| For a ninety-one-year-old law-school graduate, the Department of Education discharged more than three hundred thousand dollars in student debt. Could relief be that simple?  Illustration by Madison Ketcham For decades, Betty Ann, a ninety-one-year-old former public-school teacher, had carried a growing burden of law-school debt, which had reached $329,309.69, according to a report last summer by Eleni Schirmer on the aging student debtors of America. Then, one day, Betty Ann received an e-mail: her entire balance had been cleared. In a striking follow-up piece, Schirmer explains that the cancellation had occurred under a provision known as the “compromise and settle” authority. But what about the debts of millions of other borrowers across the country? Schirmer delves into the complex legislation and the political conflict surrounding the issue, to find out what President Biden’s announcement on loan forgiveness—and the upcoming cases before the Supreme Court challenging his plan—might mean for borrowers. As she notes, “Perhaps the major question at this moment is not what it would mean for the President to cancel student debts but what it would mean for the President not to cancel student debts.” Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today » | 
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