Student loan forgiveness to benefit 43 million Americans

TUCSON, Ariz. — Approximately 43 million Americans have federal student loan debt which totals $1.6 trillon.

The student loan forgiveness plan could benefit women the most who hold two thirds of all student loan debt in the U.S. according to the American Association of University Women. Data from the U.S. Department of Education says American undergraduates hold nearly $25,000 in student loans after graduation.

KGUN 9 spoke with Dennis Hoffman, an economics expert at Arizona State University, to get his take on the student loan forgiveness plan and what it could mean for our economy.

"It really is a balance. Out there in terms of the argument around is student loan debt good or bad," Hoffman said. "The problems have occurred when bad actors in the education business entice relatively un-informed applicants to take on large amounts of debt to pursue degrees that are not going to put them in a lucrative position to pay it off."

So how could the forgiveness impact inflation?

"Unless we unclog the supply chains... inflation is going to continue to be a problem," Hoffman said. "If we could un-plug the supply chains, loan forgiveness or no-loan forgiveness, inflation will probably mitigate."

While of course no one has a crystal ball to predict just what it will do to the economy, the fact is 43 million federal student loan borrowers will benefit from this debt cancellation.

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