Student loan forgiveness plan approved for public service workers
STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Getting through college can be tough, but paying for it can be even tougher.
The loans taken out to pay tuition for those four or five years can follow you for many more.
But some public service workers won’t have that hanging over them for long.
Recently, President Joe Biden approved a student loan forgiveness plan for thousands of people.
“At some point, we have all had to have some kind of help in some form of our life,” said Patrick Henderson, Health and Human Sciences Principal at Starkville High School
Patrick Henderson is the health and human sciences principal at Starkville High School. He said he knows just how much of a help loan forgiveness will be for public service workers.
“It is huge, I have heard numerous people that said it took them a long time to pay their debt when they finished school. So, it is huge, and being able to support your family. When a man goes to work every day, he has the hope of being able to support his family, own some automobiles, and live the American dream, so it will be huge in helping that,” said Henderson.
Henderson said the loan forgiveness will mean a lot to him personally as well.
“When I started working on my doctorate degree, I did have to take out some loans to continue my degree. It will be big to me, any time you can have $40- to $50,000 forgiven, that will always be big. It will be big in my household as well,” said Henderson.
Loan forgiveness means more than just helping someone save money.
“I always say a teacher who does not have worries is a better teacher, and an administrator who has fewer worries is a better administrator. When you are able to leave those worries of debt behind you, you tend to be able to be more focused on the needs of the students. Most educators in order to go to school, had to take out some form of student loans,” said Henderson.
Loan forgiveness will also be helpful for the economy.
“It is going to help the people and it will create more spending money, which will go back into the revenue bases and help more businesses. From where I sit, I am more in line with that which will create more jobs, and free households from financial debt,” said Henderson.
