Congress and President Biden must reverse the court’s supreme injustice to student borrowers 

The Supreme Court’s ruling on student loan forgiveness cannot be the last word. Congress and President Biden must overturn this supreme injustice to student borrowers and address the student debt crisis.  

This damning ruling exposes a stark reality — a tale of two Americas, one with limitless opportunities for the privileged few, and another where hardworking Americans, burdened by overwhelming student debt, flounder in a post-pandemic economy.

The rejected plan highlights systemic inequities perpetuating an unjust society where financial barriers hinder success — a deafening call for action. 

In 1963, when I attended Fisk University, college cost $1,248, equivalent to about $10,000 today. My working-class parents managed to pay for my college monthly alongside other bills. Since then, college costs have risen by 2.5 percent annually. 

Now, the average cost is $36,000 per year, leaving 45 million student borrowers drowning in debt. This crisis stems from inadequate student aid, soaring tuition, income inequality, enrollment growth and outdated education policies. The growing student debt crisis undermines the promise of higher education — a central tenet of the American Dream. 

In a country where we go to every classroom across the nation and tell children from a young age that college is the path to success, where we tell first-generation children that going to college will lift their families out of poverty, it’s ridiculous that we then send teenagers to walk the plank and jump into a pool with hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt that will drown folks for life. With nearly 60 percent of all jobs in our economy requiring some form of higher education, what choice do many students have other than signing up for student debt? 

This is unacceptable. 

Black students face greater debt burdens due to systemic barriers and limited access to generational wealth. They borrow more yet earn less than their peers. The student debt crisis perpetuates inequality and reinforces a system that privileges the few and hinders progress for Black students.   

I have personally met people in their 60s and 70s who still struggle to repay their loans; in some cases, the principal has remained the same. There are families who are on the brink of disaster because of the toll of the Parent PLUS loans, and life-altering decisions had to be delayed. Many have lost their homes. 

As a bold step toward tackling the student crisis, President Biden forgave $10,000 for most borrowers and $20,000 for some. Republicans whined about it. But why? 

For decades, our government has bailed out the automobile and aviation industries; we even bailed out two banks just this year — Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank. They even nicknamed Detroit “Government Motors” when we bailed out General Motors. We didn’t hear a peep when we bailed out the airlines or the farmers. Members of Congress got their Paycheck Protection Program loans forgiven. When Republicans controlled both chambers and the White House in 2017, they gave billionaires tax breaks.  

Republicans never said a mumbling word on any of that. 

But when it comes to some debt relief for our hardworking, want-to-be-somebody college graduates who contribute to the economy, all hell breaks loose, and the whining turns to outrage. Where was this outrage when Republicans bailed out all these industries?  

On top of this, countless members of Congress filed for bankruptcy, some more than once. Let’s not forget that our twice impeached, indicted, sued, former president, who can’t accept that he lost his election, took some of his own businesses into bankruptcy!

But when it comes to our young students, saddled with student debt, they usually cannot even discharge their student loans by filing for bankruptcy. This is a glaring hypocrisy in our nation’s financial system that should make every American furious. 

Biden’s program was set to begin with 16 million people who had already been approved, but Republicans got in the middle and snatched away the lifeline. This could have transformed the lives of millions of Americans whose only crime was wanting to get a college education. 

Republicans can’t bear the idea of providing relief to hardworking Americans. So, Republicans fought tooth and nail in Congress and legal circles to overturn the president’s plan.  

Since the Supreme Court struck down his student loans plan last week, President Biden introduced a new plan to relieve student loans. I welcome President Biden’s new student debt relief program — the SAVE Program — which will allow the most affordable repayment plan ever created right before payments are due. 

But I do realize, however, that the president cannot eliminate student loans annually. So, what happens to the class of 2024, 2025, and so on? What are their options for managing not just the cost of loans but the cost of going to college? 

That’s why I filed the Lowering Obstacles to Achievement Now Act with Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee, to double the Pell Grant, improve loan forgiveness, reduce expenses and slash interest rates. These reforms will address the root causes of the student debt crisis. By removing the weight from the shoulders of our most promising young Americans to enable them to realize their full potential. 

As the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and the Workforce, I’m championing solutions and leading the effort to reform the policies that created the student loan crisis in the first place. Like President Biden, I’m not giving up on student borrowers.

The Supreme Court’s unconscionable student loan ruling is a setback, not a defeat. The fight to deliver student-debt relief for 45 million Americans must continue.  

As a lifelong educator, I have dedicated myself to guiding and supporting students as a teacher, principal, school board member, school district administrator, and now as a lawmaker. The Supreme Court’s ruling is a supreme injustice to students that I’m working to reverse. President Biden is doing his part. Congress must follow suit.

Frederica S. Wilson is ranking member on the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development. She represents Florida’s 24th congressional district.