In Just 30 Days, Historic Level of Support Pours in From All Corners of the Country for President Biden’s First Set of Proposed Rules to Cancel Student Debt
**The coalition comment count was updated from 228 to 229 at 3:40PM on May 17, 2024.
May 17, 2024 | WASHINGTON, D.C. — 22,337 borrowers voiced their support for student debt cancellation today in a comment submitted to the Federal Register in response to the 30-day public comment period for the Biden Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to provide cancellation to 30 million Americans. The comment features thousands of borrower stories demonstrating the life-changing impact that President Biden’s new proposal would have on them.
Read the comment, which includes a cover letter that spotlights 15 borrower stories, and a petition signed by 22,337 borrowers and nearly 5,000 individual borrower testimonials, here. For just the cover letter and 15 stories see here.
Separately, a coalition led by Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC), Young Invincibles, NAACP, and Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) submitted a comment on behalf of 229 national, state, and local civil rights, consumer advocacy, veterans, disability, and labor organizations.
Signers include AFT, NEA, SEIU, AFSCME, United Auto Workers, National Nurses United, Communications Workers of America, Minority Veterans of America, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, UnidosUS, National Action Network, MomsRising, National Disability Institute, Center for Responsible Lending, and more. This letter echoed support for the proposal and encouraged the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to implement it as swiftly and efficiently as possible and ensure it provides the maximum amount of relief to borrowers. The coalition comment calls on ED to move quickly to unveil its NPRM proposal to support borrowers experiencing hardship.
Read the coalition comment here.
Borrowers, advocates, and experts agree: ED’s final plan must address the need for automatic relief, relief for young borrowers, justice for borrowers who have experienced servicing failures, and the continued need to waive ballooning interest and underlying balances.
SBPC also submitted a public comment offering technical feedback on the specific proposals here.
Visit a landing page containing all of the comments and stories here.
###
About Student Borrower Protection Center
Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) is a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating the burden of student debt for millions of Americans. We engage in advocacy, policymaking, and litigation strategy to rein in industry abuses, protect borrowers’ rights, and advance racial and economic justice.
Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow SBPC on Twitter @theSBPC.