Student Loan Repayment Pause Brings Welcome, Temporary Relief

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Charmaine Riley, [email protected], 202.548.7166

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, interim president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the Biden administration announced an additional 90-day extension of the student loan repayment pause: 

“We applaud the Biden administration’s decision to extend the student loan pause, as families and individuals continue to confront the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our borrower-financed system of higher education has been a crushing burden for millions of students and families, disproportionately women and Black and Latino individuals.

“While we celebrate today’s announcement, more needs to be done. The pandemic has only exacerbated longstanding problems with higher education financing, and borrowers need a permanent solution. The civil and human rights community continues to call for student loan debt cancellation and urges the administration to fulfill its campaign promise on this vital issue.”

In April, The Leadership Conference, along with 35  civil rights and education organizations, released “Civil Rights Principles for Student Loan Debt Cancellation,” urging the Biden-Harris administration to immediately cancel $50,000 of student loan debt per borrower.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 230 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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