Explaining the partisan gap in support for student loan forgiveness

Despite widespread concern over soaring college costs, Americans are divided on the issue of canceling student debt. Opinions on the extent and manner of addressing this issue differ particularly between parties. Democrats overwhelmingly advocate for partial or full student debt forgiveness, which aligns with their broader support for government-led solutions. On the other hand, Republicans are showing great restraint, with many of them opposing any cancellation measure.

Half of Americans support canceling at least some student debt, with wide gaps between how Democrats and Republicans feel on the issue. The majority of Democrats favor canceling some (45%) or all of student debt (26%). In contrast, only 7% of Republicans favor a full rollback, while 26% support a partial rollback and 57% oppose any rollback.

What explains the partisan gap in support for debt cancellation?

The gap in support for canceling student debt between Democrats and Republicans may stem in part from divergent views on the root causes of student debt. Americans who identify with both parties generally agree that colleges and universities are at least a little to blame — at least 90% in each party say they blame schools a little or a lot. But Democrats are far more likely to blame federal governments and banks than individual actors like students and their parents. Republicans, on the other hand, divide the blame more evenly between governments, banks and students.

Additionally, a significant majority of Republicans (76%) view debt forgiveness as unfair to those who have already paid off their student loans, a sentiment shared by only 31% of Democrats.

More targeted debt cancellation plan receives greater bipartisan support

The White House’s latest approach to debt relief has greater support across the board, but wide partisan differences remain. After the Supreme Court last year struck down President Biden’s original plan to cancel $10,000 in student debt, he introduced a new, more targeted approach to debt cancellation. This latest plan specifically targets Americans experiencing financial hardship, including low-income earners with high expenses, people with disabilities, and borrowers who have been repaying their loans for more than two decades. How well does this new strategy align with public opinion about who deserves student debt cancellation?

Although differences of opinion between Democrats and Republicans persist, there is notable bipartisan support for debt forgiveness for groups targeted by Biden’s revised plan. A 92% majority of Democrats and a 54% majority of Republicans support canceling some or all of the debt of low-income Americans. Similarly, 90% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans support debt forgiveness for people who have been paying off their loans for at least 20 years. Still, Republicans are less sure about who canceling student debt will actually help, and are more likely than Democrats to believe that canceling student loans will most benefit high-income Americans.

Is support for debt cancellation motivated by self-interest?

Americans with outstanding student loans are more supportive of canceling their student loans and favor canceling larger debts than those who have paid off their loans or never borrowed. This suggests that self-interest may partly motivate support for loan forgiveness.

Americans who have taken out loans and repaid them generally have the same opinions about how much debt should be forgiven as those who have never taken out loans, suggesting that personal need or self-interest might be a more important factor in changing attitudes. than empathy or past experiences.

But does self-interest explain the partisan divergence in support? Maybe. Democrats are about 10 percentage points more likely than Republicans to have taken out student loans. And among those who took out loans, Democrats are about 7 points less than Republicans in having repaid them. But Democrats’ stronger support for debt forgiveness likely isn’t just because more Democrats have outstanding loans. Large differences in support for debt forgiveness between Democrats and Republicans remain even among those who have repaid or never taken out loans.

Having a personal stake could also influence the two groups differently. Democrats with outstanding loans are about as supportive of forgiveness as Democrats who have paid off their loans: both groups generally favor at least some forgiveness. Democrats who have never taken out loans are a little less supportive, but still mostly favor cancellation. For Republicans, having paid off one’s loans – or never having them at all – is associated with significantly lower support for loan forgiveness. Overall, while self-interest may play a role in shaping partisan attitudes toward debt cancellation, these attitudes – and how personal experiences influence them – are likely rooted in deeper ideological differences between Democrats and Republicans.

— Taylor Orth contributed to this article

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Methodology:

• The Daily Questions survey was conducted online May 7-8, 2024, among 6,625 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted by gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party.
• The other survey was conducted online April 16-20, 2024, among 1,144 adult U.S. citizens. Respondents were selected from the YouGov membership panel using postal sampling. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted based on gender, age, race, education, presidential and 2020 election turnout, core party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Basic party identification is the most recent response given by the respondent before November 1, 2022 and is weighted based on the distribution estimated at that time – there (33% Democrats, 31% Republicans). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.

Image: Getty (cogal)