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White House Press Secretary Carine Jean-Pierre said Thursday that President Biden’s student loan subsidy plan could cost about $24 billion a year.
As the White House released its cost estimate for the plan, Jean-Pierre told CNN’s Don Lemon, “The other part of this is… we’ll look at this as well.”
She continued, “Assuming people would accept us into this student debt relief plan that the president announced, so we said we’d assume 75%, so we’ll share how it goes. Just some of what we’re thinking…how this goes forward.”
An estimate of $24 billion annually suggests that the program will $440 billion and $600 billion, We settle for a median estimate of about $500 billion.
Karine Jean-Pierre says White House has no ‘real sense’ of how much student loan handouts cost
If used by 75% of eligible participants, Jean-Pierre estimates it would cost about $240 billion over 10 years, and close to $320 billion if 100% participated.
Earlier Thursday, she admitted the Biden administration was still unsure about the cost, saying it would depend a lot on the borrowers and the number of loans expected to be repaid.
Biden Administration Will ‘Investigate’ And ‘Crackdown’ To Raise College Tuition After Student Loan Distribution
“When it comes to costs, all of this depends on how many of the canceled loans were actually expected to be repaid,” said Jean-Pierre. It really depends on how many borrowers actually take advantage of this opportunity before we have it.”
She argued that the costs would be offset by deficit reduction included in other Biden administration priorities.
Jean-Pierre also dodged a question Wednesday from Fox News’ White House correspondent Peter Doocey.
After a spokesman dodged the initial question, he stressed that “forgiving debt is not just about getting rid of debt.”
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She went on to argue that Biden’s performance would help reduce the deficit and pay for the program.
Biden announced Up to $20,000 in federal student loan forgiveness on Wednesday. A student who used a federal Pell grant to attend college would be eligible to receive $20,000, while a student who did not use the program would be eligible for a $10,000 waiver. Handouts apply only to borrowers under $125,000 annually.
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.