WASHINGTON, DC — Rory O’Sullivan, deputy director of Young Invincibles, issued a statement following President Obama’s announcement of executive action to help lift the burden of student loan debt on millions of borrowers across the country:

“We commend President Obama for providing a path towards much-needed financial relief to struggling student borrowers. Our $1.2 trillion student debt crisis will persist unless the government take steps like this to make student debt more affordable.

Under the President’s executive action, five million borrowers with federal student loans can cap their monthly payments at 10 percent of their income. Student borrowers who took out loans before October 2007, or stopped borrowing by October 2011, are in dire need of this relief: more than 1 in 7 student loan borrowers default on their debt within a few years of graduation. We know from our work at Young Invincibles that expanding income-based repayments helps reduce loan default rates.“

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