In Senate Floor Speech, Bennet Urges Long-Term Reforms to Fix America's Broken Student Loan System and Drive Economic Opportunity for All

Today on the Senate floor, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet urged long-term solutions to America's broken student loan system and new pathways to drive economic opportunity for all, especially for Americans who do not attend college. As President Biden considers student debt relief, Bennet urged him to consider relief that reaches those who need it most and reforms to the underlying system that created a crisis of college debt and affordability in the first place.

"Today over about 45 million Americans as a result are saddled with student loan debt -- disproportionately students of color. In my town halls, many Coloradans tell me these loans have made their lives miserable. It's devastated their credit scores, made it harder to purchase homes, start a business, or pay for childcare, or even move out of their parents' basement," Bennet said. "[I]f you're gonna spend $200 or $230 billion to cancel student loan debt, we need to do it in a way that reaches those who need it most and reforms the underlying system that got us here in the first place…otherwise, we're simply passing along this injustice to another generation of college students."

In his remarks, Bennet proposes efforts to help low- and middle-income borrowers, such as forgiving $10,000 of debt for households earning the state median income or less, providing additional debt relief for student borrowers who have received Pell grants, expanding and reforming the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, strengthening and simplifying the Income-Driven Repayment program, and increasing the maximum Pell grant so low- and middle-income borrowers do not need to take on so much debt in the first place.

"Americans deserve more than just student debt relief. An across-the-board cancellation of college debt does nothing to address the absurd cost of college or fix our broken student loan program. It offers nothing to Americans who paid off their college debts, or those who chose a lower priced college to go to as a way of avoiding going into debt or taking on debt," said Bennet. "[R]eally importantly, it ignores the majority of Americans who never went to college, some of whom have debts that are just as staggering and just as unfair."

To drive pathways to economic opportunity for all, especially those Americans who did not go college, Bennet urges the Biden Administration to strengthen workforce training programs, support partnerships with the private sector and labor that provide students paying apprenticeships, and, as he and Senator Rubio have proposed, allow high school graduates to use Pell grants not only to pursue college, but shorter-term high-quality credentials that can boost wages in the near term.

"The bigger question that should animate us on this floor isn't how much student debt to cancel, but how to create a pathway to economic security for every American who graduates from high school, including those who don't go get a four-year degree," said Bennet. "It should be how to build an economy that, when it grows, grows for everybody -- not just the top ten percent."

In March, Bennet called on President Joe Biden to extend the pause on student loan repayment until December 31, 2022 as the families and the economy continue to recover from the pandemic. Bennet also asked President Biden to work with leaders of both parties to develop long-term solutions to the U.S. student loan debt crisis. Following Bennet's request, the president extended the moratorium until August 2022.

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