Madison Reporter

Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics Polling Director John Volpe recently let the secret out about what he feels is largely fueling President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Volpe, who worked as a consultant on Biden’s campaign, shared that the move “adds an additional tailwind to an already improving position with young people,” WEAU reported.

Biden made his decision official on Wednesday, formally announcing the forgiveness of up to $10,000 for each student’s debt, at least partly in keeping with a vow he made while still a candidate for office. The COVID-19-related payment freeze has also been extended to Aug. 31.

Not everyone is as thrilled as Volpe by the president’s actions, including some Democrats, who say he pledged to go even further while still on the campaign trail.  

At the same time, Republicans are criticizing the move as being unfair to all the other taxpayers now saddled with paying off the debts of others.

Still, with more than 43 million Americans burdened with some level of federal student debt and the president’s public approval ratings sharply in reverse, Volpe is championing the move as being about "trust in politics, in government, in our system.”

He later said, “It’s also about trust in the individual, which in this case is President Biden.”

Intricate details of Biden’s plan, which the Republican National Committee has blasted as a “handout to the rich” by further handcuffing lower-income taxpayers, call for an income cap limiting the forgiveness to only those earning less than $125,000 a year.

Here in Wisconsin, Biden’s actions come on the heels of UW System President Jay Rothman's move toward a tuition assistance program for all UW campuses across the state.

The UW program paves the way for students whose households earn less than $62,000 annually to be eligible for last dollar funding that could make their entire tuition bill free for all four years of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) program.