New Report: Who’s Bearing the Burden of Crushing Student Debt in PA and Why

RELEASE: New Report: Why Pennsylvania Needs Student Debt Relief: A Look at our State’s Student Debt Crisis — Who’s Bearing the Burden of Crushing Debt, and Why?

Harrisburg, PA: Today, Keystone Research Center and the PA Budget and Policy Center released a new report,Pennsylvania Needs Student Debt Relief, a Look at our State’s Student Debt Crisis, by senior research analyst Diana Polson, PhD. A recording of the presentation can be found, here (passcode QW2*&o+y).

In her presentation, Dr. Polson said that, “Pennsylvania’s student debt crisis is no surprise, given our state’s underfunding of higher education and the resulting high costs of college. Over the last two decades total outstanding student debt in the state has skyrocketed, increasing four-fold, from $19 billion in 2003 to $76 billion today. We show from our research that Pennsylvanians of all races and ethnicities face a student debt crisis but data also notably shows that students of color and women have less financial support from their families, take on more student debt and have a harder time paying back loans in part due to race and gender wealth and wage gaps.”

Polson added, “We want our young people to go to college, but we are loading them down with crushing amounts of debt. This is no way of setting our young people, or any of us, up for success.”

She concluded, “President Biden’s plan brought the issue of student debt to the forefront and his plan begins to address this crisis in Pennsylvania. But, more can be done to address the problems of student debt and high costs of college. Access to higher education and strong workforce programs benefits all of us in Pennsylvania and should be publicly supported.”

To view the accompanying blog, How Will President Biden’s Student Debt Relief Impact Pennsylvania, click here.