Democratic leaders in the Senate have announced a proposal to help alleviate student loan debt in the United States.
RELATED STORIES: Morehouse School Of Medicine Students Receive $100K Each After Mike Bloomberg Donates $26.3M
Senator Elizabeth Warren along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer introduced a possible solution for the next president to use the Higher Education Act to remove thousands of dollars of federal student loan debt for students. According to ABC7 Los Angeles, Warren said in the following statement:
“Even before the coronavirus pandemic plunged our economy into chaos, student loan borrowers were already in crisis. The President of the United States has the power to broadly cancel student loan debt, help close the racial wealth gap and give a big boost to families and our economy.”
RELATED STORIES: City Colleges Of Chicago Offer Debt Forgiveness Amid Pandemic For Former Students
Other leaders involved in the proposal included Bernie Sanders, Tammy Duckworth, and Cory Booker. Due to the pandemic, federal student loans have been temporarily suspended and interest rates have been waived after President Trump signed the CARES act in March. The extension will last until the end of 2020.
Currently, there is a total of $1.7 trillion in student loan debt and the unemployment rate in the country is at its highest.