FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Evan Flom, Campaign Communications Manager
National Young Farmers Coalition
press@youngfarmers.org, 518-643-3564 x 742
Washington, D.C. (October 5, 2023) On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the White House announced that an additional $9 billion in student debt relief has been approved for 125,000 Americans. This brings the total student debt canceled during the administration to $127 billion and the benefits to nearly 3.6 million Americans to date.
According to the Department of Education, the announced $9 billion includes $5.2 billion for debt cancellation through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. 53,000 borrowers who worked for at least a decade in eligible public service fields, such as teaching or the military, qualify. It also includes about $2.8 billion in debt cancellation through adjustments made to current income-driven repayment plans–a move to deliver debt forgiveness to nearly 51,000 borrowers who qualified after 20 or more years of repayments, but hadn’t received it due to processing errors. $1.2 billion has also been approved for nearly 22,000 borrowers who have a total or permanent disability and have been identified and approved for discharge through a data match with the Social Security Administration.
Young Farmers is encouraged by the continuing efforts made by the Biden-Harris Administration, with the end of the student debt crisis in mind. “Every bit of cancellation is significant to every borrower in the process to deliver on the promise of debt relief for 40 million current and former student borrowers,” said Tamisha Singletary, Policy Development Associate for the National Young Farmers Coalition.
Student loan debt is a burden that stands in the way of a new generation of farmers ready to build careers in agriculture. Student debt can prevent farmers from qualifying for additional financing needed to launch their businesses. According to our 2022 National Young Farmer Survey of over 10,000 young and beginning farmers across the country, 38% of young farmer respondents carry some student loan debt. Student debt burden is much higher for BIPOC farmers and particularly Black young farmers—62% of Black young farmers have student loan debt, compared to only 36% of White young farmers.
Addressing the student debt crisis for young farmers is a matter of national concern. Increasing our young farmers’ capacity to participate in building up and maintaining food security and our nation’s ability to feed ourselves sustainably is a top priority for our nation’s stability.
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The National Young Farmers Coalition (Young Farmers) is a national grassroots network of young farmers changing policy and shifting power to equitably resource the new generation of working farmers. Visit Young Farmers on the web at www.youngfarmers.org, and on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.