One hundred forty-four billion dollars. 

That’s how much student loan debt the Biden Administration has erased, most recently by forgiving $5.8 billion for public-sector employees.

While the administration and its supporters are applauding the sum, it actually hasn’t put a dent in the opinions of Gen Z voters. They say that total is just a drop in the bucket compared to the volume of student loan debt still held and question if President Joe Biden has done enough to earn their vote this November.

A promise of student loan debt forgiveness excited young voters in 2020 and heavily contributed to their historic turnout to elect President Biden, but with a nationwide total of $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt still unforgiven, Gen Zers are willing to hold the president accountable – with their vote.

“Young people are motivated to vote not just for candidates, but actually for policy issues that matter most to them, and economic mobility and student loan forgiveness are at the top of the list,” DeNora Getachew, chief executive officer of DoSomething, an organization for young people and social change, told Reckon.

According to DoSomething’s 2023 survey of more than 5.5 million of its members aged 13 to 25, 77% said that they do not believe their economic stability is getting better.  

How the president handles the economy and financial well-being of Americans has long been a top election issue across the country, and since Gen Z entered into student loan debt repayment for the first time in September, the uncertainty of their financial stability has been exacerbated.

When President Biden stated in his 2020 campaign, “I propose to forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt,” he provided reassurance to a generation anxious about their student loan debt and financial futures, drawing a significant amount of young voters out to the polls, making history as millennials and Gen Z accounted for 31% of voters, according to Catalist.

“A lot of people are struggling to meet their basic needs, pay rent and their student loans. They are having a hard time keeping their heads above water and I see that reflected in how people are talking about the election this year,” Elijah Manley, CEO of Youth Victory Fund, an advocacy group encouraging young people to run for political offices, told Reckon.

Currently, young voters are not impressed by President Biden’s attempts for student loan forgiveness, according to a 2023 Bloomberg and Morning Consult survey.

Gen Z: It’s not enough

Although he has canceled $144 billion in student loan debt and the U.S. Supreme Court struck down President Biden’s relief plan to forgive up to $20,000 of federal student loan debt last summer, Gen Z voters are saying Biden is not doing enough to address the burden of student loan payments, according to the Bloomberg and Morning Consult survey.

With 43% of Gen Z voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin saying Biden is not doing enough to address the burden of student loan payments, these young people could impact President Biden the most.

“We are solidly in the 2024 election cycle where Gen Z and millennial voters are gonna make up the largest voting block and could make up the largest voting block in our electorate this year,” Getachew told Reckon. “We have 8 million new young people who are coming of age in time to vote this year.”

Gen Z borrowers like Brandy Lumford who owes $28,000 in federal student loans and resides in North Carolina, feel discouraged about the lack of cancellation.

“The lack of cancellation makes me not want to vote for him because I feel like we have a history of presidents making promises and not following through on them, especially something as big and life-changing as student loan debt cancellation,” Lumford told Reckon.

With President Biden and former President Donald Trump as the Democratic and Republican party candidates heading into November, according to the Bloomberg and Morning Consult survey, swing-state Gen Z voters, nearly one-third say they trust neither Biden nor Trump to handle the economy.

While Gen Z voters trust neither candidate, only President Biden has attempted to forgive student loans as president.

After an overwhelming youth voter turnout in 2020, fewer Americans ages 18 to 29 plan to vote in 2024 because of dissatisfaction with both President Biden and Trump, according to a 2023 Harvard’s Institute of Politics survey.

“From a lack of trust in leaders on a variety of critical issues such as climate change, gun violence, and the war in the Middle East, to worries about the economy and A.I., young people’s concerns come through loud and clear in our new poll,” the institute’s director, Setti Warren said in a statement. “As the 2024 campaign season kicks into high gear, candidates up and down the ballot would be wise to embrace the opportunity to listen to – and re-engage – this generation.”

While 44% of Gen Z voters prefer President Biden over Trump, according to the Bloomberg and Morning Consult survey, young voters still feel he has done too little on student loan debt, a plurality of Generation X and baby boomer voters say he has already done too much.

Much of Gen Zers’ dissatisfaction comes from President Biden’s piecemeal approach to the cancellations. The majority of forgiveness has gone to middle-aged borrowers with a longer payment history, making it harder to convince young voters that the piecemeal cancellations have helped them.

Young people feel like voting isn’t working. What can they do?

The stagnation of student loan debt cancellation is part of an overarching lack of enthusiasm fueled by many critical factors at play this year.

Issues like student loan debt cancellation, climate change and gun violence brought record-breaking numbers of young voters out in 2020, but many young people feel hesitant about the power of their presidential candidate vote this year.

While President Biden won the youth vote by 24 percentage points in 2020 against Trump, a lack of progress and follow-through on important issues to younger voters and the president’s response to the Israel-Hamas war could make this election season look a lot different.

With many borrowers feeling unheard on student loan debt, the Student Borrower Protection Center, a nationwide organization working to protect borrowers, reassures those with loans that their stories matter.

“I think it’s really important for student borrowers right now to continue telling their stories and saying that ‘this is an important issue for me,’” Kat Welbeck, the center’s director of advocacy and civil rights counsel said. “Keep talking about the importance of student debt and the importance of canceling student debt. Make sure people know you’re still watching and making sure that the president holds to his promises.”

Because student loan borrowers are less than impressed by the actions of President Biden, groups like the Debt Collective are holding his administration accountable by launching the Student Debt Release Tool. This tool helps borrowers apply pressure and petition the Biden Administration to use authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel student loans.

“President Biden says he is going to use every tool he can to cancel student debt, but there is still much more he can do,” noted Debt Collective co-founder Thomas Gokey. “With this new tool, we are calling his bluff and demanding he cancel the debt for everyone today.”

The Student Debt Release Tool will create a personalized letter from each borrower that is sent to the U.S. Department of Education afterward putting pressure on the Biden administration to take action immediately.

“We [Gen Z] are the largest voter bloc, so I think if Biden loses this election, it’ll be because we stayed home,” Manley said.