Report · Money and Finance

Half of Americans had no student loan debt when Biden tried to cancel it

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Just over half of Americans (51%) say they have never had student loan debt, according to a January 2024 Verasight survey that asked about the Biden administration's 2022 attempt to cancel federal student loans.

A smaller share (17%) says their loans were already paid off at the time, and 11% say they had no debt then but do now. On the debtor side, 11% of Americans say they had loans at the time and applied for cancellation, 10% say they had loans and chose not to apply, and 7% say they wanted to apply but did not.

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Half of Americans had no student loan debt when Biden tried to cancel it.

In 2022, the Biden administration attempted to cancel up to twenty thousand dollars of federal student loan debt per debtor. A lawsuit from several Republican state attorneys general has since prevented this cancellation from taking place. Did you have any student loan debt during this time, and did you apply to have it canceled? Please select all options that apply to you.

  • I didn’t have student loan debt at the time, and never have 51.2%
  • I didn’t have student loan debt at the time, because it was paid off 16.9%
  • I had student loan debt at the time and I applied 11.1%
  • I didn’t have student loan debt at the time, but do now 11.1%
  • I had student loan debt at the time and chose not to apply 10.4%
  • I had student loan debt at the time and did not apply, but wanted to 7.1%

2024 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.5%

Verasight Interdisciplinary Omnibus Survey #2024-006

Source report pending

Methodology

Source report pending
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2024-01-18 → 2024-01-24
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.5%
Module
Verasight Interdisciplinary Omnibus Survey #2024-006

Source

  • 01
    Source report pending

Citation

Verasight Interdisciplinary Omnibus Survey #2024-006, fielded January 18-24, 2024, N=1,000 United States adults, +/- 3.5%.

Source report pending

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. When a wave report is published, its field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io. Verified legacy reports remain on their original hosts, and unpublished reports are marked pending.
Transparency
Verasight is a member of the American Association for Public Opinion Research Transparency Initiative.

The canonical report hub is reports.verasight.io; older reports may remain on verified legacy hosts.