FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2023
Contact: Emma Bittner
(972) 510-3395 | Emma.Bittner@younginvincibles.org

What About Young Borrowers’ Student Debt Relief?

(Washington, DC) –  Today, the Department of Education concluded the final negotiated rulemaking for the Student Loan Debt Relief Committee. The negotiated rulemaking began on October 11, 2023, following the United States Supreme Court ruling on President Biden’s original cancellation plan. Over the last three months, we were honored and empowered to have a Young Advocate participate as a negotiator, representing currently enrolled postsecondary education students. 

While we wait diligently for the Department of Education to finalize the Biden-Harris Administration’s new student debt relief rule, we urge the Department to place due diligence in the swift cancellation of student debt and borrower categories facilitators raised as having the greatest hardships. It has been disheartening to witness the Department of Education refuse to address one of the gravest concerns they brought to the committee and ignore the proposals and comments from negotiators representing constituents facing such hardships, namely those who have filed for bankruptcy, owe a Parent Plus loan while repaying their own loan, have been chronically in default and have a limited income. 

As many young adults questioned throughout this negotiated rulemaking, when will the millions of borrowers receive their promise of student debt cancellation? Advocates, borrowers, and public citizens have continuously acted in good faith. They simply ask the Biden-Harris Administration to act on their authority to provide much-needed relief.  

Young Invincibles is honored to have been part of the negotiated rulemaking process and to advise the Department of Education. We will continue amplifying the concerns and needs of borrowers and look forward to the
 proposed 
rule, 
or 
Notice
 of Proposed 
Rulemaking
 (NPRM),
 to explain how the Department of Education 
plans 
to address 
student debt relief. 

In response, Jada Sanford, an undergraduate student at Stephen F. Austin University and Young Advocate at Young Invincibles, said: 

“Being a negotiator for the negotiated rule-making process was eye-opening. I am honored to have played a pivotal role in shaping how we tackle the student debt crisis. Student loans are all consuming and are continuing to prevent young adults like myself from being able to achieve financial freedom. We are drowning in monthly payments and see no relief in sight. The Department of Education must find a route to cancellation and relief for us.”

In response, Satra D. Taylor, Director of Higher Education and Workforce Policy & Advocacy at Young Invincibles, said: 

“I appreciated the opportunity to engage in negotiated rulemaking in several ways, but I want to see more for young adults, specifically current students who have yet to bear witness to this broken student loan system. While I also welcome the proposals presented by the Department of Education, as many negotiators alluded to – many do not go far enough to mitigate the student debt crisis burdening millions. There is much more the Department of Education must do.” 

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Young Invincibles (YI) is a national advocacy and policy nonprofit organization focused on amplifying the voice of young people in the political process at the local, state, and federal levels. YI focuses on issues impacting young adults ages 18 to 34 in higher education, health care, economic security, and civic engagement. Our offices include Washington, D.C., California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Texas. For more information, please contact Emma Bittner at (972) 510-3395 or emma.bittner@younginvincibles.org