(C) Common Dreams
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The Supreme Court decision is frustrating to student loan borrowers. [1]
['Stacy Cowley']
Date: 2023-06-30
Friday’s Supreme Court decision striking down President Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in federal student loan debt for millions of borrowers was a blow — but not a surprise — to people like Claude Reed, who had hoped to be freed of a debt that has haunted him for decades.
Mr. Reed, who is 74, took out $3,300 in loans in the early 1970s to fund his studies at the University of Wisconsin. He worked for decades as a journalist, musician and fund-raiser for nonprofits, cobbling together a living off what were often low-income jobs. He paid $9,000 on his loans over the years — but interest and fees kept his balances ballooning, preventing him paying off his debt. Now, half a century after his college years, he owes $4,600 — more than he originally borrowed.
Mr. Reed has had his tax refunds garnished to pay the debt, which has at times left him so strapped that he has skipped meals and borrowed money from friends. Mr. Biden’s plan would have eliminated his remaining debt. Now, he faces the prospect of once again having money deducted from his only income stream, Social Security payments.
Mr. Reed, who is Black, sees student debt relief as a racial-justice issue — a framing President Biden has also frequently invoked. Black students are more likely to have to borrow money for college, to borrow more and to carry the debt longer than their white classmates.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/us/politics/student-loan-borrowers-reactions.html
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