“Among the 45 million Americans with student loan debt, very, very few went to Harvard, Yale or Penn.
Only 3% of Harvard College students take on any federal student loan debt. Quite simply put, student loan debt is not a problem of the elite. The
vast majority of student loan borrowers are low- and middle-class Americans who had to go into debt to access postsecondary education, and who are paying dearly for it.”
“For many students, loans are unavoidable. For example, in Georgia, 90% of students who attend
Spelman (a private HBCU) and 84% of students who attend
Savannah State (a public university) have federal student loans.”
“
Importantly, studies have found that student loans are
disproportionately held by women, Black and Latinx student loan borrowers -- delivering relief to these borrowers would further the interests of racial and gender equity.
And at every income level, Black households, long
denied opportunities for asset building and subjected to wealth stripping policies, are more likely to hold debt than their white counterparts. The JPMorgan Institute
found, "Black student loan borrowers having higher student loan balances and repayment burdens and being less likely to be making progress on their loans compared to white and Hispanic borrowers." Because Black families lack the intergenerational wealth that can provide an essential cushion against economic shocks, even Black borrowers in the highest income quartile are
more likely to suffer default than white borrowers in the lowest income quartile.
”
