813,000 MA Borrowers Set to Benefit, Including Over 400,000 Pell Recipients

Over 100,000 Borrowers in Massachusetts 7^th District Eligible for Relief

White House Fact Sheet

WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) joined Biden-Harris Administration officials and Members of Congress for a White House Regional Press Call to unveil new state state-by-state data on how the Biden-Harris administration’s plan for student debt relief will benefit borrowers in all fifty states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

“I have always affirmed that data drives everything, and the numbers released today underscore the transformative impact that President Biden’s student debt cancellation plan will have on folks in Massachusetts and across the country,” said Rep. Ayanna Pressley (MA-07). “Thanks to the President’s historic action, hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts borrowers will be set on a pathway to generational wealth and the promise of a stronger economic position for their children and their children’s children—and I’m especially proud of how impactful his plan will be on borrowers in the Massachusetts 7^th. We must ensure that every person eligible for this critical relief can access it without delay.”

“By cancelling student debt, President Biden has delivered life-changing relief to tens of millions of working-class Americans,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren. “At the end of the day, this historic decision is going to lift this debt burden for over 800,000 people in Massachusetts and help them to buy a home, open a small business, or start a family.”

“I’m pleased the Biden Administration is doing what they said they would — extending a helping hand to student loan borrowers with particular emphasis on assisting minority students and those from modest economic backgrounds,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04). “The impact in Georgia and the Fourth District is particularly significant as more than 1.5 million borrowers will be eligible for student debt relief through the President’s plan. This also means is that nearly 70 percent of Georgian borrowers are eligible for up to $20,000 of student debt cancellation – meaning their balances will go to zero – all thanks to President Biden.”

According to official estimates released today by the Biden-Harris Administration, approximately:

• 813,000 Massachusetts borrowers are eligible for some debt cancellation.
• 401,200 Massachusetts Pell Grant recipients are eligible for some debt cancellation.
• 344,100 Massachusetts borrowers are eligible to have their student debt fully cancelled.

In the Massachusetts 7^th Congressional District, roughly:

• 101,800 borrowers in the Massachusetts 7th are eligible for some debt cancellation.
• 60,100 Pell Grant recipients in the Massachusetts 7th are eligible for any cancellation.
• 41,400 borrowers in the Massachusetts 7th are eligible to have their student debt fully canceled.

A full transcript of Rep. Pressley’s remarks at the press call is available here.

Rep. Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), have consistently called on President Biden to cancel student debt. Last year, they led their colleagues in reintroducing their bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis by using existing authority under the Higher Education Act to cancel federal student loan debt. 

• On September 12, 2022, Rep. Pressley and Senator Warren wrote to the nine federal student loan servicers to inquire about how they are providing borrowers with accurate and timely information about student loan cancellation.
• On August 24, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement applauding President Biden’s action to cancel student debt.
• On August 10, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Senator Warren Massachusetts joined Massachusetts union leaders in Dorchester for a roundtable discussion on student debt cancellation.
• On July 18, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) national convention and renewed her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt by executive action.
• On July 8, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley with The Debt Collective hosted a virtual roundtable with student debt holders from all walks of life to highlight the intersectional burden the nearly $2 trillion student debt crisis has had on individuals and families. 
• On June 22, 2022, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, joined AFL-CIO and union leaders for a roundtable discussion on the importance of student debt cancellation for American workers.
• On May 20, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley applauded the Congressional Black Caucus’ (CBC) statement calling on President Biden to cancel student loan debt.
• On May 4, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley visited Bunker Hill Community College to celebrate the $1 million in federal community project funding she secured and continued her calls for President Biden to cancel student debt.
• On March 17, 2022, Congresswoman Pressley and Arisha Hatch, vice president and chief of campaigns at Color of Change, published an op-ed in Grio calling on President Biden to use his executive order authority to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt per borrower.
• On December 8, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent a bicameral letter to President Joe Biden releasing new data about the adverse impact of restarting student loan payments and calling on him to act to cancel up to $50,000 of student debt.
• On December 2, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley delivered remarks on the House floor in which she reiterated her calls for President Biden to cancel $50,000 in federal student loan debt by executive action.
• On October 8, 2021, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar and their House colleagues sent a letter to President Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona urging him to release the memo to determine the extent of the administration’s authority to broadly cancel student debt through administrative action.
• On July 29, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley issued a statement reaffirming President Biden’s authority – and the urgency – to cancel student loan debt.
• On June 23, 2021, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Congressman Joe Courtney led their colleagues on a bicameral letter to President Biden calling on him to extend the pause on federal student loan payments.
• On April 13, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley testified at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Policy hearing to examine the student loan debt crisis in our country.
• On April 1, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with Senator Elizabeth Warren and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, held a press conference calling President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis.
• On February 4, 2021, Congresswoman Pressley, along with several Democratic House and Senate leaders, led their colleagues in reintroducing a bicameral resolution outlining a bold plan for President Biden to tackle the student loan debt crisis. 
• On December 17, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Maxine Waters, and Alma Adams introduced a resolution outlining a bold plan for President-elect Joe Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in Federal student loan debt for student loan borrowers.
• On December 10, 2020, Congresswoman Pressley was in Yahoo Finance urging the Biden administration to cancel student debt, stressing the impact on Black borrowers.
• On May 8, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alma Adams, and Ilhan Omar, led 28 of their colleagues and sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy calling for the universal, one-time, student debt cancellation of at least $30,000 per borrower in the next round of COVID-19 relief legislation.
• On March 23, 2020, Representatives Ayanna Pressley and Ilhan Omar introduced the Student Debt Emergency Relief Act, legislation that provides immediate monthly payment relief for federal student loan borrowers.
• On March 17, 2020, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Senator Elizabeth Warren were on The Hill calling on congressional leadership to include student debt cancellation in the next coronavirus relief package.
• On October 11, 2019, Congresswoman Pressley introduced legislation – the Ending Debt Collection Harassment Act – to protect consumers from abusive debt collection.
• On July 17, 2019, Congresswomen Pressley introduced legislation – the Student Borrower Credit Improvement Act – to provide much needed support to private student loan borrowers with a pathway to financial stability by helping them improve their credit.

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