When I thought of going to college, I never thought that I would graduate with debt. I never thought I would have to take out federal loans to pay for school. Now that I have graduated, I feel overwhelmed and stressed knowing I have debt to pay off. Even though I have not started paying yet due to the pandemic, it is still constantly on my mind. The difficult part is not being able to get a job offer because I will have to start paying at some point. I’m not the only one with student debt. Many students take out federal loans every year to pay for school and pay other expenses. The majority of debt owners are BIPOC and women. Women make up two thirds of student borrowers. Equally important, student debt has hit trillion of dollars and the numbers keep rising.
BIPOC and women in debt
It’s clear why BIPOC and women are in debt. Many come from low socioeconomic backgrounds so many cannot rely on family to help them pay for school. Their only choice is to take out federal loans. Black students are more like to take out loans and default on their payments later on. Moreover, Black graduates owe $25,000 more in student debt than white graduates. This sets Black people back because they are not able to create generational wealth. They are not allowed to invest their money in a house, a car, food, bills, etc. In addition, a lot students who are in debt do not even have a degree. Whether you finish college or not, your debt is still there to pay off no matter what.
Furthermore, the ones who have a harder time accessing higher education are the ones with high amounts of debt. Many BIPOC and women are first generation college students. This means they are the first in their families accessing higher education. This huge accomplishment should not be used to keep them down with student loan debt. BIPOC and women should not carry the burden of student debt simply because the odds have been stacked against them. Basically, it is more difficult for BIPOC to access higher education due to the cost of college.
Canceling student debt is a choice
President Biden is refusing to cancel all federal student loan debt through executive action. He has the power to do this under Higher Education Act of 1965. In spite of this ability, he is only proposing to cancel $10,000. Clearly, his proposal is not enough. Meanwhile, Democrats are proposing to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt. There is a big difference between both proposals and how much they would help Americans. President Biden has the power to give back too many of his voters by canceling student debt. Why doesn’t he do it? He has already signed many executive actions since he took office. Why not help many Americans struggling with debt? When he was a senator, he helped create credit and borrowing. His home state of Delaware is known as the credit card capital of the world. In other words, he is partially responsible for creating this crisis.
Nevertheless, President Biden can fix the problem he helped create. Many Americans would benefit from all debt being cancelled. It would liberate many from the financial burden. An education is a human right that should not become a financial burden. After all, higher education is supposed to help students move up in society. Unfortunately, student debt makes it harder to move up in society. One organization demanding all student debt be cancelled is the debt collective. They created a petition demanding President Joe Biden cancel all student debt. The Debt Collective petition has more than 8,000 signatures and needs 12,800 signatures to meet their goal. If you would like to sign the petition, click HERE. Together we can end student debt.
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