SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Activists accompanied by the Too Much Talent Band demonstrate for the cancellation of student debt near the White House in Washington, D.C. on January 13, 2022. (Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for We, The 45 Million)
After Navient Forgives $1.7B, Progressives Say Cancel All Student Debt
"With one stroke of the pen, President Biden could #CancelStudentDebt for tens of millions and show the American people that the government is on their side."
Jan 13, 2022
As one of the largest U.S. educational lenders on Thursday agreed to pay $1.85 billion to 39 states to resolve predatory lending claims, progressive lawmakers and advocates renewed calls for the cancellation of all outstanding student loan debt.
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education."
CNBC reports that as part of the settlement, Delaware-based Navient--which split from SLM Corporation, or Sallie Mae, in 2014--will cancel $1.7 billion in private student loan debt owed by nearly 66,000 borrowers.
As part of the agreement, Navient gets to deny that it broke the law, even though the company stands accused of preying on customers it knew were unlikely to be able to repay their debts.
"At long last, the student loan borrowers who had been forced to shoulder the burden of dangerous and predatory private student loans made by Sallie Mae and owned by Navient will finally be debt-free," Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement.
According to the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), the U.S. will surpass $1.875 trillion in educational debt on Thursday.
\u201cToday would be a great day to cancel at least $50,000 of student debt per borrower!\nhttps://t.co/Kd2O1AESbL\u201d— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal) 1642087800
Former Ohio state senator and Democratic U.S. congressional candidate Nina Turner called the Navient settlement "a drop in the bucket."
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education," she tweeted.
Following intense pressure from activists and progressive lawmakers, the Biden administration last month extended a pandemic-related moratorium on federal student loan payments until May. But economic justice advocates say the move only postpones the pain for millions of borrowers.
\u201c.@POTUS can #CancelStudentDebt as easily as I can write this tweet. Let\u2019s get this done. \ud83d\udd8a\u201d— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley) 1642093202
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "With one stroke of the pen, President [Joe] Biden could #CancelStudentDebt for tens of millions and show the American people that the government is on their side."
U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) expounded the long-term consequences of educational loans, tweeting that "student debt is holding back millions from homeownership, opening a business, and saving for the future."
Omar noted that her office has been writing to Biden urging him to keep his promise to cancel student debt.
"We're still waiting," she said.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
rights & justicestudent debtjoe bidenayanna pressleypramila jayapalelizabeth warrennina turnerilhan omar
As one of the largest U.S. educational lenders on Thursday agreed to pay $1.85 billion to 39 states to resolve predatory lending claims, progressive lawmakers and advocates renewed calls for the cancellation of all outstanding student loan debt.
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education."
CNBC reports that as part of the settlement, Delaware-based Navient--which split from SLM Corporation, or Sallie Mae, in 2014--will cancel $1.7 billion in private student loan debt owed by nearly 66,000 borrowers.
As part of the agreement, Navient gets to deny that it broke the law, even though the company stands accused of preying on customers it knew were unlikely to be able to repay their debts.
"At long last, the student loan borrowers who had been forced to shoulder the burden of dangerous and predatory private student loans made by Sallie Mae and owned by Navient will finally be debt-free," Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement.
According to the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), the U.S. will surpass $1.875 trillion in educational debt on Thursday.
\u201cToday would be a great day to cancel at least $50,000 of student debt per borrower!\nhttps://t.co/Kd2O1AESbL\u201d— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal) 1642087800
Former Ohio state senator and Democratic U.S. congressional candidate Nina Turner called the Navient settlement "a drop in the bucket."
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education," she tweeted.
Following intense pressure from activists and progressive lawmakers, the Biden administration last month extended a pandemic-related moratorium on federal student loan payments until May. But economic justice advocates say the move only postpones the pain for millions of borrowers.
\u201c.@POTUS can #CancelStudentDebt as easily as I can write this tweet. Let\u2019s get this done. \ud83d\udd8a\u201d— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley) 1642093202
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "With one stroke of the pen, President [Joe] Biden could #CancelStudentDebt for tens of millions and show the American people that the government is on their side."
U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) expounded the long-term consequences of educational loans, tweeting that "student debt is holding back millions from homeownership, opening a business, and saving for the future."
Omar noted that her office has been writing to Biden urging him to keep his promise to cancel student debt.
"We're still waiting," she said.
As one of the largest U.S. educational lenders on Thursday agreed to pay $1.85 billion to 39 states to resolve predatory lending claims, progressive lawmakers and advocates renewed calls for the cancellation of all outstanding student loan debt.
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education."
CNBC reports that as part of the settlement, Delaware-based Navient--which split from SLM Corporation, or Sallie Mae, in 2014--will cancel $1.7 billion in private student loan debt owed by nearly 66,000 borrowers.
As part of the agreement, Navient gets to deny that it broke the law, even though the company stands accused of preying on customers it knew were unlikely to be able to repay their debts.
"At long last, the student loan borrowers who had been forced to shoulder the burden of dangerous and predatory private student loans made by Sallie Mae and owned by Navient will finally be debt-free," Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said in a statement.
According to the Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), the U.S. will surpass $1.875 trillion in educational debt on Thursday.
\u201cToday would be a great day to cancel at least $50,000 of student debt per borrower!\nhttps://t.co/Kd2O1AESbL\u201d— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@Rep. Pramila Jayapal) 1642087800
Former Ohio state senator and Democratic U.S. congressional candidate Nina Turner called the Navient settlement "a drop in the bucket."
"All student loans are predatory because no one should have to go into debt to get an education," she tweeted.
Following intense pressure from activists and progressive lawmakers, the Biden administration last month extended a pandemic-related moratorium on federal student loan payments until May. But economic justice advocates say the move only postpones the pain for millions of borrowers.
\u201c.@POTUS can #CancelStudentDebt as easily as I can write this tweet. Let\u2019s get this done. \ud83d\udd8a\u201d— Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (@Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley) 1642093202
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) tweeted, "With one stroke of the pen, President [Joe] Biden could #CancelStudentDebt for tens of millions and show the American people that the government is on their side."
U.S. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) expounded the long-term consequences of educational loans, tweeting that "student debt is holding back millions from homeownership, opening a business, and saving for the future."
Omar noted that her office has been writing to Biden urging him to keep his promise to cancel student debt.
"We're still waiting," she said.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.