Frank Sottosanto just got a taste of what it would be like to be free of student debt. Earlier this month, Sottosanto finished paying off his private student loans, which once totaled roughly $30,000 a step he said he could only afford to take because of the pandemic-era freeze on payments, collections and interest on the other portion of his student debt, the $16,900 he owes the federal government.
In the weeks since he got rid of his private loans, Sottosanto, 32, said his mood and stress levels have improved. “It’s definitely a really good feeling,” to have less debt, he said. “I’m closer to getting to the starting line of my life.” Before the pandemic-induced payment pause on government student debt, Sottosanto, a water resources engineer, struggled to find money to save for the future after making his student loan payments and covering his Portland, Ore., rent and other bills. If the Biden administration’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student debt for a wide swath of borrowers survives its legal challenges, Sottosanto would be truly student debt-free; the government would discharge the $16,900 he still owes in federal student loans. He received a Pell grant, the money the government provides to low-income students to attend college, and qualifies for the full $20,000 of relief. But if the Supreme Court knocks down the debt cancellation program, Sottosanto said he’ll have to continue to delay his plans to secure the stability he thought would co …