Student Loan Forgiveness
Prof. Constantine Yannelis
Janeway Professor in Financial Economics
University of Cambridge
Student loan forgiveness has been proposed as a means to alleviate soaring student loan burdens. Who benefits from loan forgiveness, and how does it affect borrowers? This paper uses administrative credit bureau data to study the distributional, consumption, borrowing, and employment effects of the largest event of student loan forgiveness in history. Beginning in March 2021, the United States federal government ordered $132 billion in student loans cancelled, or 7.8% of the total $1.7 trillion in outstanding student debt. We find that student loan forgiveness led to increases in mortgage, auto, and credit card debt. We find small or no effects on non-student loan delinquencies. Borrowers’ monthly earnings and employment fall.
