NFDW 2022 position paper on federal student loan debt in the United States

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NFDW 2022
Federal Student Loan Debt in the United States
The National Federation of Democratic Women (NFDW) commends
President Joe Biden and his administration for the leadership they have
shown in addressing the crisis of student loan debt that exists within our
country. The Biden Administration has canceled $10 billion in student debt,
and NFDW salutes this monumental step in helping to reduce this appalling
crisis.
Two thirds of the borrowers are women, and Black and Hispanic
women are disparately impacted. Borrowers span generations with 22
million borrowers under the age of 35 and 22 million over the age of 35.
The average annual borrowing by parents has more than tripled over the last
25 years. Parents, grandparents, and older individuals are especially
vulnerable to the burden of student debt. People over the age of 50 are
more likely to default on their debt, and more than 114,000 retired people
have had their Social Security checks garnished because of student debt.
The morass created by 43 million Americans, or 1 in 8, owing a total of
$1.7 trillion places student loans as the second largest amount of debt owed
behind home mortgages, even more than credit card debt. This economic
quandary is as damaging to Americans as is the economic stress caused by
the public health crisis of the pandemic.
Americans are incentivized by to pursue higher education. Over 99
percent of all jobs created during the post-recession recovery of the Great
Recession of 2008 went to workers with at least some college experience.
Employment went to job seekers with a bachelor’s degree or higher. They
landed 2.8 million of the 2.9 million jobs with annual salaries, health and
retirement benefits, and paid time off. Today, nearly two-thirds of all jobs in
the United States now require some form of postsecondary education, and,
for most Americans, a high school diploma is no longer enough to access the
middle class.

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NFDW 2022
Student loan debt is holding back our struggling economy and restricting
opportunity and prosperity for millions of Americans. NFDW recognizes that
there are individuals who continue to need more debt relief and government
is seeking ways to bring about even more help for these citizens. The
Secretary of Education was empowered to cancel student loan debt when
Congress passed the Higher Education Act of 1965.
NFDW is calling on the Secretary of Education to continue to work with
the Biden Administration and the Congress to find even more ways to reduce
federal student loan debt. America’s economy and families need this
remedy.
Resources:
Jones, T., & Berger, K. (2019). Aiming for Equity: A Guide to Statewide
Attainment Goals for Racial Equity Advocates. Retrieved October 10,
2021, from https://edtrust.org/resource/aiming-for-equity/.
Looney, A., Wessley, D., & Yilla, K. (2020, January 28). Who Owes all
that Student Debt? And Who'd Benefit if it were Forgiven? Retrieved
October 10, 2021, from
https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/who-owes-all-that-
student-debt-and-whod-benefit-if-it-were-forgiven/.
Connor, E., Loonin, D., & Merill, T. (2020, September 14). Legal
Services Center of Harvard Law School--Cancellation of Federal Student
Loan Debt.
Calling on the President of the United States to take executive action to
broadly cancel Federal student loan debt. (2021). resolution.