The original presidential administration's plans on debt forgiveness included accommodating those making less than $125,000 with Pell Grant recipients receiving an additional $10,000.
While this plan has been criticized for not doing enough to address the growing student debt crisis in the country, it was a start. New regulations on who can receive this relief will now affect over 800,000 Americans who were relying on this program.
What changed?
Borrowers with Federal Family Education Loans or Federal Perkins Loan Program Loans will now NOT be eligible for relief. The programs ended in 2010 and 2017 respectively and their closure is being used as justification for this change to current federal relief efforts, ignoring who this will hurt the most.
Black families typically borrow student loans at a higher rate than other races. In fact, 30 percent of Black families hold some type of student loan. Many in our community owe hundreds of thousands in debt so the current plan is just a sample of what true relief could be for us.
The original federal relief program was intended to help narrow the racial wealth gap, but these new restrictions will only make it hard for our people to break free of the student debt cycle.