More than 130 organizations representing students, student loan borrowers, teachers, workers, and consumers have sent a letter calling on the President to extend and expand the PSLF Waiver & IDR Adjustment student debt relief programs.
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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Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt. Women carry about two-thirds of the $1.7 trillion of federal student debt, with Black women more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt. The COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the financially unstable positions of many women, furthering gender disparities. The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) commissioned four focus groups with women who voluntarily...
From the introduction to the letter : The undersigned civil rights, student, community, and consumer advocacy organizations, along with faith leaders from across the country, urge you to use the authority of executive action to cancel $50,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower to stimulate the economy, bridge the racial wealth gap, and alleviate the financial suffering of millions of Americans, including Black women. While women carry around two-thirds of student debt, Black women are more than twice as likely as white men to owe more than $50,000 in undergraduate student loan debt.
A broad coalition of 529 community, civil rights, education, climate, health, consumer, labor, professional, food and farm, and student advocacy organizations wrote a letter to President Biden urging him to strengthen the economy, tackle racial disparities, and provide much-needed relief to help all Americans weather the pandemic and record inflation by using executive authority to cancel federal student debt immediately . Read the full letter.
The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) recently hosted a panel discussion to examine the student debt experience of students who attend or who have graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The group put faces to data as they discuss student debt cancellation and its potential impacts, particularly on people of color. Serving as moderator was Jaylon Herbin, CRL Policy and Outreach Manager and Student Loan Lead. Participants included: Wisdom Cole, NAACP National Director, Youth in College Division; A’Kira Thomas, a third year law student (3L) at NCCU School of Law...
The student debt crisis has been building for decades, and millions of families have seen their dreams derailed by unaffordable debt repayment burdens that block their path to financial stability. As college costs rose, students had to take on increasing amounts of debt to pay for higher education. At the same time, state student financial aid offerings were drastically reduced, forcing students and families into long term debt that often grew to be unaffordable over time. Due to longstanding discrimination, students and families of color have less personal, family, and intergenerational...
Today, the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), and Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) sent a letter to the largest trade organizations representing student loan lenders and servicers underscoring their legal obligation to faithfully implement the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) recent fix for income-driven repayment (IDR) .
“Income-share agreements,” or ISAs, fund a portion of educational costs in exchange for a percentage of a student’s earnings over time. Many ISA providers continue to argue that their products are not loans even though they lend money and subsequently require repayment, employing an old and predatory tactic that loan providers use to evade consumer protection guardrails. In fact, ISAs are simply high-cost loans that currently lack even the protections afforded to private student loans, which themselves are a worse option than federal student loans for most borrowers. The high cost of ISAs...
The “90/10 Rule” is meant to ensure that for-profit schools are, in fact, competitive in the marketplace and are not relying only on taxpayers to survive. In other words, the rule is based on the principle that a viable educational program should be funded in part by students or employers who are willing to pay cash to invest in career training for themselves or their employees, respectively. Although a small percentage of proprietary schools have failed the 90/10 test in recent years, between 11 and 20 percent of schools derive over 85 percent of their revenues from Title IV sources. Because...
Download the letter to Secretary Miguel Cardona from 104 organizations representing students, student loan borrowers, teachers, workers, civil rights, veterans, people of faith, and consumers urging him to deliver on the promise of income-driven repayment (IDR) programs for federal student loan borrowers through the creation of an IDR restoration project, or an IDR waiver.