Precinct Reporter Group News

Main Menu

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login

logo

Precinct Reporter Group News

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Read Our E-Edition
  • ADVERTISE
  • What Holds Up COVID Vaccines

  • Black Doctors Call for Urgent Action During COVID-19 Crisis

  • Blood Runs Low: Calls for Black Donors

  • LBUSD: Member Erik Miller Excited to Begin Work

  • Tustin Mayor Letitia Clark Discusses Goals

Latest PRGNews
Home›Latest PRGNews›Student Loan Debt Widens Racial Wealth Gap

Student Loan Debt Widens Racial Wealth Gap

By Precinct Reporter News
December 3, 2020
346
0
Share:

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA Newswire Sr Nat’l Correspondent

President-elect Joe Biden wants to immediately erase student loan debt, a move that could prove more meaningful for African American students who, on average, owe much more than anyone.

With the freeze placed on student loan repayments set to end December 31, Biden has gotten behind the Democrat-led House’s HEROES Act, which calls on the federal government to pay off up to $10,000 in private, nonfederal student loans for economically distressed borrowers.

“People having to make choices between paying their student loan and paying the rent … debt relief should be done immediately,” Biden stated during a news conference on Monday, November 16.

NPR reported that Senate Democrats also are pushing for much more debt relief.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) co-authored a resolution in September with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) calling for the next president to cancel up to $50,000 of outstanding federal student loans per borrower.

According to data from the U.S. College Board, that would mean erasing all debt for more than three-quarters of borrowers.

Andrew Pentis, the student loan debt policy expert at Student Loan Hero, pointed to an analysis published by his company, which shows student loan portfolios now total $1.67 trillion.

Further, the data shows that debt distribution is more massive among borrowers of color, particularly Black students.

Nearly 9 in 10 Black students take out federal student loans to pay for college, compared with 7 in 10 white students.

African American students are far more likely to have large student debt than their white, Hispanic or Asian classmates, with 59.5 percent of African American students borrowing more than $29,500.

Pentis noted that the Black borrowers are more than twice as likely as white borrowers to default on their student loans, which he said is a by-product of a U.S. median household income that’s about $25,000 less for Black families than whites.

The end of the federal loan moratorium would disproportionately impact Black and brown borrowers, Pentis warned.

“Student loans have long been seen as a tool to make the wealth gap in this country better,” Pentis said.

“We are seeing that those loans are actually making the racial wealth gap worse because the loans become a burden on families that are already disadvantaged in terms of having a lower household income, having a lower net worth, and student loans can be a hindrance for families trying to achieve financial goals like buying a house instead of helping those families sort of climb the social ladder and increase their financial wherewithal.”

Student Loan Hero’s student loan debt analysis also revealed that large amounts of debt could act as a roadblock to completing college on time.

Data showed that while 42.6 percent of students in the Class of 2017 graduated in four years or less.

However, that number drops to 28.8 percent among Black students and 29.7 percent among Hispanic students.

For white and Asian students, Student Loan Hero said the rates were higher than average at 46.7 percent and 48.5 percent, respectively. Conversely, more Black students – 40.7 percent – took over six years to graduate college, compared with 35.2 percent for Hispanic students, 25.3 percent for white students, and 19.7 percent for Asian students.

“It’s proven that earning degrees allows students to earn more income,” Pentis remarked.

“So, if you have students not able to graduate, they’re carrying debt into careers that may not be able to pay for it. Black students are borrowing at higher amounts because of the racial wealth gap in this country.

“Typically, white and Hispanic students might borrow at relatively high rates, but they’re not borrowing as much.”

Tagsdebt reliefeducationHEROES actLong Beach Leaderprecinct reporterstudent debttricounty bulletinwealth gap
Previous Article

Assemblymember Reyes Honors Veteran of the Year

Next Article

OC: Sisterhood Helps Strengthen Community Bonds

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Precinct Reporter News

Related articles More from author

  • Latest PRGNews

    High Desert Mainstay Garner Morris Succumbs

    March 26, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Dembrebrah: Keep the Beat on History and Culture

    March 5, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Reimagining Public Safety

    June 18, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    Free Bus Rides for Veterans on Veterans Day

    November 8, 2018
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • COVIDLatest PRGNews

    Black Caucus, Gov. Newsom Talk on Impact of COVID on Communities of Color

    April 21, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News
  • Latest PRGNews

    New Spike Lee Film Co-written by CSUSB Alumnus

    June 13, 2020
    By Precinct Reporter News

You might be interested

  • Latest PRGNews

    GRID Outreach, Training and Jobs

  • Latest PRGNews

    College Affordability Is a Family Affair

  • Latest PRGNews

    Christmas: Nonprofit Covers with Love

Ads

Find us on Facebook

Precinct Reporter News Group

Your local news resource for 50 years in the Inland Empire, Orange County, Long Beach and surrounding areas!

To subscribe or advertise, call 909.889.0597

About us

  • Broadcasting & Media Production Company
    357 W. 2nd Street
    San Bernardino, California, CA 92401
  • mailto:sales@precinctreporter.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • What Holds Up COVID Vaccines

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • Black Doctors Call for Urgent Action During COVID-19 Crisis

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • Blood Runs Low: Calls for Black Donors

    By Precinct Reporter News
    January 14, 2021
  • IE/OC Prostate and Breast Cancer, Change the Menu

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • Join our Recipe Competition!

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015
  • SB Budget Cuts CDBG

    SB CDBG Cuts Have Local Nonprofits Braced for the Worst

    By PRGNews
    July 16, 2015

Follow us

© Powered by Hotspotwebsites.net. All rights reserved.