At least 45% of student loan borrowers in Mississippi may get $20K forgiven. What to know.
For many people who attended Mississippi colleges, President Joe Biden’s new Student Loan Debt Plan could save them $20,000 in outstanding debt.
That’s because one stipulation of the plan says borrowers who received Pell grants would qualify for double the $10,000 debt cancellation limit, or $20,000.
Former Pell grant recipients who now earn $125,000 or more each year would not qualify for the plan.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and educationdata.org, nearly 7 million, or 33.6%, of college students in the U.S. receive federal Pell grants each year.
The grants are awarded based on financial need and the costs associated with each school. The grants range from $639 to $6,345 and the average award is $3,900.
Based on data the NCES collected from 53 post secondary institutions in Mississippi, 45.1% of Mississippi college students received a Pell grant in the 2019-2020 academic year. The Pell grants were part of the nearly $24 million in need-based grants doled out to students in the state.
For more than a third of Mississippi borrowers, $10,000 will be more than enough to wipe out the entire debt. Based on a study by LendingTree, 139,409 Mississippi residents will no longer be in debt.
Mississippi ranks 35th among states providing financial assistance to students. Students at Mississippi’s colleges and universities receive $42.2 million in assistance from state and federal aid.
Here’s how that breaks down per student:
The state spends an average of $463 per undergraduate student, or 0.79% of its domestic product.
37.4% of undergraduates receive federal student loans.
20.3% of undergraduates at 2-year institutions receive loans in the average amount of $4,668 each.
51.8% of undergraduates at 4-year institutions receive loans in the average amount of $7,671 each.
This story was originally published August 24, 2022 at 4:27 PM.
