Happy Graduation! Now Let’s Talk About the $1.5 Trillion Dollar Student Loan Debt Debacle.
Student loan debt, which in 2019 has reached its highest level ever, has now become a full-blown, $1.5 trillion crisis. Here’s this, from Forbes Magazine:
The latest student loan debt statistics for 2019 show how serious the student loan debt crisis has become for borrowers across all demographics and age groups. There are more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. alone. Student loan debt is now the second highest consumer debt category – behind only mortgage debt – and higher than both credit cards and auto loans. Borrowers in the Class of 2017, on average, owe $28,650, according to the Institute for College Access and Success.
These startling numbers, and their destructive impact on both the futures of young people and the strength of the American economy, have moved the student debt crisis to the center of the 2020 race for the presidency. Democratic Massachusetts Senator and presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren just dramatically raised the stakes of this debate with this proposal to cancel student debt outright for millions of borrowers.
With graduation around the corner, we want to remind you about our film Default: The Student Loan Documentary, which chronicles the stories of borrowers who find themselves in the paralyzing predicament of having to repay far more than what they borrowed — with no bankruptcy protection and no recourse under the law.
We also urge you to revisit other MEF films that explore the personal and economic fallout of debt culture in the U.S., including In Debt We Trust, Capitalism Hits the Fan, and The New Economics 101.
