AAUP Joins Coalition to Call for Student Debt Cancellation

The AAUP joined a coalition of fifty plus organizations to applaud the bicameral resolution calling on Biden to cancel $50K of student debt. Their joint statement reads as follows:

We applaud Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Elizabeth Warren; Representatives Pressley, Adams, Bowman, Jones, Omar, and Torres; and Chairwoman Waters for their bicameral resolution urging President Biden to take executive action to cancel up to $50,000 in federal student loan debt using legal authorities already granted by Congress. Cancelling student debt will provide both immediate financial relief to millions of Americans and crucial economic stimulus for everyone during this protracted crisis. This action would also boost GDP and job creation at a time of intense labor shocks and economic uncertainty.

As nearly 330 community, civil rights, climate, health, consumer, labor, and student advocacy organizations noted in a recent letter to the Biden-Harris administration:

• Student debt exacerbates existing racial inequities; cancellation will help reduce the racial wealth gap. Black Americans—and particularly Black women—are more likely to take on student loan debt and struggle with repayment. 
• Cancellation will provide a much-needed economic stimulus. Research shows that student debt cancellation catalyzes drastic, positive changes for borrowers, particularly for those not current on their loans.
• Federal student debt cancellation could have a positive impact on health outcomes. Debt is associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes such as stress, depression, worse self-reported general health, higher diastolic blood pressure, obesity, and even mortality. Research has also shown a connection between debt and foregone medical care. 

With this resolution, Members of Congress are sending a clear message to the administration: Cancelling up to $50,000 of federal student debt would disproportionately help borrowers of color, respond to the coronavirus crisis, and provide much-needed economic relief and stimulus. We support this effort encouraging the administration to use its power under existing law to improve the lives of millions of Americans, and we call for the resolution’s swift adoption. 

To see the full list of signatories from Americans for Financial Reform, click here.