Story at a glance
- The Debt Collective, an organization focused on ending student debt, will refuse to resume payments should they resume in September.
- Several of the debt holders hold balances of more than $300,000, the organization wrote on social media.
- Biden committed on the 2020 campaign trail to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower, although progressive lawmakers and advocates have pushed the president to cancel $50,000.
A group of student debt holders over the age of 50 have vowed to withhold payments should President Biden end the federal moratorium on student loan payments in two weeks.
The Debt Collective, an organization focused on ending student debt, on Thursday announced 50 borrowers who collectively owe more than $6 million in student loan debt will not make their payments should payments resume in September.
Several of the debt holders hold balances of more than $300,000, the organization wrote on social media.
“The 50 Over 50 is part of our broader national debt strike,” The Debt Collective tweeted. “These 50 borrowers are going public to highlight the destructive impact of student debt on older Americans, folks often erased from conversations about the student debt crisis.”
“These debtors come from a variety of racial and geographic backgrounds—and 4 in 5 strikers are women. None of these student debtors hold less than $10,000—leaving every single older striker still in the red should President Biden follow through with a limited cancellation plan,” they added.
Biden committed on the 2020 campaign trail to cancel at least $10,000 of federal student loan debt per borrower, although progressive lawmakers and advocates have pushed the president to cancel $50,000. Biden said earlier this summer he is still weigh cancelling $10,000 per borrower but is not considering $50,000.
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Meanwhile, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said this week the administration is still weighing whether to resume loan payments once the pause — which has been extended six times across two administrations — reaches its scheduled end Aug. 31.
“While I don’t have an announcement here today, I will tell you we’re having conversations daily with the White House and borrowers will know directly and soon from us when a decision is made,” Cardona said during an interview on “CBS Mornings” Tuesday.
“I can’t get into the conversations we’re having daily, but I will tell you that from day one, the president’s been very clear about making sure we’re leading with students first,” he said.
The more than two-year moratorium paused both student loan payments and interest accrual for more than 40 million borrowers who collectively owe at least $1.6 trillion.
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