Student loan forgiveness a 'big help’ for some North Bay residents, 'pennies on the dollar’ for others

President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel $10,000 in federal student debt for millions of U.S. residents prompted feelings of relief by some North Bay residents, but others said it didn’t go far enough.

“It lightens the load,” said Luci Gomez, 37, a Santa Rosa resident. “It feels like getting a check. But it’s the check you get and use to pay off your debt.”

Borrowers earning less than $125,000 a year, or families making less than $250,000, would be eligible for the full $10,000 in loan forgiveness. Pell Grant recipients would be eligible for an additional $10,000. Biden also announced what he said would be the final extension of the pause on federal student loan payments through December.

Legal challenges are expected, but if it holds up in court, Biden’s executive order would erase student debt for about 20 million people, according to The White House. Almost a third of borrowers owe less than $10,000, and about half owe less than $20,000.

Gomez has been paying back her federal loans since 2008, when she graduated from Sonoma State University. When the federal government paused monthly student loan payments earlier in the pandemic, “that was a big help,” she said. She still owes $6,000, but if Biden’s executive order works according to plan, she’ll finally be debt-free.

She and her husband work and live in Sonoma County. They’d like to buy a house, but it’s been out of reach so far. While the executive order won’t allow them to make a down payment right away, “it definitely helps us accelerate our savings,” Gomez said.

Ultimately, she’d like to see college become debt-free for everyone.

“I’m envious of other countries where education doesn’t come at such a high price,” she said.

Jonathan Musto, 29, had a mixed reaction to the news. The federal loan forgiveness will help him, but he doesn’t think it goes far enough.

“I don’t really think that it makes an appreciable dent in the fight against inequality or class struggle,” he said.

Musto graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2013 with about $60,000 in student debt. He said he’s been able to pay off about half so far.

“It benefits me, because I’ve been able to steadily take down my debt over the years, and this $10,000 is about one-third of what I owe,” he said. “It’s good that he did something. I would be pushing for more.”

Musto also received a Pell Grant, so he could be eligible for another $10,000 in loan forgiveness. But he said for many of his friends and former classmates, “it’s really just pennies on the dollar, and it feels more like pandering than anything else.”

Before the pandemic, Musto was paying about $350 a month toward his loans. “It was my largest monthly expense every month, without a doubt, besides rent.”

Gomez, meanwhile, said that while she could soon be debt-free, she feels conflicted about pushing her teenage children to go to college because of the financial burden it brought her and her husband.

“We’re not in a position to pay for their college,” she said. “We’re still paying for ours.”

You can reach Staff Writer Elena Neale-Sacks at elena.neale-sacks@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @elenaneale17.