”

To be eligible for relief, individual borrowers must make less than $125,000 annually. The US Department of Education has indicated that the application process will last from early October this year through December 31, 2023.

“Making $125k a year is a lot of money, so that’s a good threshold,” senior Andrew Swierk said. “That’s a lot of money, and plenty of people don’t make that much, so it’s a good separation point.”

Hejny attended St. Edward’s and Baylor University and studied political science and international relations throughout her college career. Although she’s proud of this education, she disagrees with the idea of four-year university as an end goal for every student in America.

“If I could change anything about the American school system, I’d start by making college less of a ‘golden opportunity,’ because I don’t think college is appropriate for everyone,” Hejny said. “To make university the goal of every child going through our school system is unrealistic and inequitable. I would open up the door for more pathways for kids to figure out what they want to do with their lives to earn money.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced society to make changes upon changes to the normal way of life. On March 13, 2020, a loan payment pause was put into effect. This meant it wasn’t required to make student loan debt payments, and there would be no accumulation of interest fees on the money owed. Biden has extended this freeze, which is now expected to last until the end of the year.

“The extension is definitely a good idea,” Swierk said. “Many people have lower paying jobs, and the pause lets them save up their money to pay for their debts.”

Although he trusts the plan has good intentions, Palmer believes government spending often goes to the wrong places. He would like to see some of the money that goes to the military and to government institutions instead contribute to providing free healthcare to American citizens.

“Debt relief is probably one of the better uses, but not the best,” Palmer said. “The government should pay for healthcare. You go to other countries, and healthcare is dirt cheap; when I go to the doctor, I have to pay $5,000 out of my pocket. I can’t afford that.”

As of now, some believe relief might not come on the expected dates. This is due to worries that some might try to challenge Biden’s forgiveness plan in court. To be able to do this, someone must have suffered financial loss; some believe student loan servicers or collection agencies might attack the plan with these claims. If they do, relief could be pushed back until a verdict is reached.

“Richer people who don’t like the threshold might want to get more money for themselves to cover debt,” Swierk said. “Debt is expensive, so they don’t want to be spending more money when others are getting relief.”

To some, this seems like a great chance to get a step up on their debt. To others, it serves as a disappointment. Many Democrats wish Biden provided more forgiveness. Meanwhile, some Republicans claim that Biden’s punishing Americans who avoided going into debt.

“I don’t understand some Republicans,” Palmer said. “You see people making less than $50 grand a year preaching for the rich, and I’m just questioning– what kind of brainwashing has let this happen? They don’t want that $20 grand that’s been taken out of their tax dollars to go funneling into people who, they believe, are college rejects and homeless people. They imagine  their money is going to drugs and alcohol, even though that’s not entirely true.”

Ex-president Donald Trump, an infamous figure in the Republican party, disagrees with Biden’s proposed policy. He has called this an “election enhancing money grab,” claiming that “America is a nation in decline, and the cliff into oblivion is within sight.” This statement was made in a Truth Social post.

“Lots of the things Trump says are really stupid,” Swierk said. “This relief is more beneficial to the American people, it’s not just a ‘money grab,’ like he says.”

If Biden’s plans are realized smoothly, people will see relief around six weeks after they submit their applications. Swierk hopes that those who are struggling get the help they need. Hejny hopes people will take these thoughts and dig deeper to locate the real problem, buried deep behind years and years of institutional standardization of the school system.

“I hope that the relief eliminates debt for as many people as possible, so that they can have that extra support to pursue happiness,” Hejny said. “I also hope we can stop this nonsensical notion of the four-year university being the end-all. We shouldn’t be churning out kids to be factory workers, and charging them thousands of dollars for it. We need to think about the real problem, that we’re forcing kids to sit in classrooms from nine to five every day, and then forcing them to go sit in more classrooms for another four years; it’s such a silly way of doing things. I hope people will realize we need to change this. I really, truly, hope so.”