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Portland students past and present lament Supreme Court loan forgiveness ruling

Under President Biden's plan, hundreds of thousands of Oregonians would have been eligible for student loan forgiveness.

PORTLAND, Ore. — For many Oregon students, the Supreme Court's Friday decision to strike down Biden's loan forgiveness plan came as a major disappointment.

"That sucks," said Portland State University senior Isabele Zerr. 

But this decision goes beyond current students, affecting millions of Americans. 

"[It] would have been a huge benefit not only for myself, but a lot of people," said James Baez, an '04 college grad. 

Hundreds of thousands of Oregonians would have been eligible for student loan forgiveness.

RELATED: Biden offers alternative student debt relief plan that would remove immediate threat of default

"That impact for me would have cleared out my student debt and I would have one less bill every day which would have been fantastic," Baez said.

But not everyone is mourning this decision. Both Zerr and Baez have heard some in older generations saying the program might be unfair. 

"They're maybe the older generation that is like 'I had to pay it back so why won't you also have to go through that?'" Zerr said.

Regardless, Baez said, times have changed. 

"Understand that what may have been your situation 30 years ago, 20 years ago, 15 years ago, it's not the situation for other people now," he said.

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