This burden ripples across their financial lives, affecting their ability to buy homes, start families, and save for retirement. All because of the unprecedented student debt burden in this country-a crisis that spans ages, races, ethnicities, and genders.īoston is home to more than 900,000 student loan borrowers each owing, on average, more than $37,000 in student debt. You see the parent struggling to buy groceries because her wages are being garnished, the grandparent who cannot afford prescriptions because his Social Security benefits are being seized, or the family who cannot move into an apartment because student loan companies have wreaked havoc on their credit.

And while this national crisis touches borrowers in every corner of this country, cities are on the frontlines, watching the fallout from student debt firsthand. More than 45 million student loan borrowers collectively owe $1.7 trillion of student loan debt, making student debt the second largest consumer finance market in the country after mortgages. Beginning in the new year, all student loan borrowers will be without relief, and many will be forced into the unfortunate situation of having exhausted unemployment benefits and having a student loan payment come due. On January 1st, as the pandemic rages on, the federal government’s temporary, partial reprieve will expire. Meanwhile, millions of private student loan borrowers, including many right here in Boston, never received any relief. While some federal student loan borrowers were offered temporary relief, it is exactly that-temporary. The economic fallout of the pandemic has only served to exacerbate the ongoing student debt crisis. I would like to start by thanking the Committee for the opportunity to speak today about the vital need for data to identify the Boston neighborhoods most affected by the student debt crisis in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining the SBPC, I worked in the External Affairs division at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, engaging with community leaders on critical consumer finance issues, including student debt. The Student Borrower Protection Center is a national nonprofit organization solely focused on alleviating the burden of student debt in this country. My name is Katherine Welbeck, and I serve as Civil Rights Counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC). Good evening Chairwoman Mejia, Members of the Committee.

Leverage by Katherine Black