Recently, President Biden has proposed a student loan forgiveness, which has caused some uproar among lawmakers. The student loan forgiveness consists of forgiving student debts up to $20,000 for federal Pell grant recipients, and $10,000 for federal non-Pell grant recipients.

A Pell grant is a federal grant from the government, which does not need to be paid back. The total amount of the student loan forgiveness is $300 billion.

Many GOP lawmakers have spoken out against the student loan forgiveness mainly stating that it will cause more hurt to the economy, but many lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are divided about the issue.

This issue currently also hits close to home at Ashland University with many students paying for college through student loans. The Financial Aid Office was contacted about the student loan forgiveness.

They were unable to give much information, but did state, “We have received no information about the forgiveness plan and really don’t expect to for the next 6-12 months as anything [the] government moves slowly.”

The real question in all of this is how the students at Ashland University feel about the student loan forgiveness.

Lyndsi Engels, a sophomore nursing student, had some interesting thoughts about the loan forgiveness.

“Do I benefit from it, yes,” stated Engels. “Then I also have to think about the people who don’t and who [have] to pay for it and this is not fair.”

Engels took out student loans to help with paying for college and took out loans knowing that she would have to pay them back.

“Anybody else who took out loans also signed the exact same piece of paper, if we take that away what about all the other loans,” said Engels.

She also mentioned that she needs more information and details on what exactly the student loan forgiveness program entails and does not put trust in the lawmakers who are working behind this program.

Not all students view the student loan program as negative. Sophomore Integrated Social Studies major, Kay Micheals looks at the student loan program with a more positive light.

“I am one of the few people who is definitely going to benefit from it,” stated Micheals. “I am definitely not going to be upset that the government is going to forgive like $10,000 of my loans.”

Micheals also made the point that she could still continue to take out student loans, but decided to work hard to keep the debt low. Even though she still thinks about the factor of having to pay for the student loans from her paycheck.

“I am not upset that other people are getting their loans paid for, I am not upset that my taxes are paying for theirs,” said Micheals.

Micheals puts a more positive spin on student loan forgiveness looking at the benefits long-term as she used the example of paying the taxes 50 years down the road.

The student loan forgiveness has been laid out by the Biden administration, but only time will tell if the plan is going fully into effect.