The income-driven repayment plan prevents unpaid interest from increasing a borrower’s loan balance, and ensures remaining balances are forgiven after a certain number of years.
Student loans create debt burdens that impact families for generations. Black Americans in general, and Black and Latina women in particular -- often are forced to take on more college debt than their white counterparts in pursuit of the American Dream. The student debt burden is felt most acutely by attendees of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. CRL successfully led a coalition of advocates that achieved substantial student debt cancellation in 2022. We continue to advocate for higher education policies to protect student loan borrowers and their parents from falling into a cycle of debt that keeps them from engaging in wealth-building activities.
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With nearly 45 million Americans owing 1.7 trillion dollars in student loan debt, the Department’s intent to establish a negotiated rulemaking committee to examine proposals under the waiver, modification, and compromise authority is critical to increasing fairness and affordability for those who must accrue debt to pursue higher education. The sheer scale of the student loan debt crisis in America—and its disproportionate and, often, inequitable, impact on borrowers of color—compels us to urge the Department to use this negotiated rulemaking to develop and put in place a series of strong...
Today, more than 44 million Americans are crushed under the weight of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt. This debt prevents borrowers – in red states and blue states, urban and rural communities – from fully participating in the American economy. It delays or denies borrowers the opportunity to buy a home, start a business, or invest in retirement, thereby widening the wealth gap for borrowers from families with modest means.
The 261 organizations representing millions of students, workers, people of color, veterans, people with disabilities, consumers, and people of faith write in strong opposition to bicameral efforts to use the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn President Biden's actions to pause student loan payments and provide student debt relief for low-income and working-class Americans continuing to recover from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating economic fallout.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in two cases challenging the Education Department’s debt relief program. The first lawsuit, Biden v. Nebraska, was filed by several Republican-controlled states claiming that debt relief will hurt the profits of a private student loan servicer chartered by one of the states and may negatively affect future state tax revenues. The other suit, Department of Education v. Brown, was filed by the conservative organization Job Creators Network Foundation Legal Action Fund on behalf of two individual student loan borrowers claiming to be opposed to the...
CRL submitted this letter for the record on the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development hearing entitled, "Breaking the System: Examining the Implications of Biden's Student Loan Policies for Students and Taxpayers."
More than 44 million people in the United States—roughly one in six adults—collectively hold more than $1.6 trillion in federal student loan debt. Although many Americans are burdened by their student loan debt, borrowers who attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have been especially hard hit, due to the impacts of systemic racism on wealth accumulation for families and unequal resource distribution among institutions. Carrying student debt makes it difficult for many HBCU graduates to engage in wealth-building activities like purchasing a home or investing for...
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program is a federal program that forgives loan balances for those working for the government or in the nonprofit sector after 120 qualifying payments. Download the factsheet to take advantage of this temporary expanded benefit before October 31st.
Morning Consult conducted a survey, commissioned by Center for Responsible Lending. The poll is presented as a short Powerpoint-style slide deck with key takeaways and charts. Key findings include: Millions struggled to meet their basic needs due to the burden of student debt Low-income borrowers in loan forgiveness programs were more likely to skip meals and face wage garnishment throughout the pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic forced one-third of student debt borrowers to use savings or credit cards to meet overall expenses The payment pause helped roughly 40 percent of student loan borrowers...
Income-driven repayment (IDR) plans are designed to help borrowers make affordable student loan payments for no more than 20 or 25 years, depending on the type of plan. However, the complexity of these programs has made it notoriously difficult for borrowers to navigate: The application process is lengthy and requires annual re-enrollment; Servicing errors and abusive practices keep low-income borrowers in IDR for too long; Lack of broad forgiveness has kept millions trapped in a cycle of debt. Download to continue reading.