plan a trip rubric

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• Travel Plan Project

You can use a travel plan project in the classroom to learn about budgets, maps, time management, and more.

By Chris Jackson

As teachers, we try to make school work challenging and provide real-world applications for what students are learning. Social studies curriculum provides a great opportunity to do this. Teachers cover geography , economics , and much more. Since we all know that the best way to learn is through doing, creating a travel plan can help students apply these types of skills to their everyday lives. They can explore new places as well.

Having students create a travel plan (with a clearly defined rubric) is an excellent way to spark their imaginations and get them excited about what they are learning. If students have the motivation to learn about geography, climate, or cost of living of an area, we can satisfy the state and federal mandates in a way students will enjoy.

When students begin designing their travel plans, have them start by thinking of their dream vacation. Let them determine where they would like to travel and how they want to get there. The variables that can be included can be endless. You might want students to have a budget, and plan their trip accordingly. Perhaps you would prefer to assign students different amounts of cash to spend. The possibilities are sure to ignite students in discussion and maintain interest. Imagine what your students will be open to learning if you tell them they can plan the trip using $500,000 and a Ferrari. 

This is more than just a “dream assignment” filled with fun hypothetical adventures, however. Students should begin by calculating the gas mileage for their “road trips,” charting the geography as they navigate their vehicles (planes, trains, automobiles, boats, etc . . .), and account for seasonal weather conditions and changing political climates across the world. Like anything that is involved and highly interactive, teachers should plan extensively before beginning the project and correlate their rubric to align with however many days will be spent on the assignment. Necessary background information will also have to be provided before you allow students to jump right in. 

The great thing about using a travel plan project in the classroom is how versatile it can be. With appropriate scaffolding, teachers can use a travel plan to address standards and curriculum in any grade level and subject. Schools that have teachers working together in a “team” setting in which English, social studies, and math teachers work closely together with the same students, could plan a group project in which students work on each subject area’s respective portions in that designated class (ie: calculating gas mileage is done in math, analyzing geographic change in social studies, creating a travel brochure for English, etc). 

The possibilities are truly endless for sparking student interest in a variety of topics. Students have to make a variety of decisions based on economics. They have to figure out how much gas costs and decide which car to purchase based upon their finding. It’s not going to get much more “real world” than that. Students are able to have fun with the project as well. 

Students can design posters, travel brochures, reports, models, diary entries, postcards, and so much more. The literary bent of the project can be graded based on the six traits of writing and writer’s workshop can be utilized to provide feedback and monitor student progress. Competitive elements can also be introduced and the project could turn into a game. 

The benefits of adding a travel plan project into your curriculum are many. All levels of Bloom’s taxonomy are touched upon extensively, instruction is definitely differentiated, multiple intelligences are incorporated, and student engagement is high. Both students and parents alike will rave about how wonderful a successful travel plan was. The knowledge learned is something that will be remembered and useful for years to come! Here are more activities you can do to spark the interest of students to create a travel plan.

Travel Plan Lessons and Activities:

The Art of Budgeting

Students learn how to set up and maintain a budget.

Time Management

Students create a time management plan for themselves, and critique others to get the maximum amount out of their time.

Travel Album

Students create a class travel album of places they have been. This could spark an interest in new places.

The Amazing Race

Students use road maps to find more clues and get to different destinations much like the TV show The Amazing Race.

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Rubric Best Practices, Examples, and Templates

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the different criteria relevant to an assignment, assessment, or learning outcome and states the possible levels of achievement in a specific, clear, and objective way. Use rubrics to assess project-based student work including essays, group projects, creative endeavors, and oral presentations.

Rubrics can help instructors communicate expectations to students and assess student work fairly, consistently and efficiently. Rubrics can provide students with informative feedback on their strengths and weaknesses so that they can reflect on their performance and work on areas that need improvement.

How to Get Started

Best practices, moodle how-to guides.

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Step 1: Analyze the assignment

The first step in the rubric creation process is to analyze the assignment or assessment for which you are creating a rubric. To do this, consider the following questions:

• What is the purpose of the assignment and your feedback? What do you want students to demonstrate through the completion of this assignment (i.e. what are the learning objectives measured by it)? Is it a summative assessment, or will students use the feedback to create an improved product?
• Does the assignment break down into different or smaller tasks? Are these tasks equally important as the main assignment?
• What would an “excellent” assignment look like? An “acceptable” assignment? One that still needs major work?
• How detailed do you want the feedback you give students to be? Do you want/need to give them a grade?

Step 2: Decide what kind of rubric you will use

Types of rubrics: holistic, analytic/descriptive, single-point

Holistic Rubric. A holistic rubric includes all the criteria (such as clarity, organization, mechanics, etc.) to be considered together and included in a single evaluation. With a holistic rubric, the rater or grader assigns a single score based on an overall judgment of the student’s work, using descriptions of each performance level to assign the score.

Advantages of holistic rubrics:

• Can p lace an emphasis on what learners can demonstrate rather than what they cannot
• Save grader time by minimizing the number of evaluations to be made for each student
• Can be used consistently across raters, provided they have all been trained

Disadvantages of holistic rubrics:

• Provide less specific feedback than analytic/descriptive rubrics
• Can be difficult to choose a score when a student’s work is at varying levels across the criteria
• Any weighting of c riteria cannot be indicated in the rubric

Analytic/Descriptive Rubric . An analytic or descriptive rubric often takes the form of a table with the criteria listed in the left column and with levels of performance listed across the top row. Each cell contains a description of what the specified criterion looks like at a given level of performance. Each of the criteria is scored individually.

Advantages of analytic rubrics:

• Provide detailed feedback on areas of strength or weakness
• Each criterion can be weighted to reflect its relative importance

Disadvantages of analytic rubrics:

• More time-consuming to create and use than a holistic rubric
• May not be used consistently across raters unless the cells are well defined
• May result in giving less personalized feedback

Single-Point Rubric . A single-point rubric is breaks down the components of an assignment into different criteria, but instead of describing different levels of performance, only the “proficient” level is described. Feedback space is provided for instructors to give individualized comments to help students improve and/or show where they excelled beyond the proficiency descriptors.

Advantages of single-point rubrics:

• Easier to create than an analytic/descriptive rubric
• Perhaps more likely that students will read the descriptors
• Areas of concern and excellence are open-ended
• May removes a focus on the grade/points
• May increase student creativity in project-based assignments

Disadvantage of analytic rubrics: Requires more work for instructors writing feedback

Step 3 (Optional): Look for templates and examples.

You might Google, “Rubric for persuasive essay at the college level” and see if there are any publicly available examples to start from. Ask your colleagues if they have used a rubric for a similar assignment. Some examples are also available at the end of this article. These rubrics can be a great starting point for you, but consider steps 3, 4, and 5 below to ensure that the rubric matches your assignment description, learning objectives and expectations.

Step 4: Define the assignment criteria

Make a list of the knowledge and skills are you measuring with the assignment/assessment Refer to your stated learning objectives, the assignment instructions, past examples of student work, etc. for help.

  Helpful strategies for defining grading criteria:

• Collaborate with co-instructors, teaching assistants, and other colleagues
• Brainstorm and discuss with students
• Can they be observed and measured?
• Are they important and essential?
• Are they distinct from other criteria?
• Are they phrased in precise, unambiguous language?
• Revise the criteria as needed
• Consider whether some are more important than others, and how you will weight them.

Step 5: Design the rating scale

Most ratings scales include between 3 and 5 levels. Consider the following questions when designing your rating scale:

• Given what students are able to demonstrate in this assignment/assessment, what are the possible levels of achievement?
• How many levels would you like to include (more levels means more detailed descriptions)
• Will you use numbers and/or descriptive labels for each level of performance? (for example 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and/or Exceeds expectations, Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, Beginning, etc.)
• Don’t use too many columns, and recognize that some criteria can have more columns that others . The rubric needs to be comprehensible and organized. Pick the right amount of columns so that the criteria flow logically and naturally across levels.

Step 6: Write descriptions for each level of the rating scale

Artificial Intelligence tools like Chat GPT have proven to be useful tools for creating a rubric. You will want to engineer your prompt that you provide the AI assistant to ensure you get what you want. For example, you might provide the assignment description, the criteria you feel are important, and the number of levels of performance you want in your prompt. Use the results as a starting point, and adjust the descriptions as needed.

Building a rubric from scratch

For a single-point rubric , describe what would be considered “proficient,” i.e. B-level work, and provide that description. You might also include suggestions for students outside of the actual rubric about how they might surpass proficient-level work.

For analytic and holistic rubrics , c reate statements of expected performance at each level of the rubric.

• Consider what descriptor is appropriate for each criteria, e.g., presence vs absence, complete vs incomplete, many vs none, major vs minor, consistent vs inconsistent, always vs never. If you have an indicator described in one level, it will need to be described in each level.
• You might start with the top/exemplary level. What does it look like when a student has achieved excellence for each/every criterion? Then, look at the “bottom” level. What does it look like when a student has not achieved the learning goals in any way? Then, complete the in-between levels.
• For an analytic rubric , do this for each particular criterion of the rubric so that every cell in the table is filled. These descriptions help students understand your expectations and their performance in regard to those expectations.

Well-written descriptions:

• Describe observable and measurable behavior
• Use parallel language across the scale
• Indicate the degree to which the standards are met

Step 7: Create your rubric

Create your rubric in a table or spreadsheet in Word, Google Docs, Sheets, etc., and then transfer it by typing it into Moodle. You can also use online tools to create the rubric, but you will still have to type the criteria, indicators, levels, etc., into Moodle. Rubric creators: Rubistar , iRubric

Step 8: Pilot-test your rubric

Prior to implementing your rubric on a live course, obtain feedback from:

• Teacher assistants

Try out your new rubric on a sample of student work. After you pilot-test your rubric, analyze the results to consider its effectiveness and revise accordingly.

• Limit the rubric to a single page for reading and grading ease
• Use parallel language . Use similar language and syntax/wording from column to column. Make sure that the rubric can be easily read from left to right or vice versa.
• Use student-friendly language . Make sure the language is learning-level appropriate. If you use academic language or concepts, you will need to teach those concepts.
• Share and discuss the rubric with your students . Students should understand that the rubric is there to help them learn, reflect, and self-assess. If students use a rubric, they will understand the expectations and their relevance to learning.
• Consider scalability and reusability of rubrics. Create rubric templates that you can alter as needed for multiple assignments.
• Maximize the descriptiveness of your language. Avoid words like “good” and “excellent.” For example, instead of saying, “uses excellent sources,” you might describe what makes a resource excellent so that students will know. You might also consider reducing the reliance on quantity, such as a number of allowable misspelled words. Focus instead, for example, on how distracting any spelling errors are.

Example of an analytic rubric for a final paper

Example of a holistic rubric for a final paper, single-point rubric, more examples:.

• Single Point Rubric Template ( variation )
• Analytic Rubric Template make a copy to edit
• A Rubric for Rubrics
• Bank of Online Discussion Rubrics in different formats
• Mathematical Presentations Descriptive Rubric
• Math Proof Assessment Rubric
• Kansas State Sample Rubrics
• Design Single Point Rubric

Technology Tools: Rubrics in Moodle

• Moodle Docs: Rubrics
• Moodle Docs: Grading Guide (use for single-point rubrics)

Tools with rubrics (other than Moodle)

• Google Assignments
• Turnitin Assignments: Rubric or Grading Form

Other resources

• DePaul University (n.d.). Rubrics .
• Gonzalez, J. (2014). Know your terms: Holistic, Analytic, and Single-Point Rubrics . Cult of Pedagogy.
• Goodrich, H. (1996). Understanding rubrics . Teaching for Authentic Student Performance, 54 (4), 14-17. Retrieved from   
• Miller, A. (2012). Tame the beast: tips for designing and using rubrics.
• Ragupathi, K., Lee, A. (2020). Beyond Fairness and Consistency in Grading: The Role of Rubrics in Higher Education. In: Sanger, C., Gleason, N. (eds) Diversity and Inclusion in Global Higher Education. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore.

Project-Based Learning

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Project Based Learning Idea: Plan a Road Trip

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Project based learning is a great way to expose students to real world problems and activities. PBL activities engage them in learning skills and problem solving in a way that traditional class activities don’t. If you’ve never tried a PBL project, you will love it, AND your students will ask for more! These project based learning ideas for middle school and elementary students are just what you need to get started.

Who doesn’t love an epic road trip? Road trips are filled with memories, fun, adventure, and excitement.  But planning a road trip is anything but easy. There are so many amazing math, reading, writing, map reading and problem solving skills involved in a road trip that it is the perfect task for a fun project based learning activity.

Plan a Road Trip Project

This project based learning activity  will have your students planning a road trip from start to finish.  Students can work independently or in small groups as they work through this PBL project. Although working in small groups can sometimes be more difficult, it also gives students opportunities to develop communication skills and inter-personal problem solving skills.

A great way to introduce this project is to show kids a variety of print or video commercials for vacation destinations. Show pictures from a personal road trip that you’ve taken. You can even ask your students to talk about road trips they have taken with their families or friends. Once the class is excited about the topic, it’s time to let them get started

The  Plan a Road Trip PBL Project  has everything you need to get you class started. Just choose the activities from the packet you want your students to complete. Start with the planning pages included in the project. You can then do all of the activities or choose the ones that best meet your own learning objectives.

This resource includes a variety of printable activity pages and 3 final projects – more than enough for a great PBL unit. You can choose to have the students complete one final activity at the end, or weave them into the project so they ultimately complete all three projects.

1. Choose a Destination

Students start by choosing 4 possible destinations for their road trip. After doing some basic research on each location they then narrow down their options to one final destination.

Let your students determine whether they will visit one place or make a loop from start to finish in order to see multiple locations, or whether to travel near or far. For older students, a great way to add a new level of complexity to the project is to give them an overall road trip budget.

After students choose their destination, you could add in project #1, Mapping the Route. This would be a great place to have students create a map of the road trip with labeled states and destinations!

2. Prepare for the Road Trip

Choosing the destination is just the start! Students will then work on planning their road trip. In this planning phase they will be working on activities like:

• The Packing List
• Must-See Spots
• Places to Stay
• Distance Traveled
• Time and Money on the Road
• So Much More!

As students research and complete the pages, they use many different problem-solving skills, while strengthening their reading, writing, and math skills. As you can see there is no academic skill loss in this project!

Students will document their amazing  road trip project  by creating their own road trip selfies, music play list and more.  They will send postcards to their friends from one or more locations and they can even design a billboard for one of the tourist attractions they visit.

3. A Virtual Road Trip

Once back home from their virtual road trip students will spend some time reminiscing!  They will love writing about their favorite places and activities along the way. This is the perfect place for project #3 – An Amazing Destination. In this persuasive writing activity, students write about their destination in an attempt to get others to visit it too!

Finish up with your very own Travel TV Show where students present their road trips to the class.  A fun way to end is to let students vote on where they want to go next based on their classmates presentations!

4. The Final Projects

Once students have completed the planning pages, it’s time to assign one (or all) of the three final projects! You can choose any or all of these final projects. And yes, the scoring rubrics are included!

Final Road Trip Project Options:

• Mapping the Route
• Create a Destination Brochure
• An Amazing Destination Paragraph Writing

Once back home from their virtual road trip students will spend some time reminiscing!  They will love writing about their favorite places and activities along the way.  This is the perfect place for project #3 – An Amazing Destination.  This persuasive writing activity has students write about their road trip or one destination in an attempt to get others to visit it too!

Ready to get started?

If you need more ideas on  how to use project based learning in your classroom, check out this blog post filled with ideas .

Are you a parent or family getting ready to go on an actual road trip? Check out this great list of  30 Road Trip Trivia Games  by Outdoorish.com!

SAVE THIS POST FOR LATER

If you are not quite ready for this fun and engaging project, then pin it to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so you can find it quickly when you are ready!

Shelly Rees

Hi, I’m Shelly! Thank you for being here. I love helping third, fourth, and fifth grade teachers with fun and engaging activities that require no to little prep! Let me help you by taking some of the stress and work off your plate.

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Pre-Algebra Road Trip Project

By: Author Sarah Carter

Posted on Published: July 22, 2012  - Last updated: December 3, 2022

Categories Projects , Ratios/Proportions

Well, since I’m preparing to start my first year of teaching, I decided that I really needed to finish posting the last few projects I did during my student teaching. 

During my last week of student teaching , my cooperating teacher asked me to come up with a creative way to review some of the 8th grade math standards. 

A lot of my students had been struggling with the concept of proportions.  With lots of practice, they had been improving, but many students still weren’t comfortable with solving proportions. 

I wanted to show students that proportions were definitely applicable to their lives.  So, I created this pre-algebra road trip project.  It actually turned into a 3-part project because the students were enjoying it so much. 

Each student chose 5 cities to travel to on their road trip.  Using a ruler, they drew out their route on a US map.  Then, using the map scale, students determined the length of their road trip in miles.

Day 2 of the road trip project was spent using gas mileage and fuel costs for various vehicles to determine which vehicle students would take on their road trip.  

On Day 3, we calculated food costs, hotel costs, and rental car costs.  By the end of the 3-day project, students were much, much, much more comfortable working with ratios and proportions. 

It was an amazing experience to see the light bulbs go off with so many of my students.

Looking back at Day 2 and 3, there are a ton of little things I would change.  I actually changed the rental car problem on Day 3 because my students were having a ton of trouble with it.  I just did a flat rate per day.

This pre-algebra road trip project is easily adjusted based on your time limitations and the level of your students.  This was never intended on being a 3-day project.  It just sort of evolved into one. 

My 8th graders really enjoyed it.  My cooperating teacher enjoyed it.  My University Supervisor even observed me on Day 3 of the project. 

The lesson was a little more chaotic than I had planned, but my supervisor complimented me on the project.  He even asked for electronic copies of the files to send to some math teachers in China.   

Edited to Add : I have also done this with my Algebra 1 students.

Since I had already done this project with 8th graders, I thought my Algebra 1 students would be able to whiz right through it.  I was wrong.  I had to teach many of my students how to read a ruler. 

Rounding to the nearest quarter inch was a disaster.  And, the questions students asked me made me feel more like a geography teacher than a math teacher. 

These are actual conversations I had with my Algebra 1 students during this activity.

Me: Class, today we are going on a road trip.  If we’re going on a road trip, that means we will be traveling on… Class: Roads! Me: Yes, so that means we can’t travel to… Class: Hawaii Student 1: Why can’t you drive to Hawaii?  Me: Hawaii is an island.  That means it is surrounded by water. Student 2: Why does Hawaii look so weird? Custodian who just happens to be emptying the trash at this point: Hawaii is a series of small islands. Student 3: Do you mean you can’t drive between the little islands? Custodian: No.  When I was in Hawaii, we traveled between the islands by taking ferries. 

Student 1: Is Washington, D.C. here? [The student is pointing at Washington state.] Me: No. Student 2: No, Washington, D.C. is in Virginia.

Student 1: I think this map is wrong. Me: Why? Student 1: Oklahoma City should be above Tulsa.

Student 1: Do you mean Nashville, Tennessee is in the United States? Me: Yes.  Nashville is in the U.S. Student 1: I’ve heard of it before, but I didn’t realize it was in the U.S.

I required my students to write both the city and the state they were visiting on their assignment.  One student wrote that she was traveling to New Jersey, PA. 

Free Download of Pre-Algebra Road Trip Project

Road Trip Project Day 1 (WORD) (4455 downloads )

Road Trip Project Day 2 (WORD) (3320 downloads )

Road Trip Project Day 3 (WORD) (2886 downloads )

Road Trip Project Map and Rubric (PDF) (3145 downloads )

Video with Instructions on Completing the Road Trip Project

I ran across a YouTube video that someone created to walk students through completing the Road Trip Project. I thought I would link it here in case it was of use to anybody.

More Activities for Teaching Ratios and Proportions

Wednesday 4th of September 2019

Any chance you have the CC standards that are associated with this project?

Monday 27th of May 2019

Great project!

Friday 25th of January 2019

FOR STEP FOUR OF DAY ONE DID YOU HAVE THE STUDENTS USE THE UNIT CONVERSION OF MILES TO INCHES AND THEN SET THAT EQUAL TO THEIR DISTANCE?

Tuesday 30th of October 2018

i think she used a lot of creativity to make this project.

Monday 20th of February 2017

what is the cost/gallon of the fuel? Where do you get it from?

Thursday 18th of May 2017

I'm was the one that needed help that says anonymous

And my email is eliasdaniel4599[at]gmail.com, thank you

Hello their Sarah I'm having trouble with this project if you could plzz send me the answers like all of it plzzz:( this is due Friday my grade is at a D right now just plzz I'm sorry for bugging like asap lol thank you

Sarah Carter (@mathequalslove)

Friday 3rd of March 2017

I got the fuel data for 25 miles from https://www.fueleconomy.gov/

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Biden Announces Student Debt Relief for Millions in Swing-State Pitch

During an appearance in Wisconsin, President Biden said 10 million borrowers could see debt relief of at least $5,000. The plan could help rally support among young voters.

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Biden Announces New Plan for Student Debt Relief

President biden announced a large-scale effort to help pay off federal student loans for more than 20 million borrowers..

Today, I’m proud to announce five major actions to continue to relieve student debt for more than 30 million Americans since I started my administration. And starting this fall, we plan to deliver up to $20,000 in interest relief to over 20 million borrowers and full forgiveness for millions more. [applause] I will never stop to deliver student debt relief and hardworking Americans. And it’s only in the interest of America that we do it. And again, it’s for the good of our economy that’s growing stronger and stronger, and it is, by freeing millions of Americans from this crushing debt of student debt. It means they can finally get on with their lives instead of being put — their lives being put on hold.

By Michael D. Shear

Reporting from Madison, Wis.

President Biden on Monday announced a large-scale effort to help pay off federal student loans for tens of millions of American borrowers, seeking an election-year boost by returning to a 2020 campaign promise that was blocked by the Supreme Court last year.

Mr. Biden’s new plan would reduce the amount that 25 million borrowers still owe on their undergraduate and graduate loans. It would wipe away the entire amount for more than four million Americans. Altogether, White House officials said, 10 million borrowers would see debt relief of $5,000 or more.

“While a college degree still is a ticket to the middle class, that ticket is becoming much too expensive,” Mr. Biden said during a speech to a small but enthusiastic audience filled with supporters. “Today, too many Americans, especially young people, are saddled with too much debt.”

Mr. Biden announced the plan in Madison, Wis., the capital of a critical swing state and a college town that symbolizes the president’s promise to make higher-education affordability a cornerstone of his economic agenda.

But it is a promise he has so far failed to achieve, largely because of legal challenges from Republicans and other critics. They accuse Mr. Biden of unlawfully using his executive authority to enact a costly transfer of wealth from taxpayers who have not taken out federal student loans to those who have.

Officials did not say how much the new plan would cost in coming years, but critics have said it could increase inflation and add to the federal debt by billions of dollars.

Mr. Biden said his new effort would help the economy by removing the drag of enormous debt from people who would otherwise not be able to buy a home or pursue a more economically sound future.

“We’re giving people a chance to make it,” Mr. Biden said. “Not a guarantee. Just a chance to make it.”

Mr. Biden’s announcement was a presidential do-over. In the summer of 2022, he put in motion a plan to wipe out $400 billion in student debt for about 43 million borrowers. That was blocked by the Supreme Court , which said he exceeded his authority. In the months since, Mr. Biden has waived small amounts of debt using existing programs. But now he is attempting a larger effort closer to the scale of his first try.

The original plan relied on a law called the HEROES Act, which the administration argued allowed the government to waive student debt during a national emergency like the Covid pandemic. The justices disagreed after Republican attorneys general and others challenged the debt waiver plan.

The new approach is different.

For months, Mr. Biden’s Education Department has been developing regulations using a long process authorized by the Higher Education Act. Instead of an across-the-board waiver of debt, the new approach targets five groups of borrowers: those whose loans have ballooned because of interest; borrowers who have been paying for decades; those who have economic hardship; people who qualify for existing debt relief programs but have not applied; and people whose loans come from schools that have since been denied certification or have lost eligibility for federal student aid programs.

Administration officials said because the new approach is based on a different law, it is more likely to survive the expected challenges. They said lawyers for the White House and the Education Department have studied the Supreme Court ruling and have designed the new program to make sure it does not violate the principles laid out by the justices.

But lawyers for those who oppose the approach are likely to argue that waiving the debt is unfair to those who already paid back their loans or never took out college loans in the first place. That argument helped sway the justices in the last case.

Neal McCluskey, the director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute, called the new plan “dangerous policy” that is unfair to taxpayers and would cause colleges and universities to raise their prices.

“The Constitution gives Congress, not the president, the authority to enact law, and the Supreme Court has already struck down a unilateral, mass student debt cancellation scheme by the Biden administration,” he said. “It would stick taxpayers with bills for debts other people chose for their own financial advancement.”

The legal challenges will likely take months to resolve, and that could leave the debt relief plan in limbo as voters go to the polls in November to choose between Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump.

Members of Mr. Biden’s administration fanned out across the country on Monday to talk about the new plan, betting that it will rally support among voters who were disappointed that the court blocked the first one, which would have eliminated up to $20,000 in debt for tens of millions of borrowers. Vice President Kamala Harris held a round-table discussion with a teacher, a nurse and a social worker in Philadelphia. Miguel A. Cardona, the education secretary, spoke in New York City.

“We need you to stay in these jobs doing this work,” Ms. Harris said in the library of an elementary school. “And you shouldn’t have to make a decision about whether you serve or are able to pay your bills.”

But beyond the threat of legal action, the president faces steep obstacles just because of the calendar. The new plan has not yet been published in the Federal Register, which will kick off a required, monthslong public comment period before it can take effect. Officials said on Sunday only that they hoped some of the provisions would begin going into effect in “early fall” of this year.

Administration officials hope that the president’s supporters will give him credit for trying, even if many of the borrowers do not end up seeing any relief before they go to the ballot box. Andrew O’Neill, the legislative director for Indivisible, a liberal advocacy organization, praised Mr. Biden’s announcement.

“Progressives have led the fight for student debt cancellation, and Joe Biden has responded,” he said in a statement. “More than 30 million folks will now get relief from Biden’s programs. That’s a huge deal.”

White House officials have been scrambling for months to respond to the anger about student loans among the president’s base. In one poll released last month, more than 70 percent of young people said the issue of student loan forgiveness was “important” or “very important” to them as they make their decision in the 2024 election campaign.

Officials said the five groups of people targeted in the new plan will address most of the egregious issues that some borrowers have with their student loans.

People whose loans have grown beyond the amount they originally borrowed because of interest would have up to $20,000 of that interest wiped away, leaving them to repay only the amount they originally borrowed. People making less than $120,000 a year, or couples making less than $240,000, would qualify to have all of their interest forgiven.

Officials said that 23 million people would most likely have all of their interest-related balances waived from that provision.

About two million borrowers who already qualify to have their student loans waived under existing programs have not applied for relief. Under the new rules, the Education Department would be authorized to cancel the debt for those people without their having to apply.

People who took out federal student loans for undergraduate degrees and began repaying them more than 20 years ago would automatically have the debt canceled under the new plan. Graduate students who borrowed money and began repaying 25 years ago would have their debt canceled.

Officials said that about 2.5 million people would qualify under that rule.

People who borrowed money to attend colleges that have since lost their certification or their eligibility to participate in the federal student aid program would have their debt canceled. Officials did not say how many people that would affect. And people who are especially burdened with other expenses — such as high medical debt or child care — could apply to have their student loans forgiven.

Officials did not estimate how many people might qualify for what they called the “hardship” programs.

Nicholas Nehamas contributed reporting from Philadelphia.

Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent for The New York Times, covering President Biden and his administration. He has reported on politics for more than 30 years. More about Michael D. Shear

Want to see the next total solar eclipse in 2026? An expert recommends booking travel now.

• 2026 will be Europe's first total solar eclipse in 27 years.
• Travelers worldwide will likely head to Spain, Iceland, and Greenland for the event.
• A hotel expert encouraged travelers to start planning and booking their trips now.

It'll be two decades before the next total solar eclipse hits the US .

Another option: hop on a plane to Europe and turn the 2026 total solar eclipse into a viewing vacation.

Eclipse cartographer Michael Zeiler at GreatAmericanEclipse.com told Space.com that up to 3.7 million people likely traveled for the solar eclipse on Monday.

HotelPlanner's chief communication officer, Philip Ballard, told Business Insider that the eclipse was a major revenue generator for many cities. For places like Austin, Texas, and Rochester, New York, it could have created $1 billion in revenue, Vox reported.

"I would say the total solar eclipse has become a global phenomenon," Ballard said.

Ballard added that the next solar eclipse , which will pass through Iceland, Greenland, and Spain on August 12, 2026, could result in similar tourism and revenue influxes.

And if travelers are considering a trip to Europe for the solar eclipse, Ballard recommends planning your trip now.

Determine your eclipse viewing destination

According to Space.com , 2026 will be Europe's first total solar eclipse in 27 years. Its path will go through Greenland, parts of western Iceland, and northern Spain.

Choosing where to watch the eclipse will be a tough and important decision for travelers.

Iceland and Greenland have some positives. These regions will experience longer totality times, so viewers can watch the eclipse longer. Plus, the sun will be higher in the sky, so finding a spot to watch the eclipse will be less challenging, Space.com reported.

The downside is that these regions are more likely to be cloudy, according to the outlet.

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While parts of Spain are likely to offer clearer skies, the eclipse's timing will be shorter and closer to the horizon, which means travelers will need to plan and track down a viewing location with unobstructed views of the western horizon, Space.com reported.

Regardless of the destination, according to the outlet, one bonus is that the strongest meteor shower in the Northern Hemisphere will happen the following night, so travelers can pack two events into one trip.

Book flights and hotels far in advance

Ballard encouraged people to book their hotels in their destination of choice as far in advance as possible.

"You should start looking now and booking hotels now because those cities in the path are already going to be at peak season," Ballard said.

Ballard said it's similar to when a Super Bowl city is determined or a Taylor Swift tour date is announced — you immediately see spikes in bookings. He predicts hotel occupancy rates will hit near-record highs, and room prices may double around the solar eclipse date.

Ballard's general rule of thumb is to book international travel at least three months in advance, but since this is such an anticipated event, booking earlier is smart. His advice is to start discussing plans with friends and family. If you decide on a destination, book a refundable room to keep your options open if plans change.

Regarding purchasing a plane ticket, a study from Expedia states that international travel's sweet spot is at least six months in advance.

According to Expedia, travelers who book six months in advance save an average of 10% more than travelers booking within two months or less.

Skip the hassle of planning altogether and book a solar eclipse tour

Another option is to let a tour operator do the work for you. A handful of tour companies have seen the increased interest in the solar eclipse and launched tours designed around the event.

These tours will have predetermined locations to view the eclipse, hotel blocks reserved, and itineraries highlighting both the region and the eclipse.

However, these can sell out quickly. For example, Space and Telescope created an 11-day tour of Spain around viewing the 2026 solar eclipse. The tour has already sold out as of Wednesday, and the waitlist is full.

Other operators, such as Wilderness Travel and Eclipse Traveler, have similar itineraries for the total eclipse in 2026.

Watch: A small Australian town was treated to a rare hybrid solar eclipse

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