One in four Black borrowers would see their debt cleared entirely under the administration's plan, which cancels $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those with incomes below $125,000 a year.
Gabrielle Perry, a 29-year-old epidemiologist in New Orleans, expects $20,000 of her $135,000 student loan debt to be wiped out under the plan announced this week by President Joe Biden. She is happy for the relief but disappointed he isn't fully canceling student debt that weighs especially heavy on African Americans.
Black borrowers on average carry about $40,000 in federal student loan debt, $10,000 more than white borrowers, according to federal education data. The disparity reflects a racial wealth gap in the U.S. — one that some advocates say the debt relief plan does not do enough to narrow. "When we think about education and higher education, fundamentally, it's the promise of an equitable future," Cole said."We have so many Black graduates who go through the system, graduate and are not able to see that future because they disproportionately risk taking out loans."
"That time with that payment pause, it didn't just build up my life," Perry said."It even helped me pull my mother out of poverty. I got her into a safer place to live. It reverberated for people like me. Because I know that there are other people living worse than what I survived." "I can't just call my parents for thousands of dollars," she said."The only other option to get this money in time was to take out a loan. I did what I had to do to be able to support myself and stay in school."
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