Civil rights organizations, activists and lawmakers have joined together and fought tirelessly to help the U.S. student loan debt crisis. They are currently attempting to urge the Biden administration to cancel $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
“The $1.7 trillion student loan crisis is crushing individuals, families, and our economy, and the weight of this burden is disproportionately borne by women and Black and Latino borrowers, This did not happen by accident. Policymakers intentionally shifted away from publicly funding our higher education system to a primarily debt-financed system just as students of color and women gained access, disregarding the rising cost of college for students and families, persistent racial wealth and income disparities, ongoing discrimination in the labor and credit markets, and many other societal and policy failures,” writes the coalition of civil rights organizations in a statement.
According to CNBC, White women student loan borrowers owe an average of $31,300, compared with $29,900 for White male borrowers. Meanwhile, Black women borrowers owe an average of $37,600, versus $35,700 for Black male borrowers. Nearly 85% of Black college graduates carry student debt, compared with 69% of their White counterparts.
Progressive activists and lawmakers have criticized the Biden administration for their lack of response to canceling student loan debt.
The student debt crisis prevents many adults from buying a home, investing, saving, or starting families.
Knowing that crushing debt is in your college future also forces us to think carefully about education instead of being able to attend college to figure out interests and passions.
Student debt forgiveness is something that the Biden administration has the executive authority to do. So it’s not like it’s some extraconstitutional overreach. This is authority granted thanks to the Higher Education Act of 1965. Congress granted the Secretary of Education the ability to cancel student debt. But it’s obviously one of these executive moves that you can’t undo once it’s done, reports Vox.
So let us join in and pressure the Biden administration to help the young adults of this nation be released from the debt acquired while furthering their educations.
