Power Station

The numbers are staggering: 70% of American college graduates carry student debt and our outstanding national student debt level now exceeds $1.5 trillion. A new report, Quicksand: Borrowers of Color and the Student Debt Crisis, authored by Center for Responsible Lending CRL) and National Association for Colored People (NAACP), describes the scope of the problem, identifies which communities are most impacted and recommends systemic reforms. While debt is a shared challenge for American families it disproportionately affects students of color. In fact, 85% of African American students carry student debt. And the implications of this debt are clear. Debt impacts which jobs borrowers take, communities they live in, schools their children attends and delays home purchases by 7 years. Ashley Harrington, CRL’s Senior Policy Council and co-author of Quicksand, speaks to Power Station about how our national narrative about education as a pathway for advancement is at odds with the lived experience of students who ar