U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told a group of Arkansas educators Tuesday that the goal of the Biden administration’s “is to prevent defaults.”

“Which is better, letting someone pay what they can afford or throwing our hands up and doing nothing?” Cardona asked during a roundtable discussion with nine teachers and others at Arkansas Education Association headquarters near the state Capitol in Little Rock.

Cardona also acknowledged delays and problems with the rollout of a streamlined Free Application for Federal Student Aid process, but said, “It’s working now.” He encouraged students and parents to fill out the online application.

“I helped my own kid fill it out and it took only 15 to 20 minutes,” he said, comparing it to the hour or more needed to fill out the old form.

Arkansas Education Secretary Jacob Oliva and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders didn’t meet with Cardona. Sanders and Oliva sent to Cardona on Monday criticizing him, Biden and the U.S. Department of Education.

“Your department is a constant source of frustration for Americans and Arkansans,” Sanders and Oliva said in their letter. “You oppose education freedom.”

They wrote that the president’s latest student loan forgiveness plan “is unfair, unwise and unlawful.”

Regarding FAFSA, the governor and her education chief said “students, particularly from low-income families, need answers.”

“State government needs clarity,” they wrote, noting that officials are scholarships to ensure students know they’ll receive their state scholarships.

Addressing the governor’s comments after the meeting with educators, Cardona said, “I want to work with the governor. I know that she’s probably been working a lot too. Let’s work together and make sure it happens.”

Referring to Sanders’ signature education legislation, , that raised teacher salaries and created tutoring programs, Cardona said, “I’m glad to see some of the provisions of the recent legislation but there’s still a lot of work to do. I think we can go farther for the students of Arkansas if we work together.

“We need to help our educators. We need to serve our students. We do it better when we do it together,” he said.

“It’s one thing to send a letter to me, but tell that to teachers who’ve been working 20 years and can’t afford to buy a home. We’re trying to bring people into the profession,” he said, noting that many borrowers who will benefit from the loan forgiveness plan are teachers.

He urged students and their parents not to be deterred from filing out the FAFSA form.

“I know it’s been frustrating, but the bottom line is it’s working now. So if you haven’t applied yet, do it now. We know there’s potentially 600,000 more students that can access federal aid that couldn’t before with the old system,” he said.

He noted that his department has received 26% fewer federal aid applications from Arkansas than last year.

“We want to do everything we can to get those applications in,” he said. “It should be quicker. The process makes it easier to access more federal dollars.”

Cardona said an intense push by officials last week resulted in hundreds of thousands of students sending in their applications.

“And those students who did, their colleges already have the information. The goal now is to get the word out it’s up and running,” he said.

After the meeting at AEA headquarters, Cardona visited Central High School where students participated in a clinic about the new financial aid application.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com. Follow Arkansas Advocate on and .

Beyond the “standing” issue, however, conservative justices expressed skepticism that the administration had the authority to offer up to $20,000 in debt relief without going through Congress or at least allowing public comment.

“We take very seriously the idea of separation of powers, and that power should be divided to prevent its abuse,” Chief Justice John Roberts told Nebraska Solicitor General James Campbell, representing the states. “This is a case that presents extraordinarily serious important issues about the role of Congress and about the role that we should exercise.”

Those eligible for relief — roughly 40 million borrowers — have been since November, when a Trump-appointed federal judge halted the plan. Both the Trump and Biden administrations had argued that the secretary of education has the authority under a 2003 law, the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students, or HEROES, to forgive student debt because of the pandemic. COVID caused severe financial harm and  increased the chances that borrowers would default on their loans, said U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar.

“Millions of Americans have struggled to pay rent, utilities, food, and many have been unable to pay their debts,” she said. 

Biden’s plan offers $10,000 in relief to borrowers earning up to $125,000 and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

‘A breathtaking power’ 

In the first case, , Prelogar argued that the six states had no right to sue on behalf of the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, the student loan servicer that would primarily be affected if students don’t make good on their debt.

Campbell argued that because the state created the nonprofit, it has an interest in the case and that if the authority loses revenue, it won’t be able to adequately contribute to the state’s higher education programs. On the merits of the case, he argued that the administration misinterpreted HEROES.

“The secretary here asserts a breathtaking power to do anything that he thinks might reduce the risk of borrowers defaulting,” Campbell said.

Justice Elena Kagan, one of the three liberals on the court, disagreed that Education Secretary Miguel Cardona was acting outside the intent of the law. 

“Congress used its voice in enacting this piece of legislation,” she said. “Congress has authorized the use of executive power in an emergency situation.”

That’s what former Rep. George Miller of California, one of the authors of HEROES, wrote in last week. He was among those who filed amicus briefs in support of loan forgiveness, saying the law’s use of the terms “waive” or “modify” in regard to the terms of a loan includes debt cancellation. 

“Congress empowered officials to say that those requirements no longer apply — that borrowers no longer need to pay off the debt they owe,” he wrote. “And there’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic is a ‘national emergency’ within the meaning of the law.”

In the second case, , attorney John Connolly, representing two borrowers and the conservative Job Creators Network Foundation, argued that Cardona should grant relief but should have used a different law — the Higher Education Act. That law would have required the department to seek comments from the public.

Congress, through HEROES, he said, “did not authorize the secretary to create a $400 billion debt forgiveness program behind closed doors with no public involvement.”

One of his clients, , is ineligible for the Biden program because she received loans from commercial lenders. Another, , qualifies for only $10,000 in relief because he’s not a Pell Grant recipient. Connolly said loan forgiveness is so important to the administration that Cardona would likely use the Higher Education Act to grant it if the current Biden plan were overruled. 

But Prelogar said the case uses a “Rube Goldberg theory” and takes a “circuitous route” to get relief. 

Even Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, a liberal, agreed. 

“You … have to convince us that the administration would have provided this sort of debt relief under the authority you point to,” she told Connolly. 

‘A technicality’

Observers said it’s possible that the court will never rule on the major question of whether the debt relief plan is an example of government overreach. 

The administration has “staked a lot” on the idea that the plan will be upheld “on essentially a technicality rather than on this question of whether the Department of Education had the right to do this,” said Michael Brickman, an adjunct fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, who focuses on higher education. 

The arguments ran for over three hours, while demonstrators — overwhelmingly advocating for debt relief — amassed outside the court. About 100 college students with Rise, a nonprofit, had spent the night outside to get tickets to hear the arguments. 

“We get caught up in the legalese — standing issues, statute issues — that we miss the big picture around the students’ lives who are going to be impacted by what the justices decide,” said Max Lubin, the organization’s founder. “Our job as advocates is to be prepared for every possible outcome.”

Among the 26 million borrowers who were automatically eligible for the relief or submitted an application are many K-12 and early childhood educators who needed more than a bachelor’s degree to meet job requirements and advance in their careers. That has consequences for students, some say.  

Albert Sackey, principal of Hommocks Middle School in Larchmont, New York, said he knows teachers, principals and other administrators who are “strongly exploring changing career paths to everything from catering to real estate to law,” in part because of financial strain.

“We want to make sure that the people we are putting in front of our children have the necessary training and education that is needed,” said Sackey, who has two master’s degrees and a doctorate. “I graduated with my undergraduate degree in 1998 and have been paying significant student loans ever since.”

The court will hear two cases that say the administration exceeded its authority when it offered borrowers up to $20,000 in debt relief last August. One is from six GOP-led states; the second is from a conservative organization that sued on behalf of two borrowers who argue the administration’s plan leaves them out. 

Given the 6-3 conservative majority on the court, experts say it will be tough for Biden to win. Just last year, that the administration’s plan to set limits on carbon emissions crossed “constitutional lines” and exemplified government overreach.

The states — Nebraska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Carolina — and the plaintiffs who filed the second lawsuit will first have to convince the court that Biden’s plan would cause them financial harm and that they had legal “standing” to sue in the first place. 

“It seems likely that if there is standing, that the loan forgiveness will be overturned,” said Michelle Dimino, deputy director of education at Third Way, a center-left think tank. “Can the department do something with that level of political and economic significance without an act of Congress?”

After the administration paused repayment multiple times, Biden’s decision to go forward with the loan forgiveness plan was viewed as a politically popular move ahead of the recent midterm elections. Supporters hailed it as compassionate toward borrowers, including the who took out loans to afford college. American Federation of Teachers President said many were “eagerly awaiting the breathing room … student debt relief would bring.” But Republicans argue it’s not only illegal, but favors one group of borrowers at the expense of others. 

“Where is the forgiveness for the guy who didn’t go to college but is working to pay off the loan on his work truck?” Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, ranking member of the education committee, asked earlier this month during the first meeting of the new Congress.

Others say the plan increases inflation and could leave today’s K-12 students with the impression their college debt might be slashed as well. 

“If [politicians] have the authority to give away money if they declare an emergency, there’s a lot of incentive to declare emergencies — or give it away after they’ve declared one,” said Rick Hess, a senior fellow and the director of education policy studies at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

But Kim Cook, CEO of the National College Attainment Network, said Biden presented the plan as “one-time debt relief” and that “future students shouldn’t depend on it.” Her organization, and many others, advocate for to $13,000 so low-income students won’t have to borrow so much to go to college.

‘Continued recovery’

During this month’s State of the Union address, Biden efforts to reduce student debt, but didn’t directly reference the cases before the court. 

The administration’s argument rests on a 2003 law called — for Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students. The law gives the education secretary the flexibility to make temporary changes to the federal student loan system in the case of a national emergency, including war.

“Student loan borrowers from all walks of life suffered profound financial harms during the pandemic,” U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said last month when filed briefs in support of the plan. “Their continued recovery and successful repayment hinges on the Biden administration’s student debt relief plan.”

One “wild card issue,” Dimino added, is that Biden plans to end the on May 11, which could make it harder for the administration to prove its case before the court.

In addition, former Republican education secretaries wrote in that the link between HEROES and Biden’s plan is weak.

“Such a pause only ensured that affected individuals were not placed in a worse position financially,” they wrote. “It did not authorize the executive branch to cancel $400 billion in student debt and leave borrowers in a better position than they would have been in if the COVID-19 pandemic had never occurred.”

In Biden v. Nebraska, the states argue that their tax revenues would drop if students don’t pay back their loans. The Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority, for example, is a nonprofit that services student loans and contributes to the state’s higher education system. Biden’s plan, the states say, could cost the Missouri organization nearly $44 million a year and reduce what it pays the state.

Job Creators Network Foundation, an advocacy group, filed the second case, U.S. Department of Education v. Brown, on behalf of of Texas. Brown, a business owner from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, received loans from commercial lenders, making her ineligible for the Biden program. 

Taylor, a graduate of the University of Dallas, argues that limiting the maximum amount of relief — $20,000 — to Pell Grant recipients is unfair because borrowers earning far more than him will have more debt erased. He earns less than $25,000 a year, but qualified for $10,000 in loan forgiveness because he was not a Pell Grant recipient. Brown and Taylor argue that the administration didn’t give the public a chance to comment on the plan.

In the meantime, borrowers who took advantage of the Biden plan remain in limbo. 

In October, people were automatically eligible or applied for the relief. The department approved over applications before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit blocked the plan.

If the program is overruled, it’s unclear how soon borrowers would have to begin repayment, Dimino said.

“Borrowers are still totally in the dark,” she said. “These are really difficult circumstances for those making immediate financial decisions.”

Biden, who made student debt relief part of his presidential campaign, also extended a on student loan payments through the end of the year.

“Education is a ticket to a better life, but over time, that ticket has become too expensive,” the president said at the White House. “The burden is so heavy that even if you graduate, you may not have access to the middle class life that the college degree once provided.”  

The decision could lift some of the financial burden off teachers who took out loans to fund their education. A from the National Education Association showed that 45% of educators were student loan borrowers and over half of those still have a balance, averaging almost $59,000.

“Nobody goes into teaching for the money, but you have to survive,” said Joshua Starr, managing partner of the International Center for Leadership in Education, affiliated with education publisher Houghton Mifflin-Harcourt. Previously, he served as CEO of PDK International, a membership organization for educators. 

Making college more affordable, he said, “is one part of a larger fabric that we have to consider when we want to promote the idea that teaching is a sustainable job.”

The president gave himself an Aug. 31 deadline to announce his decision — the date that the pause on federal student loan payments was set to expire. His announcement from Republicans, who have said the policy gives borrowers will make inflation worse and ignores the law. Earlier this month, the GOP introduced that would limit loan forgiveness. But Democrats largely applauded the move, with Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, chair of the education committee, calling it a “milestone moment.”

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education provided an update on the $32 billion in student debt relief previously approved since the Democrats took office. That includes $10 billion for over 175,000 borrowers in the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program since last October. 

Under former Secretary Betsy DeVos, the vast majority in the program were even though they took education and other service sector jobs that they believed would qualify. To be eligible for forgiveness, borrowers in the program had to submit a waiver, which expires at the end of October. Democrats Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to extend the waiver until at least July 1 of next year. 

‘Struggling to rebound’

As the cost of a has increased, the NEA report showed that educators 35 and under were more likely to take out student loans, compared to older educators. Student debt is also more common among Black than white educators — 56% compared with 44%.

Some advocates said the president’s action doesn’t go far enough. 

“Canceling $10,000 in student loan debt merely puts a Band-Aid on the real problem of reforming the system that has landed us in this mess — and within years we will be right back at the same point,” the National Parents Union said in a statement.

Kim Cook, CEO of the nonprofit National College Attainment Network, noted that Pell grants for low-income students — at an average of about $4,500 — don’t cover even half the annual cost of higher education. 

“Fast-rising and unmanageable levels of student debt are the result of a broken system for financing higher education in which many parents and students are forced to take out loans they cannot reasonably be expected to repay,” she said in a statement. The organization advocates for doubling Pell grant awards.

Experts say loan forgiveness would especially benefit early educators, who make far less than those in the K-12 system and often kept their programs open when schools were closed.  

“The pandemic shined a light on the low pay for child care providers who are leaving the industry in droves, causing a shortage of child care options for families,” said Alexandra Patterson, director of policy and strategy for Home Grown, a nonprofit advocating for home-based providers. Loan forgiveness, she said, would benefit “a workforce that is severely underpaid and is still struggling to rebound from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic while wrestling with the challenges of inflation.”

Adrienne Briggs, who runs Lil’ Bits Family Child Care Home in Philadelphia, earned her master’s in early-childhood education in 2013, but she still carries over $50,000 in debt. She didn’t qualify for relief though the revamped Public School Loan Forgiveness program because she owns her own business.

Through an income-based repayment program, her $650 monthly payments have dropped to $150, but that just stretched out the debt over a longer period. The administration is also relaxing those repayment terms, lowering the percentage borrowers have to pay from 10% to 5% of their income. And it will forgive original loan balances of $12,000 after 10 years. 

“Even having my master’s did not change my position,” said Briggs, who serves families who receive child care subsidies and wouldn’t be able to pay higher rates if she raised them. “All I ended up getting was a bill that has been haunting me all this time.”

Cortez Masto’s was the lead signature on by 14 senators to Department of Education Secretary Michael Cardona. Fellow Nevadan Sen. Jacky Rosen also signed.

An estimated 200,000 service members now owe more than $2.9 billion in student loans, according to the senators’ letter.

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“Many of them planned their financial futures around the promise of eventual student debt relief,” the senators wrote. “However, a recent Government Accountability Office report indicated that approximately 94% of service members and civilian employees of the U.S. Department of Defense who previously applied for relief through the program have been denied.”

In October, the U.S Department of Education announced it would overhaul the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which promises to forgive the remainder of a borrower’s federal student loans, if that borrower worked for 10 years in the public or nonprofit sector and made qualified income-based payments during that time. The PSLF program has proven cumbersome for borrowers to navigate and has , once reported as around 2%.

As a part of those announced changes, service members were allowed to count months spent on active duty toward PSLF, even if their loans were on a deferment at the time.

President Donald Trump first paused student loan payments during the pandemic, and President Joe Biden extended that pause . Biden has indicated it will not be extended further.

Progressive Democrats continue their of up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower and many want Biden to act through executive order. Biden has pushed back, saying he would support $10,000 in forgiveness if approved by Congress. He has instead implemented more targeted efforts, including cancelling millions of dollars of debt for students of predatory for-profit colleges and people with disabilities.

Student loan forgiveness is not part of the sweeping social policy bill being discussed in Washington DC.

is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nevada Current maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Hugh Jackson for questions: info@nevadacurrent.com. Follow Nevada Current on and .