Student loan borrowers are boycotting repayments to pressure Biden admin to cancel debt

Millions of student loan borrowers refuse to repay, hoping their boycott will pressure the Biden administration to cancel all debt, according to an Intelligent.com survey released Monday.

The survey, which polled 1,000 borrowers, found that one in 10 individuals with federal student loan debt is skipping out on payments. Many individuals are intentionally refusing to pay in order to pressure the federal government to zero out all federal student loan debt, it revealed.

The federal government paused student loan repayments during the COVID lockdowns in 2020, which impacted 43 million borrowers with a total of $1.63 trillion in federal student loan debt. The payment pause ended in October, and many borrowers are struggling to pay back the loans.

The Intelligent.com survey found that six in 10 borrowers have missed a payment since October, with 25% not making a single payment. Only 40% of borrowers have made all their monthly payments, and 35% have made some payments since the pause ended.

“Of the one-fourth of borrowers who haven’t made any payments, 9% say they are intentionally boycotting repayment as a way of pressuring the federal government to cancel federal student loan debt,” the online magazine reported.

Nearly half of the borrowers surveyed stated that they “were aware of calls for a student loan repayment boycott when the payment pause ended,” according to an August survey.

“At that time, 62% of borrowers who knew about the boycott movement said they were ‘highly likely’ (26%) or ‘somewhat likely’ (36%) to participate,” Intelligent.com found.

Many participating in the boycott, 44%, believe their protest will pressure the federal government to cancel some of their debt. A smaller subset, 28%, believe the boycott will lead to a complete cancellation of their federal student loan debt.

“The majority of boycotting borrowers, 86%, say it’s ‘very’ (45%) or ‘somewhat likely’ (41%) that their efforts will bring attention to the student loan debt conversation. Sixty-four percent say it’s ‘highly’ (32%) or ‘somewhat likely’ (18%) that a boycott will help elect political candidates that believe in loan forgiveness,” the survey revealed.

Financial experts, including DebtHammer founder and CEO Jake Hill, are warning borrowers of the negative repercussions of missing repayments.

“Although the frustration behind the student loan boycott is understandable, it’s unlikely to lead to positive change,” Hill told Intelligent.com. “Instead, it will destroy the credit scores of those who choose to participate. This may not seem like a major issue in the short term, but failing to pay your student loans can make it more difficult to obtain funding for future purchases. For example, if you default on your student loans, you’ll be unable to obtain most mortgages, which will derail any plans you have to purchase a home.”

AdmissionsSight founder and CEO Eric Eng encouraged borrowers struggling to make the repayments to explore “income-driven plans, loan forgiveness programs, and loan consolidation” options to help tackle their debt.

Sixty-nine percent of those who have not been paying back the loans said they cannot afford to make the payments.

“Sixty-three percent of these borrowers earn less than $45,000 annually. By comparison, 69% of borrowers who’ve made some or all of their student loan payments since October 2023 earn $45,001 or more per year,” the survey noted.

Ninety-four percent of borrowers who made all or some of their payments said it has been “very” or “somewhat” financially difficult.

The Biden administration attempted to cancel $10,000 of federal student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 annually and married couples making less than $250,000 annually, but the plan was rejected by the Supreme Court last year. Since then, the administration has effectively rolled out smaller, similar plans that have canceled over $132 billion of federal student loan debt for 3.6 million borrowers. Last week, the White House announced that it would eliminate more debt through its Saving on a Valuable Education plan, Blaze News reported.

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