With the country’s total student loan debt amounting to about $1.5 trillion, borrowers lose an average of $208,000 in lifetime wealth accumulation that could have come from retirement savings, investments or home purchases, according to studies from Washington, D.C.-based think tank Demos.

“Your income or your family’s wealth is extremely predictive of whether you’re going to go college at all and certainly what program you’re going to do."

“If you compare this to some of the other gifts given in higher education, it’s incredibly stark, and I would hope points us to a smarter, better model of philanthropy where people’s lives are genuinely being transformed.”

The Case for Bold, Equitable Student Loan Cancellation and Reform

"The potential of this plan is that it increases public investment back to levels we saw when college was much more affordable, and it pegs it to a price for students."

The dramatic rise in student loan debt has placed unacceptable risk on working-class families and on people of color, who must take on more debt for the same degree as white students.

"The justification for student debt as the primary way we pay for college has been in part based on the assumption that we’ll have consumer protections in place, and we’ll try to make it as painless as possible for people."

"Regardless of dollar amount, the existence of debt is far riskier for low-income and middle-income households."

“To the extent we have had baby boomers running for president for the past few decades, they got an education in a world when you did not have to take on debt."

Senator Elizabeth Warren just unveiled the first plan of the 2020 election cycle that comprehensively addresses both college affordability and student loan debt simultaneously.