WHAT BLACK STUDENT LOAN BORROWERS ARE SAYING

By now, most of us have heard about the basic parameters of the student loan debt crisis. But still, some things are worth repeating. So, here goes:

• Student loan debt now stands at $1.75 trillion, a figure that exceeds most countries' Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

• 43 million people are on the hook for student loans, with the average borrower ultimately being responsible for coughing up $37,000.

• 3.3 million--or about 15%-- of borrowers under 40 years of age are behind on their payments

• At $1.75 trillion, student loan debt is $440 billion more than the total U.S. auto loan debt.

• 14% of parents with students have signed on the dotted line to take out an average of $37,000 in parent PLUS loans to help finance the education of their kids.

• The average student loan payment is almost $400 per month.

• Committed to helping their kids and grandkids grab that college degree, the 60+ crowd is now the fastest growing category of student loan borrowers.

And as if that’s not enough, then there’s this: Black folk are getting particularly pummeled by student loan debt. The typical Black college graduate is on the hook for $52,000, an amount that exceeds by $25,000 what their White counterparts owe. It’s been estimated that 30% of all Black households carry student loan debt, compared to 20% of White households.

A study by the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University finds that two decades after beginning college, the median Black borrower still owes 95% of their student debt. In contrast, the median White borrower has paid back 94% of the student debt they graduated with.

A growing and racially inflected student loan debt should not be surprising. This is exactly what one might expect in light of state disinvestment in education, rising tuition and the failure of Pell Grants to keep pace with that rise, wage stagnation, growing income volatility, labor market discrimination, and a gaping chasm between White and Black wealth holdings. All of this is a sure fire recipe whereby students must take on greater amounts off debt to finance their educational pursuits, and where the students from the least resourced households will be especially and negatively impacted.

WHAT BLACK BORROWERS ARE SAYING

Given that they’ve been amongst the most heavily and negatively impacted by the financial indebtedness associated with securing (or attempting to secure) a college degree, a compelling case can be made for listening to and centering the voices and experiences of Black borrowers in discussions about how we ought to respond to the student loan debt crisis.

Fortunately, The Education Trust Fund and Dr. Jalil B. Mustaffa recently teamed up and launched the National Black Student Loan Debt Study The Study queried 1300 Black borrowers about their views on—and experiences with—various dimensions of the student debt crisis, and it also conducted further in depth interviews with 100 of those Black borrowers.

I urge the reader to grab and digest the report. For the moment, though, here are a few things that Black borrowers are saying, and that are especially germane to this post:

• Black borrowers are saying that they regret taking out student loans to finance their education: 66% replied “yes” to the question, “In retrospect, do you regret having taken out student loans to fund your education.”

• Black borrowers are saying that student loans have not increased their ability to build wealth: 61% disagreed with the statement, “Student loans increase Black Student borrower’s ability to build wealth.”

• Black borrowers are saying that the federal government should fully cancel or forgive student loan debt: 80% of survey participants expressed support for the complete cancellation of existing student loan indebtedness.

In short, Black borrowers are telling a story of racking up debt that is relatively harder to translate into sustained economic security in labor markets characterized by anti-Blackness; a story about how, in their judgement, educational indebtedness is stripping them of, rather than enhancing, their wealth; a story where the private/debt financing of social goods like education and health care is making millions economically miserable. Their voices—as a reading of the aforementioned study demonstrates— is one clamoring for a student debt Jubilee.

As we head toward the May 1st expiration of the present pause on student loan payments, expect to hear more about student loan debt crisis. That’s a certainty. Much less certain, though, is whether the voices and experiences of Black borrowers will occupy space in that discussion.