Illinois Student Debt Crisis: 1.5M Impacted

Interest accrues beginning September 1st, payments due in October

An estimated 1.5 million student loan borrowers residing in Illinois will begin to see the negative impacts of a recent Supreme Court decision that ended President Biden's proposed student debt relief plan. Interest on student loans that were paused pending the outcome of the court case resumes on September 1st and payments are due to resume in October.

According to the Woodstock Institute, the average Illinois student loan borrower has $37,000 in student loan debt. Borrowers who qualified for Biden's relief plan could have seen up to $20,000 of their debt canceled.

“Canceling up to $20k for student borrowers making under $125K would’ve been an important first step to begin closing the racial wealth gap,” said Woodstock Institute President and CEO, Horacio Méndez. “Advocates have been pushed into a corner by the Supreme Court’s decision, and, unfortunately, the best thing we can do right now is help low-income Black and Brown borrowers be as financially prepared as possible to resume making student loan payments.” 

The Woodstock Institute notes that a number of repayment plan options are available and encourages borrowers to actively engage with the holder of their loan and take full advantage of these plans.

The Federal Student Loan program offers an online tool to help borrowers determine the best plan for their personal financial situation.

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