Senators Schumer, Sanders, Warren, Padilla Along With Representatives Clyburn, Pressley, Omar, And Wilson Led Letter To Biden Administration Affirming Continued Support For Necessary And Significant Student Debt Relief Plan
Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) along with Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Alex Padilla (D-CA), and Representatives Jim Clyburn (D-SC), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) led the following letter to the Biden Administration expressing continued support for President Biden’s student debt relief plan.
The letter highlights the drumbeat that the Senators and Representatives have been hitting since President Biden assumed office. Student debt cancellation supports the most vulnerable among us – it is a targeted relief program that will affect those who need it and help close the racial wealth gap by increasing opportunities for social and economic mobility. It is a lifeline for many Black and Latino Americans. Higher education is a pathway to the middle class. And cancellation supports Americans who struggle to afford this crucial path upward. President Biden’s actions would help people achieve the American Dream.
26 million Americans have already applied to receive relief through President Biden’s bold and comprehensive plan. As they await the decision, the many legal challenges are causing financial anxiety and uncertainty. While our economy recovers from the pandemic, Americans seek to get back on the right track. This action would help millions achieve a more stable financial future.
Student debt cancellation falls squarely within the Administration’s authority, and the signees of this letter reaffirm their belief that this action was just and necessary.
President Biden laid out his three-part plan in August of 2022. It is past time for these life-saving measures to go into effect and benefit Americans in need.
The full text of the letter can be found here and below.
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President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We write to express our strong support for your efforts to provide student loan relief to more than 40 million low-to-middle-income borrowers as they recover from the economic crisis brought on by the pandemic. Today in America, tens of millions of Americans are drowning in more than $1.6 trillion in student debt, leaving them less likely to become homeowners or save for retirement.[1]
The consequences of the student debt crisis are devastating. Many young people no longer see college as a tool for economic and social mobility; instead, they fear leaving school with enormous amounts of debt that they may never be able to pay off.[2] To make matters worse, college enrollment for all students decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, and progress in the national college completion rate has stalled altogether.[3] Such a deterrent is one we cannot afford as we continue to see workforce shortages in the most essential professions, such as teaching and nursing.[4] This is a tragedy not only for these young people but for our Nation as a whole, because a well-educated population is critical for the strength of our economy and for the health of a prosperous Nation.
Students and families from working- and low-income backgrounds should not be punished for pursuing an education and developing skills needed for a 21st-century economy. And if every student in this country is provided the opportunity to go to college or seek additional postsecondary training without being burdened by massive debt, that will have a profound impact on the future of our country.
The student loan debt crisis not only negatively impacts young people, but it has an adverse impact on borrowers of all ages. More than one third of borrowers eligible for student loan debt cancellation are age 40 or older.[5] Nearly three million people over the age of 62 hold more than $100 billion in Federal student loans, and senior citizens all over this country are having their Social Security benefits garnished to pay down their student loan debt. [6] In fact, many Americans cannot afford to retire because of unaffordable student debt.[7]
Your efforts to cancel student loan debt will help narrow the impact of such debt on the racial wealth gap.[8] For example, one study found that its debt cancellation proposal would reduce the Black-white racial wealth gap from 12:1 to 5:1 among young Americans.[9] Black student loan borrowers are more likely to borrow to go to school, take on higher levels of debt, and disproportionately struggle with repayment compared to their white peers.[10]
In addition, borrowers of color are more likely than their white peers to face loan default—the most harmful consequence of student debt. Studies show that 37.5 percent of Black borrowers default on their student loans, compared to 12.4 percent of white borrowers.[11] While Latino borrowers often have lower loan balances compared to their white peers, Latino borrowers still default at higher rates.[12] Black and Latino students are also less likely to complete their postsecondary degree compared to white students, leaving these former students without the increased earnings potential that accompanies a college degree to repay their debt.[13] Cancelling student loan debt will help make progress towards addressing this racial wealth gap.[14] Further, under the Administration’s plan, about a quarter of Black borrowers and half of all Latino borrowers would see their debts cleared entirely.[15]
As our Nation recovers from the pandemic, your cancellation plan will provide critical relief to millions of families and help avert a sharp rise in delinquencies and defaults. Congress granted the Secretary of Education the authority under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROES) Act of 2003 to provide relief to borrowers affected by a national emergency.[16] For the last 3 years, borrowers have had Federal student loan payments, interest, and collection obligations suspended using HEROES Act authority—first invoked by former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Secretary Miguel Cardona has found that ending the pause without additional relief would cause delinquencies and defaults to spike above pre-pandemic levels as working- and middle-income borrowers, who are still recovering from the economic fallout of COVID-19, struggle to make payments they have not made since March 2020.[17]
Given that your Administration’s debt relief plan falls squarely within your administrative authority, we expect the legal challenges to the plan will fail, and 40 million Americans will be able to have their debts reduced or eliminated as they return to repayment. Through your action, approximately 20 million borrowers will have no remaining balance, and nearly 90 percent of relief dollars will go to those earning less than $75,000 a year. In the less than 4 weeks that the application for debt relief was available and before the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) was required to stop accepting applications as a result of lawsuits from opponents of the program, 26 million people applied to the Department to be deemed eligible for relief.[18] Of such applicants, most are living in lower-income and majority-minority zip codes, suggesting debt relief will not only help individual borrowers but will also have a positive impact across communities that need it most.[19] Over 16 million of those borrowers’ applications were fully approved by the Department and sent to loan servicers.[20]
Overall, the debt relief program will help so many borrowers as they continue to recover from the financial distress of the pandemic. We applaud the steps your Administration has taken to effectively reduce the risk of delinquency and default, particularly for our most vulnerable communities. We strongly support your debt relief plan and look forward to partnering with you to ensure every eligible borrower receives it.
Respectfully,
Charles E. Schumer
Bernard Sanders
Elizabeth Warren
Alex Padilla
James E. Clyburn
Ayanna Pressley
Ilhan Omar
Frederica S. Wilson
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