Por redacción de Sin Comillas
Unos 349,000 estudiantes en Puerto Rico podrían haber sido elegibles para participar en el programa de alivio de deuda estudiantil, según datos del Departamento de Educación de Estados Unidos.
En agosto del año pasado, el presidente Joe Biden presentó un plan para otorgar hasta $20,000 en alivio a la deuda de los estudiantes universitarios con préstamos que ganan menos de $125,000 al año. En total, en Estados Unidos unos 40 millones personas con préstamos estudiantiles se habrían beneficiado del programa.
Sin embargo, en noviembre, se paralizó el proceso debido a las demandas presentadas por los opositores al programa, que tenía como objetivo proteger a los estudiantes con mayor riesgo de morosidad por las dificultades provocadas por la pandemia de COVID-19.
A continuación se muestra un desglose por estado de cuántas personas solicitaron el alivio de la deuda y cuyas solicitudes fueron aprobadas antes de que se bloqueara el pago de la deuda.
| State | Number of people who applied or were deemed automatically eligible for relief | Number of fully-approved applications sent to loan servicers for discharge |
| Alabama | 373,000 | 238,000 |
| Alaska | 38,000 | 24,000 |
| Arizona | 496,000 | 314,000 |
| Arkansas | 222,000 | 144,000 |
| California | 2,315,000 | 1,473,000 |
| Colorado | 471,000 | 295,000 |
| Connecticut | 321,000 | 208,000 |
| Delaware | 81,000 | 52,000 |
| District of Columbia | 72,000 | 46,000 |
| Florida | 1,598,000 | 1,047,000 |
| Georgia | 1,012,000 | 642,000 |
| Hawaii | 74,000 | 46,000 |
| Idaho | 126,000 | 79,000 |
| Illinois | 1,044,000 | 679,000 |
| Indiana | 542,000 | 348,000 |
| Iowa | 264,000 | 169,000 |
| Kansas | 228,000 | 143,000 |
| Kentucky | 362,000 | 241,000 |
| Louisiana | 381,000 | 242,000 |
| Maine | 116,000 | 74,000 |
| Maryland | 522,000 | 323,000 |
| Massachusetts | 593,000 | 380,000 |
| Michigan | 864,000 | 566,000 |
| Minnesota | 507,000 | 327,000 |
| Mississippi | 248,000 | 160,000 |
| Missouri | 484,000 | 305,000 |
| Montana | 75,000 | 46,000 |
| Nebraska | 154,000 | 97,000 |
| Nevada | 198,000 | 128,000 |
| New Hampshire | 121,000 | 77,000 |
| New Jersey | 759,000 | 493,000 |
| New Mexico | 125,000 | 77,000 |
| New York | 1,549,000 | 998,000 |
| North Carolina | 812,000 | 522,000 |
| North Dakota | 53,000 | 32,000 |
| Ohio | 1,079,000 | 702,000 |
| Oklahoma | 270,000 | 172,000 |
| Oregon | 329,000 | 211,000 |
| Pennsylvania | 1,157,000 | 743,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 204,000 | 145,000 |
| Rhode Island | 96,000 | 63,000 |
| South Carolina | 442,000 | 282,000 |
| South Dakota | 73,000 | 46,000 |
| Tennessee | 517,000 | 336,000 |
| Texas | 2,163,000 | 1,391,000 |
| Utah | 191,000 | 121,000 |
| Vermont | 52,000 | 33,000 |
| Virginia | 685,000 | 429,000 |
| Washington | 486,000 | 308,000 |
| West Virginia | 131,000 | 85,000 |
| Wisconsin | 465,000 | 302,000 |
| Wyoming | 30,000 | 18,000 |
| All Other Locations* | 58,000 | 33,000 |
| State Not Identified** | 632,000 | 31,000 |
| Total | 26,260,000 | 16,486,000 |
* Borrowers who are in outlying territories, military zones, or currently outside of the United States ** Includes individuals for whom the Department of Education did not have an address on file or from whom more information was needed at the time that the program was blocked.
