A drop in the bucket compared to what we will spend on all the "migrants" (formerly illegal aliens). They are going to take their government money and start having children. Meanwhile American citizens saddled with student debt will delay having children.
It's less than what we have spent to bail out wall street multiple times over the past 30 years.
It's less than we spent to bail out companies during the height of the COVID pandemic.
We can give some tax credits to those who paid off their debt over the past 10 years. Even a tax credit for those that did not take on student debt at all. There are ways to make this almost equitable.
Freeing these potentially high earners will be good for the economy allowing them to buy houses instead of renting. Buy a new car instead of stringing a long a 10 year old car. That means more taxes for local communities, lower rent for those just starting out (as people move out of rentals and into home ownership). They will go out more, helping restaurants to thrive, they will travel more supporting airlines and travel industry. They may even decide to start up new companies since they may be more willing to chance a short term job vs a stable income. They may even invest more helping to support the stock market and other people's retirements.
One of the big reasons that medical expenses are as high as they are in the US is because the normal consumer is totally divorced from the cost of the medical care they receive. As a point of interest, insurance companies offer international health insurance (for long term travelers, expats, digital nomads, etc). Every one of them have two sets of prices: international coverage (minus the US) and coverage that includes the US...which is almost triple the premium of coverage excluding the US.
Primarily because of the guaranteed student loan process, the actual cost of college is hidden, allowing tuition to skyrocket without the immediate pain of increase impacting families.
Rather than forgiving loans, tax law could be modified to allow companies to pay for up to "X" percent of a student loan of each employee (treat it as a fringe benefit, sort of like tuition assistance). Tax advantage it like any other fringe benefit. (Obviously, companies would require some kind of a service commitment in exchange, just like they do with TA)
BUT, I would only want such a thing if it was accompanied by some serious independent career / credit counseling was implemented for students before every semester's loan agreement was approved (see a sample in post #32).