AFR joined partners as amici in urging the United State Supreme Court in upholding the President’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for borrowers. This cancellation has the power to shift the racial wealth gap, free borrowers of the weight of student loan debt and potentially plant BIPOC communities on even ground with their white counterparts.
President Biden’s decision to cancel student debt and extend the payment pause is welcome news to many borrowers, but the low amount of cancellation and the means-testing requirements leaves many still suffering under the crushing weight of student debt.
We are well into the Biden administration and approaching a pivotal time in his Presidency where all hope could be lost on an issue I care a lot about: student debt. We are facing the possible flipping of Congress, student borrowers are in constant flux–unaware of when their loan servicers will be unleashed on them in the midst of a broken repayment system… and I’m afraid. I, like the rest of us, am still waiting for a portion of federal student debt to be canceled, one of Biden’s biggest campaign priorities. And despite the chatter of this announcement being forthcoming, we’re still on standby.
AFR joined a letter calling on President Biden to extend the payment pause on student loans until he cancels student debt.
This week the Department of Education announced that it will discharge all remaining federal student loans for borrowers who attended any campus owned or operated by Corinthian Colleges Inc. The relief will total $5.8 billion and cancel debt for 560,000 borrowers, without any additional action needed.
AFREF joined over 100 organizations in a letter urging the Department of Education to implement Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) reforms through the creation of an IDR waiver.
AFR and over 200 other organizations joined a letter urging President Biden to delay restarting student loan payments given the new Omicron variant and ongoing system failures.
AFREF joined over 100 other groups in sending a letter urging President Biden to cancel student debt.
AFREF joined over 200 organizations in a letter calling on ED to take immediate executive action to deliver on the promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) by cancelling debts owed by all public service workers who have served for a decade or more and to improve the PSLF program.
Americans for Financial Reform welcomes the Department of Education’s announcement that they will extend the closed school discharge window for students who attended ITT Tech back to 2008.