CAP’s Comment on Accessing President Biden’s Debt Relief Plan and the Education Department’s Fresh Start Initiative

This coalition letter, led by the Center for American Progress, asks the U.S. Department of Education to work closely with the U.S. Department of Justice to distribute information about student loan debt relief to incarcerated student loan borrowers.

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Mishka Espey

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Government Affairs

Madeline Shepherd

Senior Director, Government Affairs

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An estimated 200,000 people in prison have federal student loans. The Department of Education should ask the Department of Justice to direct the Federal Bureau of Prisons, state corrections commissioners, Tribal jail administrators, and county and local jail administrators to distribute written guidance on how incarcerated borrowers can access President Joe Biden’s debt relief plan and the Education Department’s Fresh Start initiative. Without a cross-agency effort, incarcerated borrowers will be limited to the piecemeal information they get from disparate sources, and thousands could miss out on debt relief. The Center for American Progress and 19 coalition partners propose strategies for the Education and Justice departments to consider as they work to bring maximum debt relief to borrowers in prison.

Click here to read CAP’s comment letter.

The positions of American Progress, and our policy experts, are independent, and the findings and conclusions presented are those of American Progress alone. American Progress would like to acknowledge the many generous supporters who make our work possible.

Author

Bradley D. Custer

Former Senior Policy Analyst

Team

Higher Education Policy

The Higher Education team works toward building an affordable and high-quality higher education system that promotes economic mobility, racial equity, and a strong democracy.