It’s time for President Joe Biden to cancel student debt

It’s Time to #CancelStudentDebt

Last week, on Jan. 18, along with 110 other student leaders from across the country, I signed a letter calling on President Joe Biden to cancel student debt. This issue goes beyond Syracuse University student leaders — the signers of this letter represent over 1.4 million students from all over the U.S. and beyond. Since then, we’ve even received support from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

As the Student Association president, it is my responsibility to represent SU and SUNY-ESF students and to speak out on the student debt crisis. Early on in my term, I knew one of the best ways I could fight for all of you was to lead this call to cancel student debt, relieving the burden of student debt for generations of Americans.

Let’s be perfectly clear: there is a student debt crisis. The Higher Education Act of 1965 gives the president the ability to cancel student debt. President Biden has already canceled a slice of the student federal loan debt pie for students in extreme cases, but he must go further.

The student debt crisis is not limited to Ivy Leaguers or the children of wealthy people. The reality is that this is an issue of generational justice, gender justice, economic justice and racial justice. Women, LGBTQ students, veterans and people of color all have disproportionate levels of debt.

Women hold two-thirds of the nation’s student debt, 9.6% more debt than their male counterparts one year after graduation. More than a third of LGBTQ people and specifically, over half of transgender adults aged 18 to 40, hold student loan debt. Combined, LGBTQ adults hold over $93 billion of debt. And despite federal benefits, over 40% of active service members in the U.S. military hold student loan debt. Student loan forgiveness offers necessary relief for historically marginalized Americans and closes persistent disparities.

Rainu George | Assistant Editorial Editor

Black college graduates have on average $25,000 more student loan debt compared to white college graduates. Additionally, Federal Reserve data indicates that while 6% of white borrowers are behind on their payments, that number is 20% and 23% for Black and Hispanic borrowers, respectively. 20 years after starting college, the median white borrower will have paid off 94% of their debt; the median Black borrower will have only paid off 5%.

Whether it’s voting rights, the pandemic, or the student debt crisis, we all live in a defining moment in American history. All of us, but our leaders especially, have to decide whether we will prioritize our health and our happiness.