Conyers Praises President Obama’s Decision to Immediately Help Struggling Student Loan Borrowers

(WASHINGTON) – Today, President Obama undertook new executive actions to help millions of student loan borrowers better manage their debt by directing the Department of Education to expand the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) program, which enables student loan borrowers to cap their loan payments at 10 percent of their monthly income. The new rules will open the PAYE program to borrowers who are currently ineligible because they have loans that originated before October 2007, allowing an estimated 5 million additional borrowers to cap their monthly student loan payments in relation to their income. After today’s announcement, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) released the following statement:

U.S. Representative
John Conyers, Jr.

“As a long-time supporter of ensuring that everyone has access to higher education and training regardless of their families’ income, I welcome President Obama’s executive actions to combat the more than $1 trillion in student loan debt. Americans now owe more on student loan debt than they do for credit card debt. The Obama Administration’s plan to cap loan payments at 10 percent of a borrowers monthly income will help make college more affordable and accessible to millions of hard-working Americans,” said Conyers.

“College graduates across the state of Michigan are straining to pay off unprecedented levels of student loan debt. Recent data from the Department of Education show that around 1.5 million borrowers in Michigan are carrying a total debt load of more than $37 million. Soaring interest rates and skyrocketing tuitions have generated massive debt that is hurting our economy and holding back a generation of Michiganders.

“President Obama has taken this action today to help struggling borrowers because he believes students can’t wait for Republicans in Congress to act on the mounting student debt crisis. However, Congress must also do its part to level the playing field for debtors overwhelmed by student loan debts, and end abusive practices by the loan collectors - for good. For these reasons, I plan to introduce legislation to address certain abusive loan collection practices in the days ahead.”

Learn more about the White House’s new action to help borrowers repay their student loan debt here.

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