ST. LOUIS 鈥 Ricardo Menjivar said he never planned to join the military. But after the Biden administration鈥檚 student loan forgiveness plan was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, the rising senior said he may have to enlist to help pay for medical school.
He has roughly $20,000 in student loans for tuition at the University of Missouri-狐狸视频, and will work two jobs starting in the fall.
鈥淚鈥檓 trying not to take any loans out when I go to med school,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut financial aid can only cover so much.鈥
Under the Biden plan, the U.S. government would have forgiven up to $10,000 in federal student loans for eligible individuals, or those making less than $125,000 after graduation.
Missouri Republicans applauded the decision, while Democrats had the opposite reaction. Missouri Rep. Kevin Windham, D-Hillsdale, tweeted about the decision: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame, but not surprising that Missouri led the way to deny financial relief to Americans in need.鈥
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Sebastian Arteaga, who is pursuing his doctorate in chemistry at 狐狸视频 University, said he took out student loans during his undergraduate education, and was looking forward to seeing how Biden鈥檚 plan would benefit him.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 like smacking us twice in the face,鈥 Arteaga said.
Arteaga said his friends and colleagues in the research lab talked about the court decision, and expressed a distrust in the justice system.
鈥淚t may make students feel undervalued,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey may think that other people view them as not contributing to society as a greater whole.鈥
The U.S. Supreme Court decided Thursday that colleges could no longer take race into consideration when admitting students into their programs. Brooke Kenworthy, an engineering student at SLU, said she was not surprised by the decisions.
鈥淚t just kind of felt like a one-two punch with affirmative action yesterday, and then this today,鈥 Kenworthy said.
Kenworthy said that she felt uncomfortable taking out loans to pay for her education because of uncertainty when it comes to debt forgiveness plans in the U.S.
鈥淭here have been times throughout my degree process where I thought maybe I need to take out loans,鈥 she said. 鈥淯ltimately, I didn鈥檛 take out loans because I was worried this would happen.鈥
Washington University junior Erin Reardon, who has federal student loans, said she will rethink how she makes decisions as she studies environmental policy. She said she has a lot to sacrifice.
鈥淭he decision just kind of keeps up pressure moving forward,鈥 she said. 鈥淢y financial needs come before my academic passions or interests.鈥