While the Biden Administration has pushed over $9.5 billion in student loan relief since taking office earlier this year, it's still not enough to yield a significant difference given that $1.7 trillion Americans are saddled with debt. The burden of student loans also falls more heavily on Black borrowers and students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
“Not only do they have less wealth to borrow on to pay back loans because of the racial wealth gap, but the underfunding of HBCUs compound the financial challenges which result in higher debt for students who attend these schools,” said Rep. Alma Adams, who appeared on a panel hosted by the Center for Responsible Lending(CRL) on Thursday. 
Derrick Johnson
Adams, the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan HBCU Caucus and a former HBCU professor, said that she supports across-the-board student loan cancellation up to $50,000 and called for increased HBCU funding as the nation emerges from the growing pandemic.
Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, said that most African Americans work in the public sector that pay less compared to private companies. He called for debt forgiveness, especially for borrowers working in public service during the pandemic. To honor their service, he said that the Department of Education should create easier access to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program for workers.
He added that there is a connection between closing the racial wealth gap and addressing the student debt crisis.
“We were taught early on if you go to college, you do well, you can have a great life, only to find ourselves in a debt cycle that many will not be able to get out of,” said Johnson.
Almost half of Black graduates owe more on their undergraduate student loans four years after graduation than they did when they received their diplomas.
