ON PHONE CALL WITH NEW YORK COLLEGE STUDENTS, SCHUMER PUSHES PLAN TO IMMEDIATELY CANCEL UP TO $50,000 IN STUDENT LOAN DEBT PER STUDENT; WITH 2.4 MILLION NY’ERS OWING ALMOST $90 BILLION, SENATOR LEADS CHARGE TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO ATTACK STUDENT DEBT CRISIS
Nearly 2.4 Million New Yorkers Owe $89.5 Billion In Federal Student Loans; Senator Says President Biden Has Executive Authority To Cancel Student Loan Debt
Canceling Student Loan Debt Will Relieve A Huge Burden On Young People and Families During COVID-19 & Beyond And Will Deliver Boost To Economy
Schumer: New Yorkers Need Substantial Relief From Burden Of Student Loans The Pandemic Has Only Made Worse
On phone call with New York college students, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer pushed his plan, today, to cancel up to $50,000 in debt for federal student loan borrowers. Schumer explained why this matters so much to borrowers across New York and how a plan like this can be made real. Schumer explained how President Biden can use existing executive authority under the Higher Education Act to substantially cancel student loan debt for students across New York. Schumer said addressing the student loan crisis is one of his top priorities in the current Congress.
“Millions of young Americans, including so many New Yorkers—and their families—have been crushed by student loan debt, greatly impeding their ability to begin careers and build the financial resources needed to rent apartments, buy homes, start families or just simply build their futures,” said Senator Schumer. “Even worse, the debt load average across New York is higher than it is across the country, and this holds down our entire local economy, which we cannot afford to suppress after dealing with the financial devastation of coronavirus. That is why I am prioritizing student debt forgiveness to bring immediate relief to millions of New Yorkers.”
Schumer explained how President Biden can use existing executive authority under the Higher Education Act to substantially cancel student loan debt for students across New York. Schumer said that immediate student debt relief through executive authority would provide a robust injection of COVID-19 relief to individuals struggling through the economic recession.
“The bottom line is that the cost of college is out of control and paying for it forces countless students and families to take on crippling debt, which greatly impedes one’s ability to get started and succeed after graduation. It is like starting a long walk with a backpack stuffed with bricks, and so, this plan to cancel student debt on federal loans will substantially lighten that load and give recent graduates a huge boost that will launch them into a much brighter future,” Schumer added.
New York State is home to over 300 public and private colleges and universities, serving approximately 1.2 million students. About 59% of New York college students graduate with student loan debt. Recent data, prior to the coronavirus crisis, from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, showed that New York’s average student loan balance was a startling $34,600, greater than the national average of $32,700. Graduates burdened with student loan debts often have no choice but to postpone decisions like buying a home or car and starting a family, and are forced to put their lives on hold for upwards of a decade.
Schumer explained that Black and Latinx students are more likely to borrow money to go to college, borrow more money while they are in college and have a harder time paying off debt when they leave college. A third of Latinx borrowers default on their loans, and Black borrowers have about a 50-50 chance of defaulting on their loans. In fact, a decade after they start school, the typical Black borrower owes more on their loan than they originally borrowed. For millions of Black and Brown communities, student debt is now just another gigantic roadblock to building real wealth.
“The Biden-Harris administration can right this wrong. They can close the Black-white wealth gap by 25 percentage points, and close the Latinx-white wealth gap by 27 percentage points, giving Black and brown families across the country a far better shot at building financial security,” Schumer added.
Schumer explained that student debt cancellation, like the kind he is pushing, can provide immediate relief to millions who are struggling during this pandemic and recession, and give a boost to our struggling economy through a consumer-driven economic stimulus that can result in greater home-buying rates and housing stability, higher college completion rates, and greater small business formation. This is especially good news for the nearly 2.4 million New Yorkers with outstanding student loans and a cumulative debt of $89.5 billion as of March 2020, according to ?studentaid.gov.
Student Debt Cancellation is a prominent issue that continues to garner support. Over 235 community, climate, health, civil rights, labor, consumer rights, and student advocacy organizations have already come out in support of using executive authority to cancel student loan debt, including the American Federation of Teachers, National Education Association, The Education Trust, Hispanic Federation, NAACP, National Urban League, UnidosUS, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Minority Veterans of America, Veterans Education Success, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, the American Psychological Association, Sunrise Movement, the United States Student Association, and Young Invincibles.
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