By: Vivek Kakar, SDCC Economic Justice Fellow In 2020, then-presidential nominee Joe Biden promised that, if elected, he would immediately cancel $10,000 in federal student debt for every American as part of his pandemic response. And, he promised to cancel much more on top of that. This was monumental. It was one of the first times a presidential candidate had promised broad-based cancellation. Sixteen months later, everyday Americans are asking why their debt has become a political football. 2020 also saw a spike in youth voter turnout. A poll by the Student Borrower Protection Center found that 71 percent of young people between 18 and 34 support wide-scale student loan cancellation. And, it's not just young voters. A CNN survey recently found that 60 percent of all Americans support some form of student debt redress. So, it’s no surprise that student debt cancellation has become a winning political issue. This shift opened the door for promises to be made that could increase turnout numbers and peak interest in a group that could tip the scales on the ballot. It is arguably one of the reasons that the Democrats secured majorities in the 2020 election and debt relief became part of the package the Dems used to make their case to the public. Here’s the thing: The average borrower doesn’t care about any of this. Since the start of the pandemic, borrowers have been stretched thin to the point where they had to choose between loan payments or food on the table. A survey by the Student Debt Crisis Center highlighted stories from borrowers affected by the debt repayment that hangs in the balance coupled with the rise in inflation we face now. Borrowers need relief, not empty promises and political infighting. Forty million Americans can be freed with the flick of a pen. Talking heads want us to believe that student debt cancellation is a divisive issue only supported by the progressive left. But new polling shows two-thirds of Americans support debt cancellation, including a majority of those who never had debt and never went to college. It’s both a winning issue and the right thing to do. It’s time those elected to defend the best interest of everyday Americans step up to the plate. Or rather, grip their pens.

May 27, 2022 The Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr. President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 The Honorable Kamala D. Harris Vice President of the United States The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear President Biden and Vice President Harris, We, the 529 undersigned community, civil rights, education, climate, health, consumer, labor, professional, food and farm, and student advocacy organizations write to urge you to strengthen the economy, tackle racial disparities, and provide much-needed relief to help all Americans weather the pandemic and record inflation by using executive authority to cancel federal student debt immediately. Before the COVID-19 public health crisis began, student debt was already a drag on the national economy, with Black and Latinx communities--particularly women-- feeling the greatest burden. That weight has been exponentially magnified given the disproportionate toll that COVID-19 has taken on both the health and economic security of people of color and women. To minimize the harm to the next generation and help narrow the racial and gender wealth gaps, bold and immediate action is needed: President Biden should protect all student loan borrowers, by cancelling existing debts. There is growing energy and strong bipartisan public support for immediate broad-based debt cancellation. Such executive action is one of the few available tools that could immediately provide a boost to upwards of 44 million borrowers and the economy. Lawmakers and advocacy groups have introduced several proposals to provide various levels of student debt cancellation. In February 2021, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Elizabeth Warren, House Financial Services Chairwoman Maxine Waters, and Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alma Adams, Ilhan Omar, Jamaal Bowman, Mondaire Jones, and Ritchie Torres introduced a bicameral resolution calling on the President to use executive action to cancel $50,000 in federal student loans for individual borrowers. 1 They were joined by 17 other Senators and 65 other Representatives, and received the support of a multi-state group of attorneys general. 2 The resolution highlights that the Higher Education Act clearly provides the Secretary of Education with the authority to cancel federal student debt administratively. During the campaign, you endorsed “a minimum of $10,000” in relief while Congress negotiated the CARES Act, and subsequently promised to provide broad student debt cancellation “immediately” as a coronavirus response. Administrative debt cancellation will deliver real progress on your racial equity, economic recovery, and COVID-19 relief campaign priorities. Student debt exacerbates existing racial inequities; cancellation will help reduce the racial wealth gap. The disproportionate impact of student debt on borrowers of color exacerbates existing systemic inequities and widens the racial wealth gap. Black Americans—and particularly Black women—are more likely to take on student loan debt and struggle with repayment. This burden is particularly acute for those Black students who are targeted by for-profit institutions, which also target veterans and often deliver poor instructional quality and outcomes at a high cost, causing a high proportion of students to drop out. Even for those students who do graduate, gainful employment in the field that they trained for is frequently elusive, leaving students with a lot of debt but not much to show for it. Black borrowers report that their student loan debt often feels like a life sentence even if they use relief programs like Income-Driven Repayment because they watch the amount owed balloon over time. Student debt cancellation has the potential to increase the net wealth of Black households and could even help reduce the racial wealth gap. Cancellation will boost household wealth, increase small business formation, and provide much-needed economic relief during this historic period of inflation. Today’s graduates face a dual crisis: in addition to the ongoing stagnation of wages, the pandemic has impacted their ability to earn income. Students who graduate into a recession face a “scarring” effect on their entire careers, leading to permanently lower employment and earnings. Data from before the pandemic showed that when subtracting all of their debts from all of their assets, today’s young adults with college degrees and student debt were left with a median net wealth of -$1,900 – a decline of approximately $9,000 from 2013. Student debt also impacts seniors, the nation’s fastest-growing group of student debtors. 37% of seniors with student loans are in default, and in 2015 alone, 40,000 borrowers over 65 had their Social Security garnished due to student loans. The mere presence of student debt on households’ balance sheets can make it harder or more expensive for families to get other types of credit and fully participate in the economy. Meanwhile, research shows that student debt cancellation catalyzes drastic, positive changes for borrowers, particularly for those not current on their loans. When borrowers’ student debt is canceled, their ability to pay down other debts increases; their geographic mobility and ability to stay in rural communities improves, as do their opportunities to pursue better jobs. Cancelling student debt would jumpstart small business formation at a time when tens of thousands of small businesses have closed. These small business closures have disproportionately affected Black and Latinx business owners. Student debt cancellation would boost GDP, create jobs, and reduce unemployment. Federal student debt cancellation could have a positive impact on health outcomes. A growing body of research suggests that debt is linked to negative health outcomes and contributes to existing public health disparities. Debt is associated with negative mental and physical health outcomes such as stress, depression, worse self-reported general health, higher diastolic blood pressure, obesity, and even mortality. High blood pressure and obesity, in particular, are both mentioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as conditions that can increase the risk of severe illness from the virus that causes COVID-19. Another study found a connection between debt and foregone medical care. Thus, broad-based student debt cancellation could have profound positive effects on health outcomes. Cancelling student debt would disproportionately help borrowers of color, respond to the coronavirus crisis, and provide much needed economic relief. We call on you to deliver on the promise of the Biden-Harris Racial Economic Equity plan by cancelling federal student debt by executive action immediately. Thank you for your leadership, and we look forward to working with you to address the critical issues facing our nation. Sincerely, National groups: 1000 Women Strong 350.org ACLU Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) Advocates for Youth Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc. African American Ministers In Action Agroecology Research-Action Collective Alliance for Youth Action American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare (AASWSW) American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education American Association of University Professors (AAUP) American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Economic Liberties Project American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers (AFT) American Medical Student Association American Psychological Association Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) Americans for Financial Reform Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO Asset Funders Network Association of Flight Attendants-CWA Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents Augustus F. 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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MAY 13, 2022 Statement from The Campaign for California Borrowers’ Rights in Response to Governor Newsom’s May California Budget Revise The Campaign for California Borrowers’ Rights is the statewide coalition of students, higher education advocates, and borrower protection organizations. (SACRAMENTO, CA) - Today, Governor Newsom released his May California budget revision. The Governor’s budget revision continues to invest $10 million in statewide student borrower assistance programs through the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). There are nearly four million Californians with a total of over $140 billion in student loan debt. Federal student loan payments are currently set to resume in September after more than two years and over 60 percent of borrowers report they are not ready for payments to resume.1 There is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity for public service workers to access Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) who were previously ineligible, through a limited PSLF waiver with a deadline of October 31, 2022 that borrowers must apply for. Increased funding for DFPI will reach qualified borrowers through outreach and enrollment assistance for the upcoming October deadline. This upfront investment will also increase Californians’ awareness of DFPI as a resource and will build out a network for direct service providers across the state that will meet borrowers’ needs for years to come. In response, the California Campaign for Borrowers’ Rights issued the following statement: “We thank Governor Newsom for supporting student borrowers. However, in a year following a global pandemic and uncertainty, especially for the state’s 4.4 million student borrowers, tripling the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s (DFPI) proposed $10 million allocation to $30 million will allow the state’s leading student borrower protection agency to properly conduct statewide outreach, education, and assistance efforts, given the magnitude of the student debt crisis, recent reforms to the student loan system, and the exiting of student loan servicers from the marketplace.”  “Each dollar invested in student loan support systems will leverage massive savings for individual borrowers, in terms of loan forgiveness and affordable payments, that will improve individuals’ lives and will recirculate into the local economy. It is time for California to lead the nation in crucial outreach and education to those with student loan debt and allow the state’s millions of student borrowers to reach a debt-free life. We call on Governor Newsom and the California Legislature to allocate $30 million to DFPI to conduct student loan borrower outreach and education.” ### Consumer Reports Student Debt Crisis Center NextGen California Young Invincibles Student Borrower Protection Center

May 2, 2022 Gail daMota President Education Finance Council 200 Massachusetts Ave NW, Suite 700 Washington, DC 20001 James Bergeron President National Council of Higher Education Resources 1050 Connecticut Ave NW, #65793 Washington, DC 20035 Scott Buchanan Executive Director Student Loan Servicing Alliance 2210 Mount Vernon Ave, Suite 207 Alexandria, VA 22301 Dear Ms. daMota, Mr. Bergeron, and Mr. Buchanan: We write today regarding the commitment our organizations share with yours to the successful implementation of recent changes to income-driven repayment (IDR) and to compliance with all relevant state and federal laws and regulations that govern federal student loan servicing. As you know, on April 19, 2022, the Department of Education (ED) announced a sweeping set of actions aimed at remedying “historical failures in the administration of federal student loan programs,” including IDR.1 IDR was designed in part to provide an offramp for borrowers after decades of repayment to prevent student loan debt from becoming a life-long burden. 2 However, the promise of eventual debt relief through this protection has so far proven illusory.3 Investigations by independent third parties4 and government auditors5 alike have found that vanishingly few borrowers have accessed debt cancellation to date under IDR even as millions of borrowers have crossed the mark of being in repayment for 20 years or more.6 Against this backdrop, the actions ED announced on April 19 mark an important first step toward relief for many of the most financially distressed borrowers in the federal student loan system. In particular, the Department estimates that these changes will allow tens of thousands of borrowers to receive immediate forgiveness through IDR and that millions more will receive “at least three years of additional credit toward IDR forgiveness.”7 Still, successfully restoring the promise of long-term relief through IDR will require that federal student loan borrowers be able to rely on the companies that your organizations represent to receive the high-quality servicing that they deserve—and that they are entitled to under the law. Unfortunately, as the Department outlined when announcing its recent changes to IDR, there is a well-documented and decades-long record of servicers failing to implement key provisions of, and protections embedded in, the federal student loan program.8 Servicers’ failures include the illegal and endemic “steering” of borrowers toward costly, endless forbearances in instances when they may have benefited from IDR. 9 In certain instances, these high- profile abuses broke a wide range of federal and state consumer protection laws.10 Further, as the results of a recent NPR investigation revealed, these breakdowns also include the widespread failure by student loan servicers to track and manage the repayment histories that borrowers rely on to prove qualification for IDR forgiveness.11 As NPR put it, these systemic errors “could delay or derail millions of the lowest-income borrowers on their way to loan cancellation.”12 Notably, ED’s actions on IDR come soon after its recent, equally sweeping waiver of provisions of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which was plagued for years by similar mismanagement on the part of student loan servicers that blocked teachers, nurses, and servicemembers from accessing earned loan relief. 13 As enforcement actions dating as recently as March of this year illustrate, misconduct in this space has included companies that own loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) deceiving borrowers into believing that they were not eligible for PSLF when, in fact, they were.14 Advocates15 and government agencies16 alike have noted that this conduct is likely motivated by FFELP loan holders’ financial interests, as borrowers pursuing PSLF must consolidate out of any FFELP loans that they may owe on and into Direct loans, undercutting the FFELP loan holder’s bottom line. Months after the PSLF waiver was announced, a coalition of consumer advocates and the nation’s biggest unions outlined in a letter to the 25 largest private holders of FFELP loans that these companies appeared to still be misrepresenting the qualifications for forgiveness under PSLF.17 Protracted breakdowns along these lines simply cannot be tolerated in the implementation of ED’s recent changes to IDR, particularly to the extent that they may involve errors that, like those related to PSLF, could reflect the companies you represent putting profits ahead of borrowers’ interests and legal rights. Immediately after ED’s April 19 announcement, your organizations released a statement alleging that by noting the historic servicer failures that have contributed to the breakdown of IDR, the Department was trying to “steer the conversation away from the root cause that has failed to fix the federal student loan repayment system for years.”18 Few organizations have been more critical than ours regarding ED’s history of failure in student loan borrower protection.19 But it was not the Department of Education that adopted a “7 minute rule” after which servicers’ call center representatives were required to hang up on student loan borrowers, 20 that was reprimanded as recently as March for lying to borrowers about their right to forgiveness through PSLF,21 or that has generated a decade of state, federal, and private litigation and investigations exposing abusive, unfair, or otherwise harmful servicing practices.22 Rather than focusing on how to avoid accountability and deflect blame, we encourage you to focus on finally delivering borrowers the rights they have long been denied and that ED’s actions may now allow them to access. Our organizations intend to use every tool at our disposal—including, but certainly not limited to, open records requests, 23 investigative reports,24 and the possibility of litigation25—to ensure that borrowers’ rights are protected and to hold you and the companies you represent accountable for the faithful implementation of ED’s changs to IDR. Millions of student loan borrowers are depending on you and the companies you represent to get the IDR fix right. We will remain extremely vigilant over the next several months to ensure that you do. Sincerely, Student Borrower Protection Center Center for Responsible Lending National Consumer Law Center Student Debt Crisis Center CC: Hon. Miguel Cardona, Secretary, Department of Education Hon. Richard Cordray, Chief Operating Officer, Office of Federal Student Aid, Department of Education Hon. Rohit Chopra, Director, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/20/2022 CONTACT: Natalia Abrams natalia@studentdebtcrisis.org Cody Hounanian cody@studentdebtcrisis.org Statement: Income-driven repayment fixes will help many borrowers, but student debt cancellation is needed The Biden administration just announced a plan to repair harm caused by dysfunctional federal student loan repayment programs. Americans depend on income-driven repayment programs to make their monthly payments affordable and those with persistently low-income trust that the government will erase their debt after two decades in repayment. However, systemic failures mean far too many fail to receive the relief promised to them by law. This plan will ensure that millions of people will be closer to having their loans erased and all borrowers who have been paying back federal loans for over two decades will be eligible for immediate debt cancellation. The Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) supports the administration's efforts. We believe in fixing the existing system while we work towards broad student debt cancellation and this announcement is a step in the right direction. At the same time, these well-intentioned fixes highlight just how broken the system has become. That is why we join millions of everyday Americans, allies, and lawmakers in calling on President Biden to embrace bolder reforms he campaigned by canceling student debt. “We are optimistic that this set of reforms will help many borrowers and families who felt that student debt had become a lifelong burden. However, in our role as advocates for student loan borrowers we are intimately aware just how insidious this crisis is. Millions of people are drowning in debt and a piecemeal policy approach won’t reach them all. To guarantee that everyone impacted by the student debt crisis is given an opportunity to thrive and access the American Dream, we must broadly cancel student debt now,” said SDCC president and founder Natalia Abrams.“These revisions are a testament to the advocacy efforts of everyday people who shared their experiences and obstacles with the Department of Education, the White House, and lawmakers. These everyday champions are also committed to transformative change and are taking action, by the millions, in support of debt cancellation. We echo their frustration, determination, and hope.” said SDCC executive director Cody Hounanian. The plan follows last week’s State of Student Debt Summit which brought thousands of people together to discuss student loan issues, research, and advocacy. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer provided a keynote address where he said the Biden administration was closer to canceling student debt “than ever before.” Earlier this year, SDCC joined over 100 organizations in ending a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona. In that letter, we urged the Department to “deliver on the promise of income-driven repayment (IDR) programs” by creating an IDR waiver similar to the one announced. ### About Student Debt Crisis Center Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) is a non-profit organization ​​centering the needs and voices of borrowers and partnering with allies, to impact public policy and end the student debt crisis. The center works directly with borrowers to help them navigate the bewildering and frustrating loan repayment system and advocates for lasting and meaningful change. It leads a people-powered movement representing over 2 million supporters. Learn more at www.studentdebtcrisis.org and follow SDCC on Twitter at @DebtCrisisOrg.

April 18, 2022 Honorable Nancy Skinner Chair, Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review 1020 N Street, Room 502 Sacramento, CA 95814 Honorable Phil Ting Chair, Assembly Committee on Budget 1021 O Street, Room 8230 Sacramento, CA 95814 Honorable Sydney Kamlager Chair, Senate Budget Subcommittee #4 on State Administration and General Government 1020 N Street, Room 502 Sacramento, CA 95814 Honorable Kevin McCarty Chair, Assembly Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education Finance 1021 O Street, 4250 Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Support for Department of Financial Protection and Innovation Student Loan Borrower Assistance Dear Budget Leaders, The Campaign for California Borrowers’ Rights and the undersigned organizations, representing borrowers, students, young people, consumers, teachers, non-profits, older borrowers, low-income communities and communities of color, requests your support of the current $10 million in the Governor’s proposed budget to the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) to conduct outreach and education efforts to student borrowers throughout the state. Given the magnitude of the student debt crisis, recent reforms to the student loan system, and the exiting of student loan servicers from the marketplace, we are also requesting an additional $20 million be allocated to DFPI for student borrower outreach for a total of $30 million. The federal student loan system is complex and has a record of failing borrowers. Now is the time to invest in support systems for student loan borrowers. There are nearly four million Californians with a total of over $140 billion in student loan debt. Federal student loan payments are currently set to resume in September after more than two years and over 60 percent of borrowers report they are not ready for payments to resume.1 Over one third of California borrowers will have their loan servicer changed before the end of the year, which creates confusing situations and risks of servicing errors. In addition, a recent NPR investigation revealed that student loan servicers are failing to properly administer the federal government’s income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, which is supposed to be the safety net program for low-income federal student loan borrowers. This investigation builds on a report last year from the National Consumer Law Center and the Student Borrower Protection Center that of 4.4 million people who have been repaying their federal loans for over 20 years, and so should have their loans discharged as part of the IDR program, only 32 have received this loan forgiveness. There is also a once-in-a-generation opportunity for public service workers to access Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) who were previously ineligible, through a limited PSLF waiver with a deadline of October 31, 2022 that borrowers must apply for. A raft of problems pervaded both the IDR and PSLF program including a lack of outreach to eligible borrowers, processing errors, and failure to provide correct information about program guidelines – actions often perpetrated by the entities and student loan servicers responsible for administering the program. As a result, millions of public service workers have been cheated out of their right to loan forgiveness guaranteed under the PSLF program and, in the last couple of years, national news headlines reported 99% of all PSLF applicants had been rejected. We can’t let the years public service workers served, many essential personnel during the pandemic, be left out again. Navigating both the broken IDR program and the limited PSLF waiver process will require intensive outreach and education for borrowers, many of whom may need additional and individualized assistance. Now is the time for California to invest in helping its student loan borrowers. DFPI is emerging as the leading state agency in the nation in terms of supporting student loan borrowers - now is the time to give them the resources they need to execute their plans. DFPI has articulated a clear program for these funds, that coordinates centralizing resources and dispersing support throughout communities. California has the opportunity to lead the nation in state-led student borrower support programs. Over a dozen states have student loan ombudspersons, but none has the state-supported network of local legal aid attorneys and counselors who can work to resolve individual borrower cases across the state. The DFPI ombudsperson’s role is not intended to provide individualized counseling to every single borrower in the state; that is both unrealistic and impossible. As a part of a state agency, the DFPI ombudsman cannot act as the representative or Student Borrower Protection Center and Data for Progress. Tracking Poll: The Impact of Student Debt on American Families. 2022. https://protectborrowers.org/new-poll-as-inflation-soars-large-bipartisan-majority-supports-president-bidens-pause-on-student-loan-payments/ attorney of individual borrowers. While the ombudsman and the DFPI can perform outreach, education, bring enforcement actions, and push for state and federal policies to help borrowers, they cannot act as individual borrower advocates against the federal government or other entities in an individual disagreement. The DFPI and the ombudsman can only attempt to mediate those disagreements and seek an outcome agreeable to the borrower. The ombudsman’s role is to develop and implement policies and programs to help borrowers and to represent them in state and national policy conversations. The network of community-based service providers that DFPI has proposed to fund with this budget allocation would be a first-in-the nation program for student loan borrowers, but is modeled on successful programs for mortgage borrowers/homeowners.2 There are millions of California borrowers, with hundreds of thousands who have experienced long-term delinquency and default. In short, there is a lot of work to be done to support these Californians that requires a greater investment. Now is not the time to skimp or cut corners, with real deadlines and program changes on the horizon for borrowers, who will need help. Instead, increasing funding to provide for local legal aid organizations to work in partnership with community-based organizations will ensure that many of these borrowers can access help for their individual and often complicated cases. Student loan cases are extremely complex and tricky to assess. For this reason, the DFPI program must provide sufficient funding for both the training of non-legal counselors and ongoing partnerships between them and legal aid organizations. While some borrowers will only need simple assistance obtaining an income-driven repayment plan, for example, others will have more complicated cases that require legal assistance, including for borrowers harmed by for-profit colleges, borrowers facing debt collection lawsuits, borrowers who are eligible for, but unable to obtain, income-driven repayment or PSLF forgiveness, and many others. These types of cases can require many hours of legal work and can take years to resolve. As an example, the Department of Education only began resolving over 300,000 borrower defense claims, many of which had been pending for over 5 years, after fighting class action litigation and advocacy from many legal aid organizations. Over 100,000 of these remain pending, while harmed borrowers continue to file more of these claims each week. This is an essential part of DFPI’s coordinated plan and is where the state will see its spending leveraged. The budget proposal is a one-time appropriation for 2022-23, however this work has both short- and long-term timelines that $10 million will not be able to support. Providing sufficient foundational funding now will ensure the program’s long-term success, which means better outcomes for California borrowers. Each dollar invested in student loan support systems will leverage massive savings for individual borrowers, in terms of loan forgiveness and affordable payments, that will improve individuals’ lives and will recirculate into the local economy. For all of the above reasons, the proposed $10 million Please see New York’s Homeowner Protection Program (HOPP) that provides a call center for consumers. https://ag.ny.gov/protect-our-homes appropriation to DFPI for outreach and education to student borrowers throughout the state should be tripled to $30 million. We respectfully request your support of a total of $30 million to DFPI for student borrower assistance. Sincerely, Michael Young Legislative Representative CFT Chuck Bell Programs Director, Advocacy Consumer Reports Arnold Sowell Jr. Executive Director NextGen California Leigh Ferrin Director of Legal Services Public Law Center Natalia Abrams President & Founder Student Debt Crisis Center Christopher Sanchez Policy Advocate Western Center on Law and Poverty Jan Masaoka CEO California Association of Nonprofits Andrew Avila Policy and Advocacy Manager Improve Your Tomorrow Stephanie Carroll Directing Attorney Consumer Rights & Economic Justice Project Public Counsel Mike Pierce Executive Director Student Borrower Protection Center Esmeralda López California State Director UnidosUS Mahmoud Zahriya West Regional Director Young Invincibles

It's almost here! The State of Student Debt Summit spring meeting is happening in less than a week, and you can RSVP to join on Zoom or by phone right here. On Wednesday, borrowers, parents, activists, and experts will join lawmakers including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Elizabeth Warren to discuss solutions to the student debt crisis. Expert panels will include The Path to Debt Cancellation, Women with Student Debt, and The Movement to Cancel Student Debt. Plus, we will discuss how to be an effective advocate and how we can build momentum to cancel meaningful student debt. RSVP FOR THE SUMMIT HERE >> If you have student debt, or one of your loved ones does, this is the event to be at this spring. We will cover the essential need-to-knows, plus give you time to ask us your questions. And you can do it all from anywhere – home, a coffee shop, the break room at work, the back of your physics lecture, anywhere! If you can’t make the whole day, just pop in when you can. Click here to RSVP and we will send you all of the details needed to join the event on Zoom or by phone. Here's a schedule for Wednesday's summit: 12:30 ET: Remarks by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer 1:00 ET: The Path to Debt Cancellation: Combining Research and Advocacy featuring former U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King 2:00 ET: Women with Student Debt: A Trillion-Dollar Crisis 3:00 ET: What Does it Mean to #CancelStudentDebt? 4:00 ET: Remarks by Senator Elizabeth Warren / Audience Q&A

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 04/06/2022 CONTACT: Natalia Abrams natalia@studentdebtcrisis.org Cody Hounanian cody@studentdebtcrisis.org STATEMENT: Biden admin extends student loan payment pause as calls for debt cancellation grow Hundreds of thousands of SDCC supporters took action calling on the President to extend the payment pause, but this plan would not provide the lasting relief families need. SDCC calls on President Joe Biden to take the necessary step of broad-based student debt cancellation by executive action. Today, the Biden Administration announced they are extending the pause on payments and interest for federally-held student loans until the end of August. The plan would follow a months-long campaign by thousands of SDCC supporters calling for an extension until permanent debt cancellation is secured. Unfortunately, this extension falls short of the relief Senate and House education chairs, SDCC, and ally organizations called on the President to enact. Ultimately, temporary relief isn’t enough to overcome the harm caused by the pandemic and growing inflation, and it certainly doesn’t address the historic student debt crisis. That is we call on President Biden to permanently cancel student debt as a long-term solution to this problem. We are joined by over 2 million supporters who have taken action in support of debt cancellation since the pandemic began -- including a march in Washington D.C. and petition delivery at the White House on Monday. "We recognize that extending the payment pause is important to borrowers struggling to shoulder the harm caused by the pandemic, economic shocks, and inflation. However, President Biden's piecemeal, short term approach is not enough to meet these challenging times," said Natalia Abrams, President & Founder. "The President has an opportunity to pass bold, meaningful relief instead of band-aid measures. We urge the President to consider the transformative effect permanent student debt cancellation would have for individuals, their families, and the economy.”   “Another payment pause extension is a testament to the hard work of millions of Americans who are leading an unprecedented movement to address the student debt crisis. They have pushed the President to better understand their struggles and this is a sign that he is listening. But, there is much more work to be done to secure additional relief and cancel student debt -- we will continue to echo the voices of our supporters until we get it done,” said Cody Hounanian, Executive Director. Today's announcement also includes a "fresh start" initiative that puts thousands of borrowers in delinquency and loan default back into good standing. This is good news for families who were in financial distress before the pandemic began or have struggled to manage the blows caused by the changing economy. Experts, including the Federal Reserve, warned of a wave of new student loan defaults that would set families back even further. Fresh start is a step in the right direction, but permanent debt cancellation is the only enduring relief that gives families the financial freedom needed to thrive long into the future. SDCC recently joined over 200 groups in a letter urging President Biden to extend the pause and cancel student debt. This letter was followed by letters from Senate education committee chair Senator Patty Murray and House education committee chair Rep. Bobby Scott calling for an extension of payment relief due to rising inflation and the lack of progress in fixing the broken student loan system. ##

President Joseph R. Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 March 7, 2022 Dear Mr. President: In fewer than 60 days, tens of millions of student loan borrowers are slated to be thrown back into repayment on federal student loans they are ill-equipped to pay as the economy experiences the highest level of inflation in nearly four decades. We, the undersigned 210 organizations, write to urge you to put a stop this crisis in the making before it begins and extend the current pause on student loan payments. It is clear that payments should not resume until your administration has fully delivered on the promises you made to student loan borrowers to fix the broken student loan system and cancel a substantial amount of federal student debt. The U.S. Department of Education (“the Department”) holds nearly $1.6 trillion in federal student loans and more than 45 million individual borrowers live in the shadow of that massive debt. Payments on most of these loans have been paused since March 2020, during which time interest charges have also been suspended and the federal government has halted collection efforts against most borrowers in default. The Department’s own data reveal the powerful impact this payment pause has had on Americans’ lives, finding that “borrowers are saving approximately $5 billion per month from the temporary 0% interest rate.” This relief is not limited to borrowers repaying student loans– for two years, students and parents have been able to pay for higher education without facing the burden of student loan interest charges. This is the single largest action taken by the Biden administration to expand college affordability. The student loan payment pause has been one of the most important investments the federal government has made in Americans' financial lives in a generation. Before the pandemic struck, tens of millions of borrowers struggled every day to navigate a badly broken student loan system. America’s student debt crisis wreaked havoc on the financial lives of families across the country, despite payment relief and debt forgiveness programs that promised that these debts would never be a life-long burden. You ran for president on the promise that you would reform the student loan system to ensure that student loan payments would be affordable for all. Your administration’s decision to extend the payment pause, alongside the Department’s recent overhaul of the programs for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Total and Permanent Disability Discharge are critical and welcome first steps. Right now, your administration has the opportunity to continue repairing the damage caused by policy failures at the federal and state level and decades of government mismanagement and industry abuses—an opportunity and an obligation that must be fulfilled before any action is taken to resume monthly student loan payments. It is critical that your administration continue to deliver on your promises made to student loan borrowers and their families before ending the pause in payments and collections. Borrowers need immediate relief from the crushing burdens of massive student loan debt as the pandemic exacerbates financial strain for all Americans and throws existing racial disparities in wealth and educational attainment into especially stark relief. Recent polling from the Student Borrower Protection Center and Data for Progress reveal that 69 percent of likely voters support your continued pause on student loan payments, including majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. Among respondents with student debt, 65 percent expect to make “major changes to saving or spending” if payments resume. Nearly 4-in-10 borrowers are “not confident at all” in their ability to manage a student loan payment, while just 1-in-5 borrowers are “very confident.” These results underscore the need for your administration to delay the planned restart of federal student loan payments. The burden of student debt and the costs of our broken student loan system fall disproportionately on Black and Brown borrowers—those who, as a result of decades of racially discriminatory policies and practices that created and sustain the racial wealth and income gaps, most often lack the familial wealth necessary to avoid taking on student debt. A growing body of evidence also demonstrates that these borrowers are disproportionately blocked from accessing existing avenues for debt relief enacted by Congress. Each day, we are met with new evidence that the student loan system is unable to meet the needs of student loan borrowers and our country. 2021 was particularly rife with examples of that failure, including: The National Consumer Law Center received data through FOIA showing that, as of January 2021, only 32 borrowers had successfully navigated the IDR repayment plans and received cancellation, out of more than 4 million with decades-old debts. The Education Department acknowledged a backlog of 175,000 applications for Public Service Loan Forgiveness—borrowers who may be forced to pay a student loan bill as they remain stuck in the government’s red tape. The recent announcement of the limited and temporary PSLF waiver does offer a new path to relief for some borrowers, but inconsistent servicer implementation of the new rules threatens its promise. The Education Department also acknowledged a backlog of more than 128,000 applications for Borrower Defense discharges—the number of unprocessed claims for debt relief due to fraud by a school climbed by more than 20,000 during the first months of the Biden administration. These are just a few recent examples of how the student loan system is failing borrowers entitled to immediate debt relief under the law. A hasty and reckless return to repayment would only expose borrowers to similar harms this year. That is because the companies responsible for managing this transition and the system itself have repeatedly proven unable to avoid widespread failures even when performing basic functions. For example, in two separate scandals at the height of the pandemic, the Education Department and its student loan contractors improperly garnished the wages of hundreds of thousands of people and damaged the credit reports of nearly five million others. There is a broad consensus among borrowers, advocates, industry, regulators, enforcement officials, and lawmakers that a rush to resume student loan payments is a recipe for disaster and will result in widespread confusion and distress for student loan borrowers. Before resuming payments on student loans, the Department of Education must undertake significant structural reforms; provide real, immediate relief; and cancel a significant amount of federal student debt. This will ensure that millions of borrowers don’t remain trapped in a broken system just as the economy begins to recover. For the reasons outlined above, we strongly urge you to take immediate action to extend the current pause on student loan payments. We look forward to supporting your administration as you take this necessary action and work to deliver on the promises made to student loan borrowers across the country. Sincerely, Student Borrower Protection Center Accountable.US Adasina Social Capital Affordable Homeownership Foundation, Inc. African American Ministers In Action Alaska PIRG Albuquerque Mennonite Church Alliance for Youth Action American Association of University Professors American Baptist Home Mission Society American Civil Liberties Union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) American Federation of Teachers American Federation of Teachers – Vermont American Psychological Association Americans for Financial Reform Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS) Association of Oncology Social Work Association of Young Americans (AYA) Bend the Arc: Jewish Action Blue Future California Alliance for Consumer Education (CACE) California Asset Building Coalition California Association of Nonprofits Californians for Economic Justice CAMEO - California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity Campaign for America's Future Campus Action for Democracy Carolina Jews for Justice Center for Economic Integrity Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR) Center for Responsible Lending Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy Chicago Consumer Coalition Chicago Foundation for Women Civil Service Bar Association Columbia Consumer Education Council Communities for Our Colleges, WA Community Service Society of New York Consumer Federation of America Consumer Federation of California Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety Council on Social Work Education Debt Collective Debt-Free MD, Inc. (Maryland) Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) Faith in Action Forward Montana Fossil Fuel Divest Harvard Fosterus Franciscan Action Network Fresno Building Healthy Communities Generation Hope Greenpeace USA HBCU Collective HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance Hildreth Institute Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice at Temple University Housing and Economic Rights Advocates Indivisible Investor Advocates for Social Justice Jain Family Institute (JFI) JANUS LLC Kentucky Center for Economic Policy League of United Latin American Citizens Legal Action Chicago Legal Aid at Work Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee Loan Repayment Assistance Program of Minnesota Louisiana Budget Project Maine Center for Economic Policy Mainers for Accountable Leadership Action Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance Media Voices for Children Minority Veterans of America Mississippi Center for Justice Mobilization for Justice NAACP, Youth & College National Action Network National Association of Consumer Advocates National Association of Graduate-Professional Students National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners National Association of Social Workers National Association of Social Workers – Alabama Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Alaska Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Arizona Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Arkansas Chapter National Association of Social Workers – California Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Colorado Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Connecticut Chapter National Association of Social Workers – DC Metro Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Delaware Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Florida Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Georgia Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Guam Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Hawai’i Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Idaho Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Illinois Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Indiana Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Iowa Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Kentucky Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Louisiana Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Maine Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Maryland Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Massachusetts Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Michigan Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Mississippi Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Missouri Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Montana Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Nebraska Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Nevada Chapter National Association of Social Workers – New Hampshire Chapter National Association of Social Workers – New Jersey Chapter National Association of Social Workers – New Mexico Chapter National Association of Social Workers – New York City Chapter National Association of Social Workers – New York State Chapter National Association of Social Workers – North Carolina Chapter National Association of Social Workers – North Dakota Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Ohio Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Oklahoma Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Oregon Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Pennsylvania Chapter National Association of Social Workers – South Carolina Chapter National Association of Social Workers – South Dakota Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Tennessee Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Texas Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Utah Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Vermont Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Virginia Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Washington Chapter National Association of Social Workers – West Virginia Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Wisconsin Chapter National Association of Social Workers – Wyoming Chapter National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) National Education Association National Equality Action Team (NEAT) National Labor Relations Board Union National League for Nursing National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) Chapter 335 National Young Farmers Coalition Navigate Student Loans New Era Colorado New Hampshire Youth Movement New Jersey Citizen Action New Mexico Crisis and Access Line New York Legal Assistance Group New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) New Yorkers for Responsible Lending Coalition NextGen California Nonprofit Professional Employees Union, IFPTE Local 70 North Carolina Coalition for Responsible Lending OCA - Asian Pacific American Advocates Ohio Student Association Our Revolution PAPSA ParentsTogether Partnership for College Completion People's Parity Project Physician Assistant Education Association Progressive Change Campaign Committee Protect All Children's Environment Public Citizen Public Counsel Public Good Law Center Public Higher Education Network of Massachusetts (PHENOM) Public Justice Center Public Law Center Rachel Carson Council Rise Saint Paul's Baptist Church San Francisco Office of Financial Empowerment Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Service Employees International Union Local 500 Service Employees International Union Local 509 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia Southern Echo Inc. SparkAction State of New Mexico Student Action Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) Student Loan Fund Inc. TEHope The Arc of the United States The Collaborative The Education Trust The Forum for Youth Investment THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION The United Church of Christ & The United Church of Canada Tzedek DC UFCW 400 UnidosUS United Church of Christ, Justice and Local Church Ministries United Vision for Idaho United Way Bay Area Unity Fellowship of Christ Church University of California Graduate & Professional Council University of California Student Association UnKoch My Campus URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity Virginia Poverty Law Center VOCAL-NY Voices for Progress We, the 45 Million Whitman-Walker Health Women Employed Young Invincibles Zero Debt Massachusetts

Tonight, President Biden addressed the nation in the State of the Union Address in which he discussed many crucial issues facing the country and the world, including Russia's attack on Ukraine and rebuilding our economy. We stand with Ukraine in its defense of democracy and we are eager to work here at home to ensure the recovery reaches Americans who need it most. Yet, we remained hopeful that President Biden would acknowledge the $1.7 trillion student debt crisis that affects over 45 million Americans — we are disappointed that he failed to do so. As a candidate, President Biden promised to cancel student debt, and the State of the Union, which covers a range of issues, was the perfect time for him to share his plan to get it done. “The cost of education, and the enormous debt looming over American families, remains one of the most challenging economic issues of our time,” said Natalia Abrams, president of the Student Debt Crisis Center. “With economic uncertainty growing every day, the President has the unique ability to free families from financial distress immediately by canceling student debt by executive action and we call on him to do so immediately.” The Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC) has been working extensively with allies and our over 2 million supporters to end student debt. With the support of Senate Majority Leader Schumer, Senator Warren, and a large majority of Americans, the movement is growing. We urge President Biden to join us and use his legal authority to cancel student debt.

With inflation and consumer debt at all-time highs, 92% of fully employed student loan borrowers are concerned that rising costs will make it harder to afford their payments come May 1. MEDIA CONTACTS Cody Hounanian cody@studentdebtcrisis.org (646) 820-8037 Ian Coon ian@bysavi.com (515) 822-8834 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 23, 2022 WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new survey of 23,532 student loan borrowers finds that 92% of fully-employed borrowers are concerned about being able to afford their payments due to rising inflation when the current pause on payments and interest expires on May 1. The situation is worrisome, as one-in-three borrowers say they reduced spending on necessities like food, rent, and healthcare in preparation for payments to restart. The new research comes from a joint campaign between Student Debt Crisis Center (SDCC), the nation’s largest student debt advocacy organization, and Savi, a social impact technology company that helps borrowers get student loan forgiveness. The survey is the fifth installment over the past two years of the Student Debt x COVID-19 campaign looking at the toll the pandemic continues to take on a whopping 46 million student loan borrowers. The survey also found that: 95% of Black borrowers are not prepared to resume payments on May 1. 93% of borrowers are not prepared to resume payments on May 1 and another 27% say they will never be able to resume payments again. 91% of fully employed borrowers do not agree with the idea that the economy has recovered from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. 61% of respondents who could easily afford their student loan payments before the COVID-19 pandemic began are either struggling to make payments, cannot make payments, or are in default. Over half of borrowers say their student loan servicer has not contacted them to say that federal student loan payments are set to resume on May 1. Over half of borrowers lost their job, had reduced hours, or were furloughed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These results add important context around other obstacles facing student loan borrowers. Inflation is at its highest level in over 40 years and recent reports from the New York Fed and the Federal Reserve show that Americans shoulder the highest household debt increase since the 2007 recession. 85% of survey respondents reported that the payment pause is financial relief that they currently depend on, with low-income and working-class borrowers more likely to use monthly savings from federal payment pause to pay for food and healthcare or medicine. “We have followed the experiences of student loan borrowers for over two years and we are saddened to report their circumstances are getting worse. Our findings show that the ongoing pandemic combined with unprecedented inflation are huge obstacles for borrowers who are, by and large, not ready to resume payments, struggling to afford basic needs, and confused about their options moving forward,” said Natalia Abrams, President and Founder of the Student Debt Crisis Center. “To meet this moment, we call for broad debt cancellation to repair the harm caused by this crisis and a roadmap to help borrowers navigate the uncertain future.” “The vast majority of borrowers have not made a payment in over two years,” said Tobin Van Ostern, co-founder of Savi. “On top of the unprecedented pause, millions of borrowers are currently in the process of who will process their monthly bill if payments resume - the largest servicing transition to ever occur for borrowers. With both happening at the same time, clear guidance and communication to borrowers from the Dept of Ed is essential.” ## The survey received 23,532 responses from people in all 50 states between February 1 and February 15, 2022. The 54-question survey was distributed via email to Student Debt Crisis Center followers that includes approximately 2 million people. Findings can be broken down by demographic, geographic, occupational and socioeconomic statuses upon request.

February 17, 2022 The Honorable Janet Yellen Secretary of the Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20220 Dear Secretary Yellen, We, the undersigned 105 organizations, focus on promoting the well-being of children and families, financial security of low-income families, reduction of poverty and inequality, and protection of taxpayer rights. We write to express our concern that the Treasury Department’s practice of reducing or eliminating payments made in tax refunds to low-income families undermines the social safety net and threatens to push millions of children into poverty. The Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) are intended to support families and low-income workers, and are rightly celebrated for lifting millions of children out of poverty. The expansion of the CTC this year cut child poverty nearly in half and reduced food insufficiency among families by 26 percent since July 2021. This years’ fully refundable credit was especially effective in reaching the 27 million children (including half of Black, Latinx, and rural children) who previously lost out on the full credit because their parents’ income was too low. But due to Treasury’s practice of offsetting tax refunds to collect government debt, millions of low-income families are at risk of not receiving these critical lifelines. While Congress protected advance CTC payments from offset, families who receive some or all of their CTC and EITC payments through tax refunds are at risk of having those refunds withheld for government debts. These offsets hurt families that are already demonstrably in financial distress and unable to afford their bills, and deprive low-income children of critical resources. Recognizing this problem, Education Secretary Cardona recently proclaimed that “he Child Tax Credit should be accessible, no matter your student loan repayment status,” and committed to ensuring that families with student loans in default will not experience offset of CTC funds this year. This is an important step forward. But this reprieve is temporary. Many families will be subject to offset due to unaffordable federal student loan debt once the suspension of student debt collection ends: over 8 million people are currently in default on their federal student loans, and they are overwhelmingly from low-income, low-wealth families and are disproportionately people of color. Roughly half of borrowers who default have dependent children, suggesting that millions of families could lose out on these antipoverty payments as a result of Treasury offset. Further, taxpayers with non-student loan debts remain vulnerable to offset of CTC and EITC payments this year. We therefore urge you to consider ways to protect the EITC and CTC from offset, and to work with others in the Administration to develop solutions. The IRS has the authority to bypass the offset requirement when it would create economic hardship, but the National Taxpayer Advocate reports that just 511 taxpayers received offset bypass refunds (OBR) in 2021.  We ask you to immediately direct the IRS to make maximum use of its existing authority to waive offsets, to support the National Taxpayer Advocate’s recommendation to prohibit offset of the EITC portion of tax refunds, and to include recommendations for additional legislative protections in the Administration’s FY 2023 request to Congress (the Green Book). We also ask that the Treasury provide data to allow policymakers and the public to better understand the scope of this problem, including data reflecting the number of taxpayers eligible for the CTC or EITC who experienced offsets and the total dollar amount of offset from those taxpayers. Treasury should also implement systems to readily identify offsets of the CTC and EITC. We welcome the opportunity to meet with you and Treasury Department staff to discuss ways to address this problem and ensure that children and families are not driven into poverty by the Treasury Offset Program. Sincerely, Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) The Institute for College Access & Success 20/20 Vision DC Alaska PIRG American Friends Service Committee American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP) Americans for Financial Reform Bet Tzedek Legal Services Bread for the World Californians for Economic Justice CARPLS Legal Aid CASH Campaign of Maryland Center for American Progress Center for Economic Integrity Center for LGBTQ Economic Advancement & Research (CLEAR) Center for Responsible Lending Center for Taxpayer Rights Center for the Study of Social Policy Chicago Urban League Child Welfare League of America Children's Defense Fund Children's Home & Aid Clearinghouse on Women's Issues Coalition on Human Needs Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) Community Legal Services of Philadelphia Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, U.S. Provinces Connecticut Legal Services, Inc. Consumer Action Consumer Federation of America Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety Criminalization of Poverty Project at The Institute for Policy Studies Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc. Economic Security Project Faith in Public Life Feminist Majority Foundation Financial Inclusion for All Illinois First Focus on Children Florida Consumer Action Network Fordham Law School Feerick Center for Social Justice Georgia Watch Greater Boston Legal Services Heartland Alliance Hispanic Federation Housing and Economic Rights Advocates Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Iowa Citizen Action Network Legal Action Chicago Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia Legal Services of New Jersey Lewis and Clark LITC Maine Equal Justice Massachusetts Law Reform Institute MI/Welfare Rights Organization Michigan's Children National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd National Association of Consumer Advocates National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) National Association of Social Workers National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators National Center for Law and Economic Justice National Community Action Partnership National Consumers League National Women’s Law Center Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice New America Higher Education Program New Economy Project New Mexico Center on Law & Poverty New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) Northwest Consumer Law Center Ohio Poverty Law Center Ohio Student Association Oregon Food Bank ParentsTogether Action PHAT Technologies, LLC Prince George's CASH Campaign Prosperity Indiana Prosperity Now Prosperity Works Public Good Law Center Public Justice Center Public Law Center RESULTS SaverLife SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center Student Borrower Protection Center Student Debt Crisis Center The Arc of the United States The Education Trust The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice The National Domestic Violence Hotline Tzedek DC Union for Reform Judaism Universal Income Project University of Baltimore Low Income Taxpayer Clinic VOICE (Voices Organized in Civic Engagement) Voices for Vermont's Children Western Center on Law & Poverty Wildfire: Igniting Community Action to End Poverty in Arizona Woodstock Institute Young Invincibles ZERO TO THREE