Published: October 2020

Student advocates urge DeVos to extend loan suspension

Over 70 community, civil rights, consumer, and student advocacy organizations urged U.S. Education Secretary DeVos to extend the suspension of payments on federal student loans through September 2021. The current suspension on federal student loans is set to expire on December 31, 2020. If the Education Department doesn’t extend the current suspension, borrowers will find it harder than ever to make ends meet as they are thrown back into repayment or forced collections while the economy continues to suffer.

Current economic projections in the United States, coupled with the spike in the average number of new coronavirus cases per day, indicate our nation will remain in a state of emergency for many months. Student advocates are urging U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to meaningfully solve the student debt problem by, at the very least, extending the repayment pause through her authority under the Higher Education Act. Doing so can support millions of borrowers—particularly borrowers of color, who are disproportionately impacted by the current crises, and others experiencing significant financial distress—who need the financial support this repayment pause brings to their household budgets.

Lead Organization

Americans for Financial Reform (AFR)

Other Organizations

Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) | Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc. | African American Ministers In Action | Allied Progress | American Association of University Women (AAUW) | American Federation of Teachers | Americans for Financial Reform | Center for Disability Rights | Center for Economic Integrity | Center for Justice & Democracy | Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) | Center for Responsible Lending | Clearinghouse on Women's Issues | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | Consumer Federation of California | Consumer Reports | Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) | Feminist Majority Foundation | Friendship of Women, Inc. | Generation Progress | Hildreth Institute | Japanese American Citizens League | Justice & Local Church Ministries, United Church of Christ | Kids Forward | Laotian American National Alliance | Modern Military Association of America | NAACP | National Action Network | National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE) | National Association for College Admission Counseling | National Center for Law and Economic Justice | National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) | National Consumer Law Center, on behalf of its low-income clients | National Down Syndrome Congress | National Education Association | National Equality Action Team (NEAT) | National Urban League | National Workrights Institute | National Young Farmers Coalition | New Economics for Women | People For the American Way | Public Citizen | Public Good Law Center | Public Justice Center | Public Law Center | Revolving Door Project | Social Security Works | Student Borrower Protection Center | Student Debt Crisis | Tewawomenunited.org | The Debt Collective | The Education Trust | U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) | UnidosUS | Veterans Education Success | Young Invincibles

More Information

Click here to read the letter in full.

To learn more, please visit AFR.

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