Student Loans

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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Over 325 Orgs Call on President-Elect Biden to Cancel Federal Student Debt on Day One using Executive Action

Over 325 Orgs Call on President-Elect Biden to Cancel Federal Student Debt on Day One using Executive Action

328 undersigned community, civil rights, climate, health, consumer, labor, and student advocacy organizations wrote to urge President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris to boost the economy, tackle racial disparities, and provide much-needed stimulus to help all Americans weather the pandemic and the associated recession by using executive authority to cancel federal student debt on day one of the new administration.
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Letters to Congress
Student Loans

Poll: North Carolina Student Loan Borrowers During COVID-19 Pandemic

Poll: North Carolina Student Loan Borrowers During COVID-19 Pandemic

Key points from the poll results include: Forty-five percent of NC student loan borrowers report a decrease in their household income since the onset of COVID-19, with the most severe impact hitting borrowers who earn less than $50,000 per year (55% reporting a decrease). Seventy-three percent of NC student loan borrowers report that their student loans cause them stress. Additionally...
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Research
Student Loans

Road to Relief: Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond

Road to Relief: Supporting Federal Student Loan Borrowers During the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond

Even before COVID-19, student loan borrowers struggled under the weight of more than $1.6 trillion in debt. One in four borrowers was in default or serious delinquency, and many worried about their ability to make student loan payments while covering other basic needs. Because of decades of structural inequities and discrimination, student loans have burdened Black and Latino borrowers more...
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Research
Student Loans

Stepping Up: States Move to Hold Student Loan Servicers Accountable

Stepping Up: States Move to Hold Student Loan Servicers Accountable

Download a table of state student loan servicing laws from the report. (Updated September 2022) Today, 44 million Americans are saddled with student loan debt. They currently owe over $1.5 trillion—an amount which has more than doubled over the last decade. The causes of this exploding debt burden are many: increasing tuition, stagnant wages, the shifting role of federal government...
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Research
Student Loans

System Reboot: Challenges & Opportunities at the State Level for Higher Education During COVID-19 & Beyond

System Reboot: Challenges & Opportunities at the State Level for Higher Education During COVID-19 & Beyond

The COVID-19 crisis has profound financial impacts on families across the country and on the economy overall. With businesses shuttered (including 40% of Black businesses) and record-breaking unemployment claims filed since March 2020, it is hard to overstate the financial instability and hardship this global pandemic has produced. And it will only get worse. The federal government’s response to the...
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Policy & Legislation
Student Loans

Polling Memo: Voters Support Strong Consumer Financial Protections and Tough Regulation of Wall Street

Polling Memo: Voters Support Strong Consumer Financial Protections and Tough Regulation of Wall Street

Ten years after passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, with the country again facing an economic crisis, new polling data from Lake Research Partners, commissioned by the Center for Responsible Lending and Americans for Financial Reform shows that voters across all political parties are broadly and intensely supportive of strong consumer financial protections and of...
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Research
Consumer Finance Debt Collection & Settlement Overdraft Fees Student Loans Payday and Other Small Dollar Loans

The Critical Relief of Student Debt Cancellation Must Remain in HR 6800 - the HEROES Act

The Critical Relief of Student Debt Cancellation Must Remain in HR 6800 - the HEROES Act

From the letter to Speaker Pelosi, Chairman Scott, and Chairman McGovern: As Congress works to better protect Americans from the economic fallout of COVID-19, the financial difficulties of 44 million student loan borrowers and the effect of this debt on the economy cannot be forgotten. The relief in HEROES, especially the $10,000 of cancellation per borrower, will have a significant...
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Letters to Congress
Student Loans

Joint Statement: Narrowing Student Debt Cancellation In HEROES Act Leaves Out Millions

Joint Statement: Narrowing Student Debt Cancellation In HEROES Act Leaves Out Millions

A joint statement on the choice to narrow student loan debt cancellation in the HEROES Act from Action Center on Race and the Economy, American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, Demos, Generation Progress, National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients), Student Borrower Protection Center, Student Debt Crisis.
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Letters to Congress
Student Loans
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