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College Unbound (CU) strives to be a college committed to equity and justice. Our purpose is to break down the barriers, both tangible and intangible, to achieving a college degree through a curriculum that allows students to pursue their passion and transform their communities without years worth of burdensome debt.
We applaud the Biden Administration’s multi-pronged approach to addressing student debt: extending the pause on student loan repayments, and canceling upwards of $10,000 in federal student loan debt and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Around 60% of federal student loan borrowers received Pell Grants, and of those recipients, nearly all came from families earning $60,000 or less a year. This much-needed decision provides not only meaningful relief to indebted students, but launches us forward on the path toward greater educational equity.
Critiques about debt relief paint a broad brush into questioning government funding for higher education, but as we know, a college degree is no longer a luxury, held by a select few. It is a necessity to survive and thrive, to unlock opportunity and advance the livelihood of one’s own family and community.
As the global coronavirus pandemic shed light on stark inequities and unsustainable practices across all sectors of our society, higher education was no exception. Millions of Americans, particularly people of color and those with modest incomes, are facing a lifetime of student loan debt. When compounded with the emotional and economic tragedies of the pandemic that affected so many of us, and again, particularly our communities of color, we as a society cannot allow the road of opportunity for those most bound to still be paved with near insurmountable financial hurdles.
We focus our lens on those who come from generations that have been systematically shut out of higher education. Our mission at College Unbound is to promote, advance, and innovate equitable solutions to attaining a college degree, and the students we serve reflect our mission. The large majority of CU students fall into the low-income bracket, are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and come to us with both college credits and college debt from other institutions.
Although there is still much left to do regarding the cost of obtaining a college degree and creating equitable opportunities and treatment, the Biden Administration’s decision will have positive intergenerational and multigenerational impacts.
As College Unbound continues to grow, we will work with our partner organizations and financial aid experts to understand the effects of this decision on our students.
If you are unsure about the loan forgiveness process, our Financial Aid Office is here to help students and non-CU students with loans distributed before June 30, 2022.
Contact [email protected] or attend one of our upcoming information sessions to be announced during the Fall semester.
Sincerely,
All of Us at College Unbound
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