program, a ruling that will impact millions of people, one of the court s most influential cases this term with implications beyond the student loan issue. the plaintiffs which include six republican-led states, two borrowers who do not qualify for this program, are challenging the legality of the plan which would cancel up to $20,000 in debt for some borrowers. so just to give you an idea of the scope here, outstanding student loan debt in this country is more than $1.7 trillion. the vast majority of that, we re talking more than 90%, is from federal student loans and those are the ones that would be eligible for some forgiveness under biden s plan. so far 16 million borrowers had been approved for that relief. when the legal challenges put the plan on hold, officials estimate the program could cost some $400 billion. education secretary miguel cardona speaking with cnn this morning talked about why the administration is so focused on this and why the administration believ
i hadn t secured a job at that point and so for me it felt really impossible. reporter: graduating from college in 2019, she has nearly $30,000 in student loan debt. when the pandemic hit repayments were paused. she could now contribute to household costs for the home she shares with her parents. when the biden administration extended the pause this past august, multiple lawsuits followed. the program was halted and is now before the supreme court, leaving her in limbo. my family would be eligible for up to $50,000 of student loan cancellation. so as a whole family, that s huge. reporter: federal data shows america s student debt crisis is multigenerational, spanning from recent grads to grandparents, with $2.6 million borrowers over the age of 62. 72-year-old vietnam vet cecil hamilton is one of them. i never got the the amount