1/3 of student loan recipients spent more money in anticipation of debt forgiveness

A substantial portion of student loan recipients say the spent money they would not have had otherwise, expecting that the Biden administration would forgive at least some of their debt, according to a recent survey.

The Biden student loan plan involved cancelling up to $10,000 in student debt for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. The Supreme Court ruled in June that the president lacked the authority to unilaterally forgive student debt without authorization from Congress.

An Intelligent.com survey revealed that 34% of borrowers would have spent less money had they not been at least somewhat confident of receiving debt relief. Three-quarters of respondents indicated that were either "somewhat" or "very" confident that their debt would be forgiven.

5% of the overall total claimed to have spent an additional $10,000, the minimum expected relief amount. A further 9% claimed to have spent between $7,501 and $10,000, while 17% claim to have spent between $5,001 and $7,500.

Payments are slated to resume in October and 58% indicated they were unprepared to resume paying off their debts. The survey questioned 977 borrowers who qualified for the debt relief plan.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.