Almost 140K Mississippians May Receive Money

According to ‘Mississippi Today,’ the average Mississippi student college loan of $37,000 is close to the National Average of $37,667 or $1.6 trillion and is among the highest in the nation. Nearly 439,000 Mississippians have Federal Student Loans, which would receive $10,000, or $20,000 if it is a Pell Grant.

Pell Grants, named after Rhode Island Senator Claiborne Pell, was first awarded in 1973. Designed to help educate students from families with an annual income of less than $60,000. Currently, 27 million students are Pell Grant recipients, and the maximum amount given to a student by a Pell Grant is $6,495. The amount granted depends on how much the family can contribute, whether the student plans to attend full or part-time and whether the student will attend for a full academic year. The minimum Pell Grant is $650.00

The NCES (National Center for Education Statistics), reported that in the 2020–2021 year, 45% of Mississippi College Students were recipients of Pell Grants.

An article in the Biloxi, MS Sun Herald Newspaper stated, “$10,000 will be more than enough to wipe out the entire debt. Based on a study by LendingTree, 139,409 Mississippi residents will no longer be in debt.”

To receive the debt forgiveness, the borrower must make less than $125,000 if single or $250,000 if married.

There are 43 million people with Student Loan Debt, and over 16%, or nearly 3 million, are in default. Of the 43 million, roughly one-third are Senior Citizens 62 or over, many of whom are on Social Security and unable to make ends meet.

According to a report in the Sun Herald Newspaper, Mississippi ranks 5th in the state with the worst student debt. It followed West Virginia, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and New Hampshire.

An Analysis by the U. S. Department of Education identified that it would give 87% of the debt forgiveness to people who earn less than $75,000 annually, while 13% will go to those who make between $75,000 — $125,000.

Mississippi, is reportedly the poorest state in the nation. The median household income in 2020, per the U. S. Census Bureau, was $46,511 and the Individual Median Income was $25,261. Both are well below the stipulated amount for student loan forgiveness. Many, in the state, would be free of their student loan debts based on their income.

The population of Mississippi is just under 3 million people. Of the almost 3 million residents, there are 444,731 students enrolled in 1,050 public schools, and 230 private schools with 50,393 students in 2023. Homeschooling accounts for just over 25,000 students.

The Mississippi Department of Education reported that the 2020-2021 year had the highest graduation rate of over 88% and the lowest dropout rate of 18%.

Of the 88% that graduated from high school, approximately 61% enrolled in either a Community College or a Public University according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Only 20% of Mississippians graduate college, and even more surprising is the fact that 6.40% of Mississippians do not complete the 9th grade.

Based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) the Student Debt remaining is for 16.6 million students who obtained loans but never finished college. The number of Mississippi students affected has not been determined.

An Injunction was put on the Student Loan Forgiveness program because of a lawsuit filed by Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Nebraska.

Until a decision is made, Student Loan payments are still on pause. The pause was begun in March, 2020 by President Trump during the Pandemic and has been continued by President Biden until June 2023.

If the Student Loan Forgiveness program is not approved, by the courts, borrowers will be expected to begin making payments by August 2023.

The big question remains—what compensation will be given to those borrowers who paid off their Student Loans?