Protect Borrowers and Young Invincibles Reveal New Data on Nearly 380,000 Austin Borrowers with $13.7 Billion in Student Debt

November 14, 2025 | AUSTIN, TX — As the national student debt crisis intensifies, advocacy groups met today for a community roundtable discussion on the harmful impacts that $13.7 billion in total student debt has on 378,114 local borrowers and their families. Young Invincibles Texas and Protect Borrowers convened the event and provided data on the economic hardship and precarity facing borrowers in Austin and across the state. Together, community members discussed how Texas leaders can engage at the local and state levels to combat the student debt crisis.

View the new fact sheet on student debt in Austin, Texas here: https://protectborrowers.org/resource/fact-sheet-2025-austin-texas-student-loan-borrowers-experiencing-economic-hardship/

The roundtable and new data come as borrowers across Texas face economic hardship and an impending student loan default cliff, the Trump Administration’s new rule restricting Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and widespread chaos across the student loan landscape.

“Borrowers face mounting uncertainty and financial strain—and the so-called ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ has only deepened this harm. We must not leave borrowers in limbo, unsure of how to plan their futures or make ends meet, navigating high monthly payments and an uncertain, ever-changing student loan system,” said Kasey Corpus, Southern Policy and Advocacy Manager at Young Invincibles. “Our local communities’  future success depends on young people’s ability to invest in their communities—not forcing them into cycles of financial distress. Austin continuously rallies for its local working families, and that’s exactly the leadership borrowers deserve.”

“Borrowers continue to struggle with unaffordable bills and face an unconscionable degree of uncertainty when it comes to their student loans. President Trump and Congressional Republicans’ radical right-wing ‘Big Ugly Bill’ will force far too many borrowers to face even more unaffordable student loan bills for longer and fall into the jaws of the predatory private student loan market,” said Amy Czulada, Outreach and Advocacy Manager for Protect Borrowers. “Cities, local organizations, and elected officials play a pivotal role in protecting and guiding borrowers—Austin and Young Invincibles Texas are leading that charge.”

The newly released data also underscores the profound impact of racial and gender disparities of the crisis locally:

  • Women owe a majority of the local total student debt, shouldering $9 billion
  • More than one in five (20.5 percent) of people living in majority-latino/a neighborhoods have student debt

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About Young Invincibles Texas

Young Invincibles Texas organizes across the state with hubs in Austin, Dallas, East Texas, and an emerging presence in San Antonio. We believe in the leadership, people power, and organizing strengths of young adults, and we fight for justice in health care, higher education, workforce access, and democracy. To date, we have trained over 900 young leaders and reached more than 50,000 Texans through bold campaigns, advocacy trainings, storytelling, and civic education. Our programs, including the Young Advocates Program, Student Advisory Council, and Youth Advisory Board, elevate the voices of first-generation students, young parents, student veterans, and others too often left out of policy conversations.

Our work has helped win legislative victories for everything from community college funding to maternal health access. Through powerful research, coalition building, and grassroots organizing, we partner with young people across Texas to challenge harmful narratives, shift policy, and build long-term community power.

About Protect Borrowers

Protect Borrowers (formerly Student Borrower Protection Center) is a nonprofit organization led by a team of experts, lawyers, and advocates fighting to build an economy where debt doesn’t limit opportunity. We investigate financial abuses, take predatory companies to court, and push for policies to protect working people from debt traps. We aim to deliver immediate relief to families while building power, driving systemic change, and fighting for racial and economic justice.

Learn more at protectborrowers.org or follow us on social @BorrowerJustice.