Almost 1 in 5 say student loan debt will have major influence on their vote: Survey

Almost 18 percent of Americans say student debt will have a major influence on their vote in November, according to a survey from Bankrate.

Among the sample of those who have outstanding student loans — there are more than 40 million such borrowers in the country — that number rises to 29 percent.

President Biden and former President Trump have vastly conflicting views when it comes to student loans.

Biden has forgiven millions of dollars in student loan debt, attempted to institute universal loan forgiveness and significantly reformed income-driven repayment plans. Trump has been relatively silent on how he might tackle rising student loan debt, but he did make clear he thought the Supreme Court was justified when it struck down Biden’s debt relief for all.  

“Today, the Supreme Court also ruled that President Biden cannot wipe out hundreds of billions, perhaps trillions of dollars in student loan debt, which would have been very unfair to the millions and millions of people who paid their debt through hard work and diligence. Very unfair,” Trump said at the time.

The Bankrate survey found 29 percent believe student loans are a national crisis, jumping to 46 percent among those who currently hold such debt.

Twenty-seven percent say the federal government has not done enough to help with student debt, with 24 percent of borrowers saying they have trouble affording the monthly payments.

“Student loan debt is often assumed to take a backseat to other pressing issues for voters, considering that a small portion of the U.S. population carry student debt,” Bankrate analyst Sarah Foster said.

“Yet, often feeling helpless to the issue, Americans seem to be saying that they shouldn’t be left alone to handle the burden of student loan debt and that the complex challenges of student loan debt and college affordability are a responsibility their elected representatives should solve,” Foster added.

The survey was taken May 16-20 and interviewed 2,407 U.S. adults, including 1,033 who had or currently have student loans to pay off. It did not list a margin of error.