President Joseph R. Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
December 8, 2021
Dear Mr. President:
In fewer than 60 days, tens of millions of student loan borrowers are slated to be thrown back
into repayment on federal student loans they are ill-equipped to pay as the deadly COVID-19
pandemic continues to devastate Americans’ health and financial security. We, the undersigned
207 organizations, write to urge you to put a stop this crisis in the making before it begins and
extend the current pause on student loan payments. It is clear that payments should not resume
until your administration has fully delivered on the promises you made to student loan borrowers
to fix the broken student loan system and cancel federal student debt.
The U.S. Department of Education (“the Department”) holds nearly $1.6 trillion in federal student
loans and more than 45 million individual borrowers live in the shadow of that massive debt.
Payments on most of these loans have been paused since March 2020, during which time
interest charges have also been suspended and the federal government has halted collection
efforts against most borrowers in default.
The Department’s own data reveal the powerful impact this payment pause has had on
Americans’ lives, finding that “borrowers are saving approximately $5 billion per month from the
temporary 0% interest rate.”
1
For the first time, millions of student loan borrowers find
themselves with the financial resources they need to make ends meet each month, pay down
other debts, save for down payments on homes, or plan for retirement.
The student loan payment pause has been one of the most important investments the federal
government has made in Americans' financial lives in a generation. Before the pandemic struck,
tens of millions of borrowers struggled every day to navigate a badly broken student loan
system. America’s student debt crisis wreaked havoc on the financial lives of families across the
country, despite payment relief and debt forgiveness programs that promised that these debts
would never be a life-long burden.
You ran for president on the promise that you would reform the student loan system to ensure
that student loan payments would be affordable for all. Your administration’s decision to extend
the payment pause, alongside the Department’s recent overhaul of the programs for Public
Service Loan Forgiveness and Total and Permanent Disability Discharge are critical and
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OFFICE OF U.S. SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, Education Department Responses to Data Request by
Senator Elizabeth Warren, April 2, 2021,
https://www.warren.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Education%20Department%20Response%20to%20Sen%
20Warren %20-%204-8-21.pdf (last visited Oct. 15, 2021).