A Bill to Cancel Up to $20,000 in Federal Student Loan Debt
Cancels up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for borrowers earning under $125,000.
The Secretary of Education shall cancel up to $20,000 of federal Direct Loan debt per borrower with adjusted gross income below $125,000.
Former Pell Grant recipients receive an additional $10,000 in cancellation.
$340 billion over 10 years, scored under the Education Department budget.
Treasury and Education Department jointly administer.
Mechanical parts, sourced & timed
Use this as your pre-round checklist. Memorize the source citation. Time yourself to the delivery target.
- Bill / Number
- H.R. 905 — A Bill to Cancel Up to $20,000 in Federal Student Loan Debt
- Funding source
- $340B over 10 years scored under ED budget.
- Timeline
- Cancellation processed within 12-18 months of enactment.
- Realistic operationally; legal authority post-Biden v. Nebraska (2023) requires this *statutory* path.
- Enforcing agency
- Treasury + Department of Education.
- Yes if Congress acts — Biden v. Nebraska (2023) struck down executive-only cancellation.
- Penalty for non-compliance
- N/A.
- Source citation
- Brookings, Looney (2022), 'Who Owes the Most Student Debt?' — brookings.edu.
- Delivery time (read aloud)
- 1:05 (65s)
Debt cancellation is regressive — benefits flow to higher-earning college graduates.
The bill caps at $125K AGI and adds a $10K Pell bonus — exactly the distributional fix Looney (Brookings 2022) recommended. With those caps, 71% of relief flows to households below the median income.